Who Should I Start? Xavier Hutchinson or Ihmir Smith-Marsette

Saturday, October 4, 11:56 AM

Houston Texans wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson continues to be the most involved receiver on the outside across the field from Nico Collins, with Christian Kirk playing in the slot. He hasn't had much production in the Texans' ineffective passing game, but he's getting enough work to be worth monitoring coming into this week's matchup with the Ravens, who have allowed the third-most fantasy points to wide receivers this season. Hutchinson played 68% of the team's snaps in Week 4, ahead of both rookie Jayden Higgins (44%) and rookie Jaylin Noel (24%). Hutchinson also had three targets, converting two into catches for 17 yards, while Higgins and Noel only had one target each. Higgins made the most of his catch with a touchdown, but it still looks like Hutchinson is ahead of him on the depth chart. Even with his bigger role and good matchup, Hutchinson is only the WR74 in the RotoBaller rankings, so he is best left on the bench or waiver wires until something changes.

Saturday, August 24, 9:36 PM

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette (ankle) left the team's preseason finale against the Buffalo Bills early on Saturday after landing awkwardly completing a catch in the second quarter. The 24-year-old hauled in 2-of-3 targets for 11 yards while contributing 27 yards on two punt returns and a field-flipping 46 yards on his lone kick return. Smith-Marsette was productive before he picked up the injury and is expected to be the team's returner this upcoming season. Barring the severity of his ankle issue, that could still be the case. It's a bit early to tell how impactful the NFL's new kickoff rules will be come the start of the regular season. However, fantasy managers may want to keep the Iowa product on their radar as a sneaky option, depending on how your league values return yards. His Yahoo! ADP is far down enough that he'd be best suited as a prospective waiver-wire add.