Who Should I Start? Zay Flowers or Bucky Irving

Saturday, December 20, 8:12 PM

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers carries plenty of momentum into Sunday Night Football against the New England Patriots in Week 16. Flowers has been playing at a high level lately, amassing 11 catches, 192 yards, and one touchdown over his last two games. He scored at least 15 full-PPR fantasy points in each of those contests. Flowers will have a tougher matchup this week against the Patriots' secondary, which typically has star cornerback Christian Gonzalez traveling with the opponent's No. 1 receiver. With that being said, if Gonzalez doesn't stay with Flowers, he'll have a much higher ceiling. The Patriots have allowed the 14th-most fantasy points and fourth-most receiving touchdowns to opposing wide receivers in 2025. He ranks as the overall WR17 in RotoBaller's latest fantasy football rankings for Week 16.

Wednesday, December 17, 10:13 AM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving took on the majority of the workload in Week 15, totaling just 71 scrimmage yards on 17 attempts. Since returning from shoulder and foot injuries in Week 13, Irving has totaled 233 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns on 53 attempts, averaging 13.4 PPR points per game. While he started the season as the primary workhorse in this Buccaneers' offense, Irving has been limited to just 54% of the snaps, while backups Rachaad White (43% and Sean Tucker (14%) have been factors. Irving faces the Carolina Panthers defense in Week 16, which has allowed the tenth-most fantasy points to running backs this season. In his only two games against the Panthers in his career, he has had over 185 scrimmage yards in both outings. In a must-win game for the Buccaneers and with his favorable history against Carolina, look for Irving to unleash in Week 16.