Who Should I Start? Zay Flowers or Cedric Tillman

Monday, January 5, 12:14 AM

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers delivered one of his best performances of the season in Week 18's loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, catching four of six targets for 134 yards and two touchdowns. His touchdowns both came on similar coverage busts by the Pittsburgh secondary, going for 50 and 64 yards. Quarterback Lamar Jackson only attempted 18 passes in the game, but he targeted Flowers on a third of them. It marked the 25-year-old wideout's highest yardage total in a game since Week 1 against the Bills and the third two-touchdown game of his career. It was also Flowers' first touchdown of at least 30 yards since Week 9 of last season. Flowers closed the 2025 season with career highs in targets (118), receptions (86), and receiving yards (1,207), while matching his previous career best with five touchdowns.

Saturday, December 27, 11:01 AM

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Cedric Tillman looks to be fighting for the team's WR2 position going into an AFC North battle against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 17. The third-year wide out appears to be in a timeshare with rookie wide receiver Isaiah Bond, with Tillman playing 48% of the snaps, barely edging out Bond, and running 55% of routes compared to Bond's 58%. Whereas the team is getting Bond involved in trick plays and schemes, Tillman does not have much to show aside from his combined three receptions off eight targets for 36 yards since Week 12. If rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr. (groin) is inactive on Sunday, rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders may look to his wide-outs to pick up the slack, which would benefit Tillman. The Steelers' pass defense has tightened up over the past four weeks, allowing the sixth-fewest fantasy points to opposing wide receivers, making Tillman an even less appealing pivot option for deep league managers. If Fannin Jr. were to miss Week 17, Tillman would get a slight bump to fringe WR4/Flex territory in 14+ person leagues. However, he is the third option on an offense averaging just 169 passing yards per game, which is the fourth-fewest in the NFL.