Picking your fantasy football starters does not always involve big names and giant projections. Sometimes, you are playing in a deeper league where you start more players, and you end up looking for diamonds in the rough. If so — should you start Trey Palmer or Deven Thompkins this week?
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Fantasy Outlook for Trey Palmer This Week
The rookie Palmer has set himself up as the third option for Baker Mayfield in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers passing game behind Chris Godwin and Mike Evans. Palmer has been playing an average of 59% of the snaps but hasn’t been able to turn it into much production. This is not entirely his fault.
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There are three games this season where the Bucs scored 13 or fewer points, and with that little amount of offense, the chance of Palmer contributing is low. He is currently the fantasy WR81 (half-PPR) and has only had one game where he gained more than 20 yards. He has been targeted in the red zone twice this season, which bodes well for his chances of coming down with a TD at some point.
He is WR82 in PFN’s Consensus Rankings.
Fantasy Outlook for Deven Thompkins This Week
Thompkins is currently the WR97 and is only playing 36% of the snaps in Tampa. He is quite a dart throw at the WR position, with only 18 total targets on the year translating to 73 yards. He has been targeted in the red zone three times this season, and he caught one TD in Week 4. The team likes to use him as a kick returner, which somewhat explains the lower use as a WR.
Which of the WRs Should You Start?
Pro Football Network’s Start/Sit Optimizer says that Palmer should be started over Thompkins. He is projected to have 5.1 fantasy points and two receptions for 26.6 yards. Thompkins is projected to have 3.8 fantasy points on 1.9 receptions for 12.1 yards.
I agree with the Start/Sit Optimizer. The chance of both guys getting similar targets makes a lot of sense, and I believe Palmer can do more with those targets. Palmer’s speed gives him the chance of getting open on a broken coverage play and maybe taking it to the house. If you are looking at WRs like these two, you have a deep roster, and you need to look at the upside when making lineup decisions.