We'll be looking for signs of life from three veteran wide receivers over the final twoweeks of the season. If we don't see it, it's going to be hard to draft them as Fantasy starters in 2024 based on the way they've performed lately.
Adam Thielen will turn 34 years old before he plays a snap in 2024, and is probably the easiest to diagnose. We didn't draft him to be a starter this year, so Fantasy managers will be more likely to believe his slow finish than his surprisingly awesome start. But he did just score 15 Fantasy points in Week 16 and has 12 or more in two of his last three games. If he finishes with a couple of good games he has an outside shot of finishing the year as top-12 receiver by total points, which will be hard to ignore if he has a good role heading into 2024.
DeAndre Hopkins is a little more than a year younger than Thielen but he's also been 1.6 FPPG worse than Thielen this season. He only has four catches and 8.1 PPR Fantasy points in his last two games combined and he only has three games all season with more than five catches. Part of that is because of how bad the passing game has been for the Titans, but it would cost them $7.8 million to cut him so that may not change in 2024.
Davante Adams just turned 31 on Christmas Eve so I would guess Fantasy managers would be more forgiving with him, but not if he stays in Las Vegas with their current quarterback situation. Adams has actually been worse than Thielen this season in terms of Fantasy production. If he limps to the finish line he'll need a trade or a major QB upgrade to be drafted in the first four rounds next season.
Douglas bounced back nicely in Week 16 with five catches for 74 yards against the Broncos. He now has double-digit PPR Fantasy points in four of his last five games and should be chasing the score in Week 17 against the Bills.
Samuel has more upside than Douglas but his floor, as shown last week, is frighteningly low. Still, he's scored 19 or more PPR points in two of his last three games and a chance that Jacoby Brissett could spark the Commanders passing game.
With CeeDee Lamb off the main slate and Tyreek Hill facing the Ravens, Brown is my No. 1 play on the slate both by projected FanDuel points and value relative to price.
I would not expect this Chiefs offense to be popular after their very public poor performance in an island game on Christmas. Still, the Bengals have been one of the worst defenses in the NFL this season and Rice has 50 targets in his last five games.
