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Who should I start for Divisional Round? Fantasy football outlooks for Puka Nacua, Nico Collins, Rashod Bateman. Our expert fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks.
The Divisional round is almost upon us, and Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua, Houston Texans wide receiver Nico Collins, and Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman are all healthy and ready to go for their teams' upcoming games.
While Nacua and Collins have been consistently great this season and Bateman has been a streaky option for fantasy football, everyone is in play when Daily Fantasy Sports games are on the table. Even less productive players are relevant because it's all about finding the best value for the cash price on DFS websites.
We'll break down below which of them you should add to your lineups on FanDuel or DraftKings, and which should have good games regardless of the platform you use.
Should I Start Puka Nacua for Fantasy Football?
Nacua has a very tough matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles upcoming. While he's one of the best wideouts in the league, he doesn't have a ton of answers for great defenses that dedicate their game-plans to stopping him. His athletic profile is one of his few weaknesses, and he should see a heavy dose of Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell.
Quinyon Mitchell first NFL INT 🔒
— Eagles Nation (@PHLEaglesNation) January 13, 2025
It's not that we don't like him, it's that we don't like the price. He's the second-most expensive player on both FanDuel and DraftKings. There's no world where we'd take him over both the next player on this list, Collins, and Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, both of who we like more.
Nacua is the type of player to prove us wrong, of course, but the matchup isn't remotely tantalizing here.
Should I Start Nico Collins for Fantasy Football?
Collins is another one we're not too thrilled about. He's the most expensive WR on DraftKings right now, and we'd prefer to go with someone who has a better matchup. He's an elite player, but will face a tough Kansas City Chiefs defense with a secondary that's back to full strength with the return of cornerback Jaylen Watson.
No overarching takeaway from this clip but I just love watching Nico Collins beat press coverage and win 1-on-1.
He's a Top 5 receiver in football, hope the offense emphasizes putting him in a position to dominate tomorrow #HTownMade pic.twitter.com/7cCazujhiJ
— John Crumpler (@JohnHCrumpler) January 17, 2025
The thing about the Chiefs is that they always save their best football for the playoffs. And quarterback C.J. Stroud has been struggling massively this year -- that's not been helped by the poor offensive line play he's had to face. Kansas City is not a team you want to face with that problem.
Should I Start Rashod Bateman for Fantasy Football?
He'll be facing a Buffalo Bills defense that's sold out to stop deep passing plays all season. And a good chunk of his production has come from long downfield catches, so we aren't sure he's set up to have a great game. He's been extremely unpredictable as well.
I’ll never stop believing in Rashod Bateman WR1 season
pic.twitter.com/IrkZYeeKjA— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) January 4, 2025
Bateman has had a resurgent season this year, and he's talented. But the Bills are very vulnerable against the run, which plays into the Ravens hands well. The game could well become a shootout, though, in which case Bateman would probably be an interesting player to take a bet on.
He's actually a solid choice in our eyes. Buffalo's offense fired on all cylinders and eclipsed 450 yards in the 31-7 blowout win over the Denver Broncos in the Wild Card round. For his price, you're essentially banking on a big play or touchdown, and that's not a terrible gamble here.
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