Start or sit Delanie Walker on TNF in Week 3?

My quest to find fantasy football players not named Derrick Henry who are worth starting on Thursday night has brought me to Delanie Walker. Coming off ankle surgery in the offseason, Walker surprised everyone with a two-touchdown performance in Tennessee’s win over Cleveland in the opener. We all thought Walker was back. Narrator: He wasn’t. Well, not exactly. Last week agains the Colts, the veteran TE had a modest showing by catching 4-of-6 targets for 39 yards, good for 7.9 fantasy points in PPR. Not all that bad but also not much to write home about.

Fantasy Impact: So now we’re left guessing which Walker we’re going to see on TNF vs. the Jaguars? The “I’m going to come through on my red zone targets” Walker or the “Why did you start me?” Walker. The matchup isn’t bad. Jacksonville ranks 21st in Pass DVOA this season, though they did limit Travis Kelce to just three catches in Week 1. Problem is the Titans have a low implied total (20.5) and Walker appears to be TD-dependant. Still, I worry about the Jaguars as a team and this could be a spot in which they unravel. If that’s the case, we could see a healthy amount of red-zone chances, which bodes well for Marcus Mariota looking Walker’s way. Usually I’d lean on the safe side here, but if Walker is the only TE you’ve got, I’d say roll with him.

Recommendation: Start

All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS contests.