Who Should I Start? Adam Thielen or Brandon Aiyuk

Friday, May 2, 12:02 PM

Carolina Panthers veteran wide receiver Adam Thielen said that he talked with his family, and they wanted him to play in 2025. He plans to go through a similar process after this season, which is the final year of his contract. Depending on how the 34-year-old feels and what his family thinks after the 2025 campaign, Thielen could hang up his cleats and retire. He's returning for a third season in Carolina after playing in a career-low 10 games in 2024 due to a hamstring injury. In those 10 games, he caught 48 of his 62 targets for 615 yards and five touchdowns. He should continue to be a trusted weapon for young quarterback Bryce Young out of the slot this year, but the addition of first-round rookie wideout Tetairoa McMillan will surely make Thielen harder to trust as a WR3/flex in fantasy based on volume alone like he was in 2023, when he recorded the third 1,000-yard season of his career on 103 targets.

Tuesday, July 22, 2:37 PM

San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch says the team is "encouraged" about wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk's (knee) recovery from the ACL and MCL tears that ended his 2024 season last October. However, Aiyuk is "not anywhere close to having a concrete timeline" to return to practices, according to Matt Barrows of The Athletic. Aiyuk was placed on the active/physically unable to perform list on Friday, which means he can theoretically be activated at any point this offseason. Nevertheless, previous reporting has indicated Aiyuk is unlikely to be ready to go for the start of the regular season. In his absence, San Francisco will rely more heavily on receivers Ricky Pearsall, Jauan Jennings, Demarcus Robinson, and Jacob Cowing. Rookie fourth-round wideout Jordan Watkins could also get more of a look in camp.