Who Should I Start? Adam Thielen or Michael Pittman Jr.

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, August 5, 1:52 PM

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. (groin) is back at the team's training camp practice on Tuesday, per Jake Arthur of Sports Illustrated. Pittman suffered a minor groin injury at practice last Tuesday and was held out as a precaution for a week. The 27-year-old will now return to practice, although there's a good chance we won't see him in the team's preseason opener this Thursday against the Baltimore Ravens. There's no concern that he won't be ready for Week 1 of the regular season in early September, where he should once again be the team's WR1 for either quarterbacks Daniel Jones or Anthony Richardson Sr. Josh Downs was more involved in the offense a year ago, which contributed to Pittman only going for 808 yards (fewest since his rookie season) and only three TDs in 2024. Indy's QB situation doesn't exactly make Pittman an intriguing WR4/flex target in fantasy.