Who Should I Start? Adam Thielen or Ricky Pearsall

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, June 10, 9:22 PM

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said that wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (hamstring) was healthy to take part in mandatory minicamp this week, but the team is being careful with him and want him to be ready for training camp in late July. It makes sense for the Niners to play it safe with the former first-rounder since fellow wideout Brandon Aiyuk (knee) likely won't be ready for the start of the 2025 regular season. If the 24-year-old can return in training camp and develop chemistry with quarterback Brock Purdy, he'll have plenty of opportunity as a starter in three-wide sets in his sophomore season in the NFL. Pearsall missed the first six games of his rookie season after being shot in the chest, but he was more involved late in the year with Aiyuk out. If healthy, he should make much more noise in 2025. RotoBaller has Pearsall ranked as the No. 45 fantasy wideout.