Who Should I Start? Brandon Aiyuk or Cedric Tillman

Saturday, June 14, 11:52 AM

San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch said on the Pat McAfee Show this week that wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (knee) is making great progress in his rehab from a torn ACL and MCL in his right knee that he suffered last October. "Brandon is doing a tremendous job coming back. It's kind of incredible how well he's healing, and he's putting in the work," Lynch said. Lynch continued to stress that Aiyuk is still an important part of the team going forward, although he's probably not going to be able to make his 2025 debut until around midseason. After a contract dispute last summer, the 27-year-old caught just 25 passes for 374 yards and no touchdowns before his season-ending knee injury seven games into the season. When he returns, he'll battle for targets with George Kittle, Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall. There are a lot of question marks surrounding Aiyuk going into 2025.

Saturday, June 28, 11:22 AM

The Athletic's Zac Jackson writes that the Cleveland Browns are banking on wide receiver Cedric Tillman building on his big stretch in the middle of last season since they didn't draft a receiver and only added Diontae Johnson in free agency. Jackson adds that Tillman should be in for a full-time role in 2025 and could complement WR1 Jerry Jeudy in an offense that could incorporate a lot of deep passes if veteran Joe Flacco wins the quarterback job. The advantage that Tillman has is his size (6-foot-3, 215 pounds), and he scored his first three NFL touchdowns in October and November of last year. Although he missed the last six games of 2024 with a concussion, he's still viewed as an ascending player and has two years left on his rookie deal. Even with more opportunity, Tillman will likely be viewed as a WR5/6 target in deeper fantasy formats for receiver depth.