Who Should I Start? Brandon Aiyuk or Emeka Egbuka

Thursday, December 18, 4:18 PM

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said that wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (knee) has been "extremely distant" from the team since suffering a season-ending knee injury in Week 7 of the 2024 season, per Matt Barrows of The Athletic. The 27-year-old has not played a game since that point. The 49ers voided guarantees in his contract for 2026 and placed him on the reserve/left squad list on Saturday, officially ending his 2025 season. All signs seem to indicate that Aiyuk and the 49ers are likely to go their separate ways this offseason. In his last fully healthy season in 2023, Aiyuk recorded 75 receptions for 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns on 105 targets. He has a chance to get back to his superstar heights if he can get fully healthy and find the right team. However, his health and the way his current situation in San Francisco has unfolded may bring about question marks for dynasty league fantasy managers.

Friday, January 2, 9:55 AM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka has fallen off the fantasy radar so quickly as soon as All-Pro Mike Evans returned to the lineup, but also since the return of second-year wideout Jalen McMillan out of Washington. Egbuka has seen his snap share cut almost in half, and over the past three weeks, he has only seen 14 targets and hauled in eight of them for 140 yards. What is most concerning is that he has not been on the field as often, as he has only played 59.3 percent of the snaps over this three-game stretch, and is clearly behind Evans and Chris Godwin in the pecking order, and he and McMillan appear to be splitting snaps as the WR3. Egbuka was off to a blazing start to the season with five touchdowns and 445 yards through the first five games, but he has quickly fallen off the radar and disappointed in the second half of the season with only 485 yards since. At this point, he is still worth a roster spot in most formats, but he can't be trusted to start as anything better than a WR3, and his value is plummeting.