Who Should I Start? Brandon Aiyuk or Jalen McMillan

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.

Tuesday, July 22, 10:52 AM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Jalen McMillan is still a very large part of the Buccaneers' plans this season, according to new offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard. Grizzard was new coach Liam Coen's pass game coordinator last year, and when pressed to give a player who needed to play well for his offense to work this season, he identified McMillan. Grizzard said, "He's in a good spot." The Bucs' receiver room is crowded with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin coming back from injury, and new first-round pick Emeka Egbuka. McMillan made a big impact, though, 37 catches for 461 yards and eight touchdowns. He stepped up after Godwin's injury and had seven touchdowns in his last five games. McMillan is a risky pick with so many options in the offense, but he showed off a high enough ceiling to definitely be a part of starting lineups in standard leagues coming into the season.