Who Should I Start? Brandon Aiyuk or Jayden Reed

Friday, November 15, 7:10 PM

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (knee) had surgery on his right knee earlier this week to fix a torn ACL and other damage. In addition to tearing his ACL, Aiyuk also tore his MCL in the Week 7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs and will miss the rest of the season. He should have already been dropped in single-season fantasy leagues. It remains to be seen if the 26-year-old will make enough progress in his rehab in the offseason in order to be ready to play in Week 1 of the 2025 regular season next fall. For the rest of 2024, receivers Deebo Samuel Sr. and Jauan Jennings and tight end George Kittle should be the most-targeted pass-catchers, with rookie first-rounder Ricky Pearsall also seeing an expanded role in the passing attack. Aiyuk was an absolute fantasy bust this year, finishing with 25 catches for 374 yards and no touchdowns in seven games.

Monday, January 13, 4:13 PM

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jayden Reed (shoulder) said on Monday that he will not need surgery on his shoulder after suffering a dislocation late in Sunday's 22-10 wild-card playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. "Thank God for that," Reed said. The 24-year-old slot receiver should be healed in time to take part in the team's offseason workouts this spring. Reed is one of Green Bay's best big-play threats through the air and on the ground, but he was inconsistent yet again as a fantasy commodity in the second half of the season and finished with a 55-857-6 receiving line on 75 targets through 17 regular-season games, adding 163 rushing yards and one TD on the ground on 20 carries. The former second-rounder finished as the WR26 in half-PPR scoring and will open his third season as a boom/bust WR3/flex option for fantasy managers.