Who Should I Start? Brandon Aiyuk or Xavier Worthy

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.

Saturday, December 21, 2:55 PM

According to Matt McMullen of the Chiefs, rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy (ankle) has returned to the field at the start of the second half. This is a great sign as former first-round selection had a brief injury scare earlier in this game as he sustained an ankle injury while running a route. This injury was non-contact. Before exiting for a brief period, Worthy brought in four of his five targets for 26 yards. Fantasy managers should expect Worthy to continue to operate as a starting wideout for the remainder of the game alongside Marquise Brown and DeAndre Hopkins.