Who Should I Start? Brandon Aiyuk or Zay Flowers

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, 4:07 PM

When asked about the status of wide receiver Zay Flowers (knee) for the upcoming Divisional Round showdown against the Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said they are in "we'll-see" mode. "He's working hard to get back. We'll see toward the end of the week if he's practicing. He can play without practicing, for sure, if he feels healthy enough and it's safe for him," Harbaugh said. Flowers sprained his knee in the Week 18 win over the Cleveland Browns and was inactive for the wild-card playoff win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday. The 24-year-old could play this weekend against Buffalo without practicing, but he'd be a much riskier lineup option for fantasy managers. With Flowers out on Saturday in the win over Pittsburgh, Rashod Bateman benefitted the most and caught a touchdown, with Tylan Wallace and Nelson Agholor also seeing the field in three-wide sets.