Who Should I Start? Cedric Tillman or Ihmir Smith-Marsette

Tuesday, December 31, 12:06 PM

The Cleveland Browns placed wide receiver Cedric Tillman (concussion) on Injured Reserve on Tuesday, meaning he will not be able to play in the Week 18 regular-season finale this Saturday against the division-rival Baltimore Ravens. Tillman suffered a concussion in the Week 12 upset win over the division-rival Pittsburgh Steelers and was never able to make it back onto the field to close out his second year in the NFL due to his head injury. It's a shame, too, since the 24-year-old wideout had just been coming into his own as a big part of Cleveland's passing attack at the time when quarterback Jameis Winston was giving a spark to an offense that looked dead in the water with Deshaun Watson (Achilles). From Weeks 7-11, Tillman caught 24 passes on 40 targets for 302 yards and three TDs. He should be fully ready for next year, but his fantasy value will all hinge on what Cleveland does at QB.

Saturday, August 24, 9:36 PM

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette (ankle) left the team's preseason finale against the Buffalo Bills early on Saturday after landing awkwardly completing a catch in the second quarter. The 24-year-old hauled in 2-of-3 targets for 11 yards while contributing 27 yards on two punt returns and a field-flipping 46 yards on his lone kick return. Smith-Marsette was productive before he picked up the injury and is expected to be the team's returner this upcoming season. Barring the severity of his ankle issue, that could still be the case. It's a bit early to tell how impactful the NFL's new kickoff rules will be come the start of the regular season. However, fantasy managers may want to keep the Iowa product on their radar as a sneaky option, depending on how your league values return yards. His Yahoo! ADP is far down enough that he'd be best suited as a prospective waiver-wire add.