Who Should I Start? Chris Godwin or Ricky Pearsall

Tuesday, April 1, 1:34 PM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said that he's optimistic that wide receiver Chris Godwin (ankle) will be ready to play in Week 1 of the 2025 regular season. "I'm hoping he's on the field Week 1. I'll have more to know about that after [this] month goes on - see how he feels when he gets running and practicing and everything else," Bowles said. Despite suffering a dislocated left ankle in Week 7 of 2024 that sidelined him for the rest of the season, the Bucs re-signed Godwin this offseason to a three-year contract. The 29-year-old pass-catcher will continue to form an excellent one-two punch with veteran Mike Evans when he's healthy, but there will be plenty of skepticism about his fantasy value until we see him get back on the field this offseason. The good news is he was averaging a career-high 19.7 PPR fantasy points per game last year before his injury.

Thursday, May 29, 6:04 PM

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (hamstring) is dealing with a hamstring injury and likely won't return to practice until training camp at the end of July, according to head coach Kyle Shanahan. It doesn't sound like it's a serious injury for Pearsall, the but Niners won't take any chances with last year's first-rounder after he also dealt with hammy issues going into his rookie season in 2024. The 24-year-old pass-catcher then suffered a gunshot wound to his chest and didn't make his NFL debut until Week 7. He's expected to have a key role in the offense in his sophomore season with Deebo Samuel Sr. no longer in town and Brandon Aiyuk (knee) unlikely to be ready for the start of the season, but Pearsall is going to lose valuable reps this offseason to gain chemistry with quarterback Brock Purdy. Pearsall could still be ready for Week 1, but this news doesn't do anything to dispel the notion that Pearsall is injury-prone.