Who Should I Start? Cooper Kupp or Brandon Aiyuk

Wednesday, May 28, 10:14 PM

The Athletic's Michael-Shawn Dugar writes that new Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp could work underneath in the middle of the field in his first year with the team, with Jaxon Smith-Njigba serving as the big-play threat deeper down the field. Kupp and Smith-Njigba have overlapping skill sets, and general manager John Schneider said the use of tight splits will make the two wideouts hard to defend. Seattle could align JSN more out wide as opposed to in the slot, where he spent 77.4% of his snaps last season. Smith-Njigba led all receivers in yards (956) and catches (79) from the slot in a breakout campaign. It will be interesting to see how offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak uses both Kupp and Smith-Njigba in 2025. Kupp is on the wrong side of 30 and has missed five or more games three seasons in a row due to injuries. JSN has the higher ceiling, and we can't count on a ton of volume from Kupp at this point in his career.

Friday, May 30, 12:36 PM

There is still no official timeline for San Francisco 49ers Brandon Aiyuk's (knee) return in 2025, but general manager John Lynch expressed some optimism regarding his recovery from a torn ACL and MCL in his right knee that he suffered last October. "Brandon's tracking in a good way with his knee, and you've just got to kind of let that play out," Lynch said. "We're not going to put him out there until he's ready, but we're excited with our receiver group and where we're at." Aiyuk will most likely not be ready for the start of the 2025 regular season, but if he continues to make strides in his rehab, he could return sooner than later. Regardless, the 27-year-old's fantasy stock has taken a big hit after he caught just 25 passes for 374 yards and no touchdowns in seven games before his season-ending injury last year. Until Aiyuk is able to return, Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall (hamstring) will be the team's top wideouts.