Who Should I Start? Deebo Samuel or Jameson Williams

Thursday, July 25, 2:24 PM

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. looked slimmer during spring drills than he had last year, and he appears to have lost even more weight for the start of training camp. "I think he looks great," head coach Kyle Shanahan said after the offense took its first snaps in 11-on-11 drills. "I thought he looked great in OTAs and minicamp. And I think he looks better today." The 49ers are practicing without two wideouts, Brandon Aiyuk and first-round pick Ricky Pearsall (hamstring), so Samuel's fantasy draft stock remains in a state of flux until a clearer picture emerges of how this receiving corps might look for the start of the regular season. The 28-year-old Pro Bowl wideout totaled 12 touchdowns in 15 appearances in 2023, placing second at his position in PPR fantasy points per route run (0.67) and first in fantasy points per target (2.74) over 89 targets, and he's being treated as a WR1 bet at his second-round ADP this summer.

Wednesday, July 24, 1:25 PM

The Athletic's Nick Baumgardner writes that Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams looks like a completely different player from a year ago early in training camp. Williams looks stronger through the middle and more explosive with better body control in the air and near the sidelines. Head coach Dan Campbell already said earlier this offseason that the 23-year-old former first-rounder looks like "a man on a mission" in 2024. The former 12th overall pick was recovering from a torn ACL heading into his rookie season and missed time due to a suspension in 2023, so he's been a first-round bust to this point. Williams' big-play ability is undeniable, though, and he has a chance to solidify the WR2 role in Detroit this year behind Amon-Ra St. Brown, which would make him an interesting WR4/flex play in standard-scoring fantasy formats.