Who Should I Start? Drake London or Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Friday, September 5, 8:18 PM

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Drake London logged 100 receptions and nine touchdowns last season, finishing with the fourth-most receiving yards (1,271) and the third-most targets (158) in the NFL. The fourth-year pro will take on a Tampa Bay defense on Sunday that was extremely susceptible to the pass last year, yielding the third-most pass yards per game (245.3). London had one big performance versus the Bucs last season and one clunker, but that was with Kirk Cousins under center, not Michael Penix Jr. Despite being a rookie QB, Penix Jr. did not shy away from targeting his top wideout, peppering him with eight, 13, and 18 targets over the final three games of '24, which translated to 22 catches for 352 yards and two touchdowns. With Darnell Mooney on the bad side of questionable for this contest, it could also mean a couple of extra targets for the Falcons' top wide receiver. All in all, it sets London up as a mid-range WR1 on Sunday.

Friday, September 5, 2:11 PM

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba is entering his first season as the unquestioned No. 1 wide receiver in Seattle's offense. Smith-Njigba broke out over the second half of the 2024 season en route to 1,130 receiving yards and six touchdowns. He enters the 2025 season with a new quarterback in Sam Darnold and a new play caller in Klint Kubiak. Darnold supported excellent fantasy seasons for wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison in Minnesota in 2024. JSN is going to be a target hog in a rebuilt Seahawks offense tailor-made for Darnold's strengths. In Week 1, Smith-Njigba will draw a relatively tough matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers were No. 5 in fantasy points allowed to wide receivers in 2024. Although San Francisco lost a couple of defensive pieces, they re-signed defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, who is a master of shutting down opposing offenses. Still, volume alone should help Smith-Njigba overcome any challenges the 49ers may present. You can safely deploy him as a WR2 in Week 1.