Who Should I Start? Hunter Renfrow or Ihmir Smith-Marsette

Monday, August 11, 10:15 AM

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Hunter Renfrow (hamstring) was back at practice on Monday, according to Joe Person of The Athletic. The oft-injured receiver is attempting a return to the NFL after missing the entire 2024 season due to ulcerative colitis, which he said caused him to drop down to as low as 150 pounds. A former 1,000-yard receiver with the Raiders, Renfrow's health has kept him from reaching similar heights since. He's competing for a depth role on a Panthers team that rosters Adam Thielen and spent first-round picks on Tetairoa McMillan and Xavier Legette in back-to-back drafts.

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.