Who Should I Start? Ihmir Smith-Marsette or Dont'e Thornton Jr.
Week 1 Projections
| Fant. Pts. |
Rush. Yds. |
Rush TD |
Rec. | Rec. Yds. |
Rec TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Ihmir Smith-Marsette News
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.
Week 1 Projections
| Fant. Pts. |
Rush. Yds. |
Rush TD |
Rec. | Rec. Yds. |
Rec TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Dont'e Thornton Jr. News
Monday, August 31, 3:46 PM
The Las Vegas Raiders announced on Monday that they placed wide receiver Dont'e Thornton Jr. (undisclosed) on Injured Reserve with an undisclosed injury. Thornton will miss at least the first four weeks of the 2026 campaign. His injury means that Jalen Nailor, Tre Tucker, and Jack Bech are locked into the top three receiver spots in Vegas this year, with rookie Malik Benson and Dareke Young rounding out the WR room. The 23-year-old fourth-rounder from Tennessee last year saw limited production in his first NFL season in a bad Raiders offense last year, catching just 10 of his 30 targets for 135 yards and zero touchdowns in 15 games played (eight starts). Thornton missed all of the preseason and most of training camp this summer, which puts him behind the eight ball with the Raiders' new coaching staff in his sophomore campaign. He should only be stashed in deep dynasty/keeper formats, but after Benson's strong summer, Thornton figures to be the team's WR5, at best, when he makes his 2026 debut.
Ihmir Smith-Marsette vs. Dont'e Thornton Jr.
Still trying to decide between Smith-Marsette and Thornton Jr.? Check on the latest news to make sure both players are active and healthy. Our PPR projections show that Ihmir Smith-Marsette is projected to score 0.0 points this week while Dont'e Thornton Jr. is projected to score 0.0 points.
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