Who Should I Start? Ihmir Smith-Marsette or Isaiah Williams

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.

Saturday, December 27, 1:44 AM

New York Jets wide receiver Isaiah Williams has carved out a spot in 11 personnel in recent weeks, although he can't be relied upon for fantasy in Sunday's divisional clash with the New England Patriots. The Jets' WR room has been all over the place in 2025. Between the additions of Adonai Mitchell and John Metchie III, and the loss of Garrett Wilson (knee), the corps has been in flux for most of the campaign. That said, Williams has recently settled into the WR3 role. Beginning in Week 14, the second-year pro saw his snap share tick up, and it's steadily done so each game since as he plays behind Mitchell and Metchie. In spite of a decent role, quarterback Brady Cook's play hasn't been enough to inspire confidence in the Jets' skill players, lowering the offense's overall floor. Outside of a cheap DFS play or back-end dynasty bench stash, fantasy managers can avoid Williams for the time being, considering his ranking as RotoBaller's PPR WR85 for Week 17's contest.