Who Should I Start? Ihmir Smith-Marsette or Ja'Lynn Polk

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.

Thursday, August 21, 3:51 PM

New England Patriots wide receiver Ja'Lynn Polk (shoulder) will miss the entire 2025 season due to a shoulder injury that needs surgery, sources told FOX Sports' Jordan Schultz on Thursday. Polk visited with multiple specialists before opting for season-ending surgery, but going under the knife was determined to be the best course of action. The former second-round pick last year will be hoping to be fully healthy for the start of the 2026 season. Polk disappointed in his first year in New England last year, catching just 12 of his 33 targets for 87 yards and two touchdowns in 15 games (seven starts), but to be fair, he didn't have much of a chance in the Patriots' low-scoring offense. He will now miss his entire sophomore season, which gives rookies Kyle Williams and Efton Chism III greater chances of making the 53-man roster as depth behind Stefon Diggs, Mack Hollins and DeMario Douglas.