Who Should I Start? Ihmir Smith-Marsette or Jalen Cropper

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.

Sunday, August 11, 10:00 PM

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Jalen Cropper led the team in targets in a preseason loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Cropper saw six balls thrown his way, making four catches for 26 yards including a long of 12. The undrafted free agent spent last season on the Cowboys practice squad and would likely need several injuries ahead of him to have relevance in 2024, but it's worth keeping an eye on his usage going forward in preseason play.