Who Should I Start? Ihmir Smith-Marsette or Jason Brownlee

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, August 24, 11:32 PM

New York Jets wide receiver Jason Brownlee caught three of his five passes for 29 yards in Saturday night's preseason win over the New York Giants in the Meadowlands. Brownlee produced a long gain of 16 yards through the air in Saturday's victory over the Giants. The 25-year-old former Southern Mississippi standout hardly played for the Jets in his rookie season in 2023, coming down with five of his eight passes for 56 yards and a touchdown in seven appearances, and Brownlee will likely be buried on New York's depth chart once again if he makes the roster in 2024.