Who Should I Start? Ihmir Smith-Marsette or Mike Strachan

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.

Friday, January 17, 7:22 PM

The Washington Commanders announced on Friday that they signed wide receiver Mike Strachan and cornerback Allan George to Reserve/Futures deals. Strachan, a former seventh-round selection by the Indianapolis Colts in the 2021 NFL draft out of Charleston, spent the first two years of his NFL career with the Colts before playing in four games with the Carolina Panthers in 2023. The 27-year-old will not be eligible to play with Washington in the Divisional Round playoff game on Saturday versus the Detroit Lions, but he'll be hoping to stick around with the organization beyond training camp next summer. He did not appear in any NFL games in 2024. In his three NFL campaigns, Strachan has only produced six receptions on 15 targets for 130 yards and no touchdowns in 23 games (one start). He'll merely serve as receiver depth heading into training camp.