Who Should I Start? Ihmir Smith-Marsette or Xavier Weaver

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, December 7, 4:00 PM

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Xavier Weaver (hamstring) is officially inactive for Sunday's Week 14 contest against the Los Angeles Rams. He had been listed as questionable but was trending in the wrong direction after missing Friday's practice. The Cardinals are extremely short-staffed at wide receiver with Weaver, Greg Dortch (chest), and Marvin Harrison Jr. (heel) all sidelined. Wide receiver Michael Wilson and tight end Trey McBride will operate as Arizona's top targets. Andre Baccellia, Trent Sherfield, and Jalen Brooks will round out the rest of the wide receiver room.