Who Should I Start? Jalen Royals or Chimere Dike

Wednesday, September 3, 8:59 AM

Kansas City Chiefs rookie wide receiver Jalen Royals (knee) has been ruled out for Friday's season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers. The fourth-round pick has been sidelined for multiple weeks with knee tendinitis and did not travel with the team to Brazil on Wednesday. Royals was expected to provide depth behind third-year starter Rashee Rice, who is suspended for the first six games. With both Royals and Rice unavailable, veteran JuJu Smith-Schuster is positioned to take on a larger role. Smith-Schuster, who rejoined the Chiefs in 2024 after Rice suffered a season-ending LCL injury, has an opportunity to stabilize the passing game early in the year. Royals' next opportunity to make his NFL debut is against the Philadelphia Eagles. - Nathan Harvey

Saturday, August 30, 5:53 PM

Tennessee Titans rookie wide receiver Chimere Dike will begin the season as the team's punt returner, according to Titans General Manager Mike Borgonzi. Dike was an experienced return man in college at Florida and has reportedly looked good in practice. The rookie will have a tough time earning a heavy amount of snaps on offense early on, but he can be impactful on special teams. He earned two snaps with the starters in the team's last preseason game in the place of Van Jefferson. The fourth-rounder likely projects to be the primary backup to Tyler Lockett in the slot, and could emerge if he is productive with his touches. He isn't draftable in redraft leagues at this moment.