Who Should I Start? Jaxon Smith-Njigba or Ricky Pearsall

Sunday, January 5, 8:21 PM

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught four passes for nine yards in Week 18 against the Los Angeles Rams. Smith-Njigba was invisible in a game in which quarterback Geno Smith threw four touchdown passes. What's worse, JSN had a chance to break wide receiver Tyler Lockett's single-season team receptions record. He fell one reception short of breaking the record. Overall, Smith-Njigba had a great season. He will finish with 1,130 receiving yards and six touchdowns on 100 receptions. Fantasy managers should be ecstatic about Smith-Njigba heading into next season. He is clearly Smith's No. 1 target, and he has displayed that he has the talent to be a high-end producer for fantasy. While his Week 18 was disappointing, the future is bright for JSN.

Tuesday, June 10, 9:22 PM

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said that wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (hamstring) was healthy to take part in mandatory minicamp this week, but the team is being careful with him and want him to be ready for training camp in late July. It makes sense for the Niners to play it safe with the former first-rounder since fellow wideout Brandon Aiyuk (knee) likely won't be ready for the start of the 2025 regular season. If the 24-year-old can return in training camp and develop chemistry with quarterback Brock Purdy, he'll have plenty of opportunity as a starter in three-wide sets in his sophomore season in the NFL. Pearsall missed the first six games of his rookie season after being shot in the chest, but he was more involved late in the year with Aiyuk out. If healthy, he should make much more noise in 2025. RotoBaller has Pearsall ranked as the No. 45 fantasy wideout.