Who Should I Start? Laviska Shenault Jr. or Ihmir Smith-Marsette

Thursday, July 24, 9:16 AM

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. was placed on the non-football injury list on Wednesday. Shenault missed the first day of practice with a lower leg strain, with head coach Sean McDermott declining to offer a timetable for a return, instead calling Shenault "day-to-day". Shenault is beginning his first season with the Bills after the Seattle Seahawks released him following the 2024 season. Shenault will battle with several others to be one of the final receivers on the Buffalo roster, with his skills as a returner on special teams most likely giving him a leg up on the competition, assuming his injury doesn't linger.

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.