Who Should I Start? Michael Thomas or Brandon Aiyuk

Wednesday, September 11, 8:40 PM

The National Football League on Wednesday announced that it has lifted the suspension of free-agent wide receiver Michael Thomas. Thomas was suspended for the first game of the 2024 NFL season for an incident with a construction worker near his home last year. The fact that the 31-year-old remained without a team all offseason is a sign that he may struggle to latch on with an organization despite the fact that he's past his one-game suspension. Just several years ago, Thomas was the best receiver in the league, but injuries have limited him to 20 games since the start of the 2020 campaign, and he played in just 10 games with the New Orleans Saints last year before a knee injury ended his season. He caught 39 passes for 448 yards and one touchdown in 2023. Thomas belongs on the waiver wire in all leagues and is unlikely to be on the fantasy radar in 2024.

Saturday, June 14, 11:52 AM

San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch said on the Pat McAfee Show this week that wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (knee) is making great progress in his rehab from a torn ACL and MCL in his right knee that he suffered last October. "Brandon is doing a tremendous job coming back. It's kind of incredible how well he's healing, and he's putting in the work," Lynch said. Lynch continued to stress that Aiyuk is still an important part of the team going forward, although he's probably not going to be able to make his 2025 debut until around midseason. After a contract dispute last summer, the 27-year-old caught just 25 passes for 374 yards and no touchdowns before his season-ending knee injury seven games into the season. When he returns, he'll battle for targets with George Kittle, Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall. There are a lot of question marks surrounding Aiyuk going into 2025.