Who Should I Start? Tetairoa McMillan or Travis Hunter

Tuesday, September 2, 12:08 PM

Carolina Panthers rookie wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan enters his first NFL season as his team's clear number one option in the passing game. In the past week, Carolina has traded away veteran wideout Adam Thielen to the Minnesota Vikings and lost Jalen Coker (quad) to a quad injury, which should only increase McMillan's targets. The number eight overall pick has a favorable matchup on paper in his NFL regular-season debut against the Jacksonville Jaguars. In 2024, Jacksonville's defense ranked dead last in total receiving yards allowed (4,605) and 28th in total receiving touchdowns allowed (29). Additionally, Panthers quarterback Bryce Young finished 2024 by playing the best football of his career, throwing for 1,583 yards and 11 touchdowns over his final seven games. If Young can carry that momentum to 2025, McMillan could get his season off to a strong start. He should be viewed as a low-end fantasy WR2 in Week 1.

Wednesday, September 3, 7:06 PM

Jacksonville Jaguars rookie first-round wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter (upper body), who has missed time in recent weeks with an upper-body injury, is not on the initial Week 1 injury report and is on track to make his regular-season NFL debut on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. The Jags held the Heisman Trophy winner out of the preseason finale as a precaution, and his upper-body injury was never considered serious. While the 22-year-old will be active this weekend, the uncertainty about how many snaps he'll be on the field for on offense remains to be determined, making it hard to gauge his fantasy value early on. What isn't in question is Hunter's athleticism as a two-way star, and he has a clear path to WR2 duties behind Brian Thomas Jr., which makes him worth the risk as a WR3/flex in Week1.