Who Should I Start? Treylon Burks or Ihmir Smith-Marsette

Wednesday, December 24, 10:12 AM

Washington Commanders wide receiver Treylon Burks led the team in targets in last week's loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, catching two of five targets for 30 yards. The 2022 first-round pick saw his snaps decrease with the return of Noah Brown in Week 14, but with Brown now on Injured Reserve due to a rib injury, Burks played the most he has all season in Week 16. Burks tied Terry McLaurin for the highest snap share (84.3%) on the team and should continue to see a healthy number of routes on Christmas Day against the Dallas Cowboys' 32nd-ranked pass defense. However, the favorable matchup could be offset by Washington starting journeyman Josh Johnson at QB this week, with Marcus Mariota's status in doubt due to hand and quadriceps injuries. It's tough to trust Burks as anything more than a deep-league flex option in Week 17.

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.