Fantasy Football News & Latest NFL Updates

Washington HC Ron Rivera said Sunday that there's no timetable for WR Curtis Samuel's return. Samuel opened camp on the PUP list due to a groin injury and then landed on the COVID list. Rivera did note that Samuel knows Washington's offense after playing under OC Scott Turner in Carolina in 2019 -- but he's never played with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. "Yeah, you'd love for him to catch a few reps maybe in the last preseason game, but we're not going to rush him out there," Rivera said. We'll see when Samuel is able to get on the field, but he's a candidate to get off to a slow start this season.

Cowboys QB Dak Prescott (shoulder) has resumed some "light throwing," HC Mike McCarthy said Saturday. McCarthy would not give a timetable for Prescott's return to practice. "We'll see how his progression goes," McCarthy said. "He's doing some things as far as throwing and everything is on a rep count." Prescott is reportedly on track to be ready for Week 1, but it'd be nice to see him get back on the field soon.

Jaguars WR D.J. Chark had surgery to repair a "minor" break in his hand, HC Urban Meyer announced. Meyer expects Chark to be ready for the start of the season. We'll see when he's able to get back on the field. But Chark will now miss valuable practice reps in a new offense and with a new QB. We nudged him down the WR rankings -- and nudged Marvin Jones up.

The Colts have agreed to a 5-year extension with LB Darius Leonard, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. The contract will be worth $99.25 million in total, with $52.5 million guaranteed. We didn't need affirmation that Leonard belongs atop the hill at LB, but it's good to know his situation won't be changing for a while.

ESPN's Rich Cimini reports that LB Jarrad Davis has been calling the defensive plays in the huddle at practice lately. "Obviously, it could change," Cimini notes. But it this holds, then it would signal a near full-time role for Davis. We wouldn't bet on him playing more than C.J. Mosley -- who beats Davis significantly in both talent and salary -- but that looks like the Jets' lead duo at the position. And defenses across the league lean more on alignments with 2 or even 1 off-ball LB. Davis carries late-sleeper potential for your IDP draft.

ESPN's Mike Reiss says that through their 1st 2 padded practices, the Patriots' offense looks like it's "running two separate attacks" with its top 2 QBs. Cam Newton's version obviously features plenty of read-option, while rookie Mac Jones "looks like he's running the more traditional Patriots passing offense." Pat Kirwan of Sirius XM -- and a former NFL scout and front-office man -- adds: "He's more what Josh [McDaniels] wants to do, and how he's done it in the past. ... I wouldn't be surprised if by October we see [him] under center." According to Reiss, this all followed arguably Jones' best day of camp, and a pair of days in which he garnered significantly more reps than Newton. The rookie beginning to work his way past the vet -- whom Bill Belichick has called the starter -- doesn't make Jones attractive as a fantasy option. But the switch would certainly add upside to Patriots receiving options. Jones would also likely be better for RB Damien Harris' goal-line outlook.

Update: We should note here that Ben Volin of the Boston Globe writes, "Anyone watching practice can tell Newton is the clear, unequivocal starter." Volin adds that Newton leads off every drill and that many of Jones' reps come with backups, rookies and scout-team players. We'll see where this situation goes.

According to Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald, Patriots TE Jonnu Smith is “on the short list of top-performing Patriots through 10 days of training camp.” Smith has bought into a versatile role with the Pats. “I’m just excited to be able to use my ability to its fullest potential. Even touch some areas where maybe I do some things I’ve never done before,” he said. "Kind of scratch the surface here and see what lies beneath.” Smith’s ability to play multiple spots makes the addition of Hunter Henry less worrisome. The former Titan is currently being drafted at a very fair TE15 in FFPC best balls.

Bengals OC Brian Callahan repeated his thoughts on RB Joe Mixon, saying the 5th-year back “has the ability and the skill set to be a 3-down player. “Joe has a really unique ability because he’s so big and fast and strong,” Callahan continued (via The Athletic). “He also catches the ball well, so there’s a place for him in the pass game. The third part of playing running back besides running and catching is protection. They’re a huge part of protection on third down. Joe has grown and improved in that area, really through his career. It’ll be asked of him a bunch this year to be able to do that. He’s an advantage for us because he’s so big. A lot of those blitzing DBs don’t really wanna run through Joe. They don’t like tackling him, then they gotta blitz against him. So there’s some things that he brings that his skill set allows you to have a little bit more of an advantage in pass protection.” Mixon’s rebounded well from his mysterious 2020 foot injury. Now, we’ll see when Joe Burrow’s able to recapture his pre-injury form.

Bills RB Zack Moss has "consistently been the best running back at training camp," according to The Athletic's Matthew Fairburn. "From what we’ve seen, Moss should have a path to a bigger role this season. But [OC] Brian Daboll is intent on dividing carries and riding the hot hand, so it’s too soon to push the panic button on [Devin] Singletary." This will be a committee backfield in 1 of the league's pass-heaviest offense, so there's not a ton of fantasy production to be mined here. But Moss continues to look like a better bet than Singletary.

A source tells The Athletic's Vic Tafur that Raiders TE Darren Waller is "fine" and whatever has kept him out of practice is "nothing serious." Waller has missed the past 4 practices but has been spotted in the weight room. We'll continue to keep an eye on this but aren't adjusting expectations for Waller.

Lions QB Jared Goff and TE T.J. Hockenson have been "dialed in" throughout training camp, Tim Twentyman of the team's official site writes. "Hockenson made plays all over the field Saturday, and that could be an indication of what's to come for the third-year tight end out of Iowa in 2021," Twentyman added. An ascending player on a team with 1 of the weakest WR groups in the NFL, Hockenson is in for big volume this season.

Ravens WR Marquise Brown (hamstring) missed his 7th straight training-camp practice on Saturday. He was at least spotted doing some conditioning work off to the side. "You don't want to come back and re-injure it, as we've seen before," HC John Harbaugh said. We're still over a month away from the start of the season, but it'd be nice to see Brown string a few healthy weeks together before Week 1.

Vikings WR Justin Jefferson is considered "day-to-day" after hurting his left shoulder in Friday's practice, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. "Tests came out as good as possible," Rapoport adds. "All positive news." It sounds like we should fully expect Jefferson to be ready to go come Week 1.

Vikings WR Justin Jefferson suffered a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder in Friday's practice. ESPN’s Adam Schefter cites a source saying the injury is “nothing serious.” Further testing is scheduled for this weekend, though. We'll pass along an update when it's available. For now, we're not moving Jefferson in the WR rankings.

Giants RB Corey Clement has outplayed RB Devontae Booker in camp so far, according to insider Zack Rosenblatt. "Booker is still the top backup," Rosenblatt concedes. "But he’s not necessarily performing like it." The Giants gave Booker a 2-year, $5.5 million deal in free agency vs. Clement's 1-year deal worth a little less than a million. So the team was likely banking on Booker winning the backup job behind RB Saquon Barkley. But that contract isn't big enough to guarantee him anything. We'll continue to monitor this situation, but there's no strong handcuff to Barkley right now.

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson was activated from the COVID list on Friday. He tested positive for the virus in late July and had to spend 10 days on the COVID list as an unvaccinated player. Jackson still has over a month to get ready for the season opener. But the fact that he's unvaccinated does add some risk to his 2021 fantasy profile.

The Bills signed QB Josh Allen to a 6-year extension through the 2027 season, per ESPN’s Chris Mortensen. The deal carries a total value of $258 million and gives Allen more guaranteed cash ($150 million) than Patrick Mahomes ($141 million). It’s only striking because Allen has just 1 season of high-end production to his name. Of course, Buffalo’s all-in on the 25-year-old — and fantasy drafters are, too. He’s coming off the board 2nd among QBs in all FFPC formats.

Saints TE Adam Trautman underwent a pair of operations a month before training camp started, per beat writer Nick Underhill. The 2nd-year TE had his appendix removed and a cyst removed in his lower back. Beat writer Mike Triplett tweeted Friday that Trautman is “up to speed now.” The Saints are counting on him to take a step forward, especially with Michael Thomas set to miss regular season games. Trautman remains an enticing draft day target.

Steelers WR James Washington has requested a trade, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. Washington is buried behind Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool and JuJu Smith-Schuster on Pittsburgh's depth chart, playing just 44% of the team's offensive snaps last year. Washington was the 60th overall pick of the 2018 draft, is still just 25 and has averaged 14.9 yards per catch through 3 NFL seasons. Getting out of Pittsburgh would give him a better shot at 2021 fantasy value. We'll see where this goes.

Multiple Saints beat writers mentioned on Friday how good Saints WR Marquez Callaway has looked in training camp so far. "He really has impressed as a potential WR 1/2 so far," ESPN's Mike Triplett tweeted. With both Michael Thomas (ankle) and Tre'Quan Smith (leg) currently sidelined, Callaway is getting a big opportunity as the de facto #1 WR. And it sounds like he's taking full advantage. We'll see when Smith is able to get back on the field. But with Thomas expected to miss the first handful of games, Callaway has a chance to be a fantasy factor.