Eagles TE Dallas Goedert remains a big part of the passing game, HC Nick Sirianni said Monday. Goedert has caught 13 passes for just 88 yards and 0 TDs through four weeks. He's sitting 30th among TEs in PPR points. "He’ll get going," Sirianni said. "I’m certain of that. We’ve got to do our jobs as coaches to get him going. But he is still a very big factor in the way our offense is playing right now.” We've seen WR A.J. Brown tally two straight huge games after expressing some displeasure over his role back in Week 2. Goedert hasn't publicly complained, but it's certainly possible that he gets some "squeaky-wheel" treatment. He's still run a route on 92% of Eagles pass plays, so he's not far off from better production.
Seahawks HC Pete Carroll expects QB Geno Smith to be okay after suffering knee and ankle injuries in Monday night's win over the Giants. Smith missed the final series of the first half of that game but returned for the second. “He kind of twisted his knee a little bit," Carroll said. "It really was knee and ankle at first, but I think it just came down to taping up the ankle and then his knee was a little bit — he might be sore [Tuesday.] He’ll need a break.” Smith said that he experienced "some slight pain, but overall, I was just happy that I came out OK.” Seattle gets a well-timed Week 5 bye. It sounds like Smith will be able to play come Week 6.
The Athletic's Dianna Russini reports that the Rams are "hopeful" WR Cooper Kupp can play vs. the Eagles this weekend. The team wants Kupp to be "80-90%" healthy, and Kupp isn't there yet. "They are taking this day-by-day," Russini adds. "The hope is that he plays [against Philadelphia.] ... But they wanna be really careful knowing they wanna see him be able to do what he does well for them vs. rolling him out there and just being ok and even possibly reinjuring it." The vibe we get from both this report and HC Sean McVay's comments last week is that Kupp is worse than 50/50 to play this weekend. We've left him out of the Week 5 Rankings for now but will continue to keep a close eye on his status.
Steelers HC Mike Tomlin said QB Kenny Pickett has been diagnosed with a bone bruise on his knee. He'll participate to some extent in Wednesday's practice, and the team will evaluate him from there. "The more comfortable and functional he is, the more work he'll get," Tomlin said. It seems like Pickett has a real chance to play vs. the Ravens this weekend. We'll keep you updated on his progress.
Lions HC Dan Campbell confirmed that WR Jameson Williams will have a limited role in his 2023 debut vs. the Panthers on Sunday. "If he does play, he can’t play 60 plays," Campbell said. "That’s not smart. So we can’t do that to him. So we’ll see where it goes. It’s all about improvement, no different than the rest of the team. Every week we just got to get a little bit better. He just needs to get a little bit better and we’ll take it from there." Williams' big-play ability makes him an exciting stash on fantasy rosters. But he's not a viable Week 5 starter. We'll keep a close eye on how his usage evolves.
Seahawks WR D.K. Metcalf hauled all 3 targets for 31 yards with a TD in Week 4 vs. the Giants. Teammate Tyler Lockett had small success as well, recording 4 catches for 54 yards in the primetime contest. Rookie wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba notably tied Lockett for a team-leading 6 targets in the game, though his opportunities only manifested into 3 catches for 5 yards. For as frustrating as the first-year WR has been, it’s worth remembering that he’s only a few weeks removed from surgery for a wrist fracture. Perhaps he’ll have more success following the team’s bye week in Week 5.
Seahawks RB Ken Walker III totaled 79 rushing yards and 1 TD on 17 carries in Week 4’s win vs. the Giants. Rookie Zach Charbonnet saw minimal work, receiving 5 carries for 31 yards on the ground with 1 catch for 9 yards in the contest. Walker III has now seen at least 17 carries in each of the last three games. This backfield is very much in the control of the second-year back, though we’ll see if there’s a plan to involve Charbonnet more following the team’s bye week in Week 5.
Seahawks QB Geno Smith completed 13 of 20 passes for 110 yards with 1 TD vs. the Giants on Monday night. He briefly exited the contest for a series due to a knee injury, but he played in the majority of the game. Smith’s numbers on the week accomplished very little for fantasy managers, but lots of credit goes to the Seattle defense for putting this game away early. Rookie CB Devon Witherspoon’s 97-yard INT return for a TD stands out as a prime moment in the game. Next week, the Seahawks will be on their bye week.
Giants RB Matt Breida tallied 14 carries for 30 yards in Week 4’s loss vs. the Seahawks. He also added 5 catches for a team-leading 48 receiving yards in the contest. TE Darren Waller posted meager numbers again, catching all 3 of his targets for just 21 yards. Though he ranks t-ninth among TEs in targets (23), Waller has only one game with over 3 receptions. This Giants team is simply lost. They’ve now played three primetime games this season, and they’ve been outscored 94-15. Yikes. We might feel comfortable starting RB Saquon Barkley if he’s able to return from injury in Week 5 vs. the Dolphins, but he’d be the only one.
Giants QB Daniel Jones experienced yet another dreadful primetime nightmare. He was sacked a career-high 10 times, threw 2 INTs, and lost a fumble in Week 4 vs. the Seahawks. Including Monday night, Jones has recorded less than 10 fantasy points in three of four games. It’s fairly evident that the Giants’ offensive line has a lot of issues, and being without RB Saquon Barkley doesn’t help. Still, it’s going to be difficult to trust him in 1QB leagues at any point soon. Their next two games are against the Dolphins in Week 5 and the Bills in Week 6, neither of which are appealing matchups.
Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth is expected to miss 2-3 weeks with his hamstring injury, according to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Gerry Dulac. The Steelers have a Week 6 bye, so it's possible that Freiermuth ends up missing just one game. He'll be replaced by some combination of rookie TE Darnell Washington and TE Connor Heyward. Neither guy is a recommended fantasy add.
Seahawks QB Geno Smith injured a knee in the second quarter of Monday night's game vs. the Giants. He headed to the medical tent and eventually back to the locker room on a cart. He's officially questionable to return. We'll update Smith's status when we know more. He's been replaced by QB Drew Lock.
Update: Smith returned for the start of the second half.
Seahawks S Jamal Adams left just a few plays into his return game against the Giants on Monday night with a concussion. It was Adams' first action since he suffered a quad tear in Week 1 of last season. Frankly, it was his own fault. Adams went stupidly low with a tackle attempt on a running Daniel Jones and took a knee to the top of his head. That will likely keep Adams out for Week 5, but we'll watch his progress through the league protocol.
Rams RB Kyren Williams suffered a hip contusion in Sunday's win over the Colts, HC Sean McVay said. Williams was able to play through the issue in Indianapolis, and McVay confirmed that Williams is expected to be fine for this weekend's game vs. the Eagles. We'll keep an eye on him.
Rams QB Matthew Stafford suffered a hip contusion in the Week 4 win over the Colts, HC Sean McVay said Monday. "We'll be smart with him, but he should be good to go [for Week 5]," McVay said. "He's a stud, and obviously we saw him gut through that yesterday. Definitely took a good shot there. But we feel like he should be good to go." We'll keep tabs on Stafford's status throughout the week, but it sounds like he'll be available for Sunday's game vs. the Eagles.
Seahawks TE Noah Fant (knee) is active for tonight's game vs. the Giants. He didn't practice on Saturday but is evidently healthy enough to suit up for this one. Fant is a shaky fantasy option, even in one-game DFS contests.
Giants RB Saquon Barkley (ankle) is officially inactive for tonight's game vs. the Seahawks. He put in three limited practices this week and has a shot to return for Week 5. Matt Breida figures to serve as New York's lead back tonight after playing 82% of the offensive snaps last week. RBs Gary Brightwell and Eric Gray are also active.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that Steelers QB Kenny Pickett "is not expected to miss much if any time" with the knee injury that knocked him out of Sunday's game. Pickett could "try to push" to play this Sunday against Baltimore. A Week 6 bye after that could factor into the decision, though. We'll watch reports this week to see if Pickett or Mitchell Trubisky will start the divisional game.
Colts Edge Kwity Paye suffered a concussion in Sunday's loss to the Rams. He didn't leave the contest but developed symptoms afterward. We'll watch his status this week, but landing in the protocol nearly always means missing at least one game. Edge Dayo Odeyingbo played a season-high 59% of the snaps in Week 4 and delivered the biggest stat line of his young career: 7 tackles (5 solo), 1.5 sacks, 4 QB hits, 1 forced fumble and 1 pass deflection. Odeyingbo should see at least similar playing time against the Titans in Week 6 and carries intriguing upside. The third-year player has just 7 career sacks across 31 games. But he has tallied 1.5 sacks or more three times in his past eight outings, dating back to last year.
Bills HC Sean McDermott has said Edge Von Miller will begin practicing this week. Miller opened the year on the PUP list after tearing his right ACL late last season. We'll see how soon the veteran is ready for game action, and we'd bet on the team limiting Miller's snaps early on. But it's obviously a positive that he's set to practice as soon as he's eligible to do so.
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