NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that the Patriots have traded RB Pierre Strong to the Browns for OT Tyrone Wheatley Jr. Cleveland has spent August thin at RB behind Nick Chubb, with Jerome Ford out nursing a hamstring injury. ESPN's Jake Trotter projected Demetric Felton as the third RB behind Chubb and Ford before this move. The trade doesn't guarantee that Strong makes the regular-season roster. But he should be a good bet to do so. Given that Ford has just eight career NFL touches on offense, it's an upside landing spot for Strong. His departure from a Patriots roster he was expected to make leaves room for at least one among Kevin Harris, Ty Montgomery, and J.J. Taylor behind Rhamondre Stevenson and Ezekiel Elliott.
The Colts have released RB Kenyan Drake. With RB Jonathan Taylor's status still unresolved, this just signals that Drake failed to beat out RBs Deon Jackson or Evan Hull. Zack Moss remains out with a wrist injury. We should know more about Taylor's status this week and will certainly keep watching the whole situation.
ESPN's DJ Bien-Aime says in his final roster projection that WR Noah Brown has been running as a starter alongside Robert Woods and Nico Collins "throughout camp." He adds that "there's a chance midway through the season [Tank Dell] becomes a starter." As for second-year WR John Metchie, Bien-Aime calls him only one of the "remaining receivers." The article even mentions sixth-round rookie WR Xavier Hutchinson "sometimes" running with the starters. Metchie's comeback from leukemia is a great story no matter what. But he looks like a fantasy afterthought. Brown's name will be worth keeping in mind for DFS and the final rounds of best ball tournament drafts. But we're not expecting this offense to support multiple fantasy-starter pass catchers. Collins remains the top Texans WR in our fantasy football rankings. Woods has been a PPR value throughout draft season because he stays on the board until the very end (and often beyond). Dell is intriguing as a late-draft stash in deeper leagues.
Packers QB Jordan Love completed a nice preseason Saturday against the Seahawks. He went 9-of-15 passing for 63 yards and a TD vs. Seattle. That makes him 21 of 33 (63.6%) for 193 yards, 3 TDs, and 0 INTs across three preseason contests. Love notched a 109.8 passer rating. The new starter added 21 yards on the ground against the Seahawks, giving him 32 yards on five rushes for the preseason. SI.com's Bill Huber says Love "didn't scramble much during training camp," so we probably shouldn't expect big rushing numbers. But he has the speed and athleticism to add at least some fantasy value there. Most importantly, Love remains low in QB2 territory in ADP. That leaves basically nothing but upside to drafting him in leagues where a second QB makes sense.
Jets TEs Tyler Conklin and C.J. Uzomah split first-team work in Saturday's preseason game. Conklin played five snaps and ran two routes vs. Uzomah's six snaps and three routes, according to Pro Football Focus. We'll see what the rotation looks like early in the regular season, but Conklin will not be a viable Week 1 fantasy play.
Patriots WR Tyquan Thornton is a “candidate” for injured reserve, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss. Thornton hasn’t practiced since August 17, when he landed hard on his shoulder in a joint practice with Green Bay. Reiss didn't hint at a season-ending injury, but Thornton certainly comes with added risk. New England looks set to enter Week 1 with JuJu Smith-Schuster and DeVante Parker as the top-2 WRs.
Bills TE Dalton Kincaid ran a route on 13 of QB Josh Allen's 19 dropbacks over the last two preseason games. That 68% route rate is a bit lower than we see from most fantasy TE1s. But it's a good starting point for a rookie. Kincaid's playing time is likely to grow over the course of the season. See exactly where he sits in our TE rankings.
We saw different usage in the Bears backfield in Saturday's preseason finale vs. the Bills. RB Khalil Herbert played the first- and second-down snaps on the first two drives. But he was replaced by RB Roschon Johnson for 3rd-and-10 and 3rd-and-11 snaps. RB D'Onta Foreman played the third drive. Herbert remains the top fantasy option in this backfield, but it doesn't look like his role will be as valuable as we thought after the preseason opener, when he played all seven of QB Justin Fields' snaps.
Per ESPN's John Keim, Commanders HC Ron Rivera feels QB Sam Howell has a chance to be "really good" for the team this season. "For three seasons, I've always felt that I had a question mark [about quarterback]," shared Rivera, adding that the team feels "very strongly ... going into this season that we've got a guy." Though Howell made just one start last year, the team liked how he developed as a rookie enough that they're prepared for him to be the starter in 2023. A fifth-round pick in last year's NFL Draft, Howell will have an opportunity to work in an offense under the tutelage of ex-Chiefs OC Eric Biemiemy with a strong supporting cast of pass-catchers. Check out where Howell appears in our current QB rankings.
Titans HC Mike Vrabel shared on Saturday that he expects TE Chig Okonkwo to return to practice this coming week. The second-year player has been held out due to an undisclosed injury sustained on Tuesday. This news indicates the strong possibility that he'll be healthy to begin the regular season. Despite the free agent addition of WR DeAndre Hopkins, Okonkwo should still carry some quality fantasy value as a low-end TE1/high-end TE2 in 2023. We'll monitor this situation and update as more information becomes available. See where Okonkwo appears in our current TE rankings.
Bills TE Dawson Knox played in Saturday's preseason finale. He missed Buffalo's second preseason game with a finger injury, but he's ready to go for Week 1. Knox's fantasy value obviously took a big hit with the addition of TE Dalton Kincaid, but Knox should still be on the field plenty with the Bills expected to run a lot of 2-TE sets.
Chiefs HC Andy Reid expects WR Kadarius Toney (knee) back at practice in "about a week." Toney has been sidelined since getting hurt on July 23 and subsequently undergoing surgery to repair a cartilage issue in his knee. Kansas City's season opener is just 12 days away, so Toney seems iffy for that one. But it at least sounds like he's trending in a positive direction and remains worth stashing on fantasy benches.
Titans HC Mike Vrabel said Friday after the team's final preseason game that he hasn't seen enough yet to decide who will back up QB Ryan Tannehill. Malik Willis played nearly all of the game against New England. Will Levis has missed the past two games with a minor thigh injury. "As it stands now, with Will's availability, and we'll get him back this week," Vrabel said. "But I thought that Malik took a big step yesterday. Unfortunately, you have the turnovers, but there was a lot of cool stuff that happened after that. ... Malik has to make some better decisions and we'll see where Will's at this week." It seems like Tannehill is the only Tennessee QB worth paying attention to for 2023. We'll see who hits the season as No. 2 for dynasty and superflex purposes.
Per reporter Rob Demovsky, Packers WR Romeo Doubs missed Saturday’s preseason game with a hamstring injury. No word yet on the severity, but we’ll look for an update this weekend. Doubs sits low in our WR rankings.
The Raiders and RB Josh Jacobs have agreed to a one-year deal worth up to $12 million, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. It's the same thing RB Saquon Barkley got from the Giants. Each RB was limited in what he could get once the July deadline passed for franchise-tagged players to sign long-term contracts. This new pact brings Jacobs back with still more than two weeks before the regular-season opener. We'll see how quickly Jacobs' ADP rebounds. He has commonly been going in Round 3 of recent drafts. He's certainly a nice value in that range and can make sense anywhere from the second half of Round 2 on -- depending on your format. Jacobs never moved much in our fantasy football rankings this summer.
Niners rookie K Jake Moody will miss the team's preseason finale with a right quad strain. He's considered day-to-day, according to multiple reports. Doesn't sound like the injury is a big deal, and we wouldn't bet on the third-round pick getting cut in favor of Zane Gonzalez. But a kicking-leg injury is probably enough to mean you shouldn't draft Moody this weekend at least. We'll see about the coming week.
The Athletic's James Boyd calls RB Zack Moss the Colts' "likely" starter once he's recovered from his broken arm. That's, of course, if RB Jonathan Taylor isn't in the picture. Boyd also writes that RB Evan Hull "could be poised for more snaps alongside [QB Anthony] Richardson" after a strong August. It was RB Deon Jackson who got the start in Indianapolis' final preseason game, so this remains a murky situation. Hull is the most intriguing target at the very end of fantasy drafts, although Moss is worth considering, too.
The Cowboys are acquiring QB Trey Lance from the 49ers for a fourth-round pick, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. We've expected a trade at least since San Francisco officially named Lance the caddy to fellow draft bust Sam Darnold. This is a somewhat surprising destination, though, given that QB Dak Prescott's entrenched and signed through 2024. That no team with more of a QB need was apparently willing to give more suggests the league doesn't believe in Lance's long-term upside either. We'll see how a new stop treats him. But any hope of a fantasy payoff for patient dynasty managers is fading.
The Athletic's Chad Graff wrote recently that Patriots rookie WR Demario Douglas "might end up" as the team's WR3 after strong camp performances. The sixth-round pick from Liberty has received "more snaps with starters in recent practices" than incumbent wideout Tyquan Thornton, per Graff, and is reportedly a threat to diminish the playing time of veteran Kendrick Bourne. It isn't easy to make the case for Douglas in redraft leagues. We don't have much hope for the fantasy prospects of the Pats' pass-catchers in 2023. However, this news presents managers in dynasty leagues with an intriguing dart-throw candidate to target in a trade or off the waiver wire. Consider stashing Douglas on your bench or taxi squad.
Sports Illustrated's Ben Meyerson recently reported that Buccaneers rookie RB Sean Tucker was splitting first-team reps with teammate Rachaad White. Meyerson quickly clarifies it was only during one drive but that it's "definitely something to monitor." The UDFA from Syracuse likely would've been a solid pick in the 2023 NFL Draft had it not been for a rumored heart condition. We mention this because Tucker, despite not being drafted, is a very talented player in a backfield without much depth behind White, the presumed starter. In addition to his rushing acumen, Tucker has some appeal as a pass-catcher. He ranked sixth in receiving market share (15.8%) among all Power 5 conference RBs in 2022 and could provide enough value as the RB2 in Tampa Bay to warrant late-round consideration in deeper leagues. See where these Bucs backs appear in our current RB rankings.
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