Colts LB Shaquille Leonard sustained a concussion in a joint practice with the Bears late last week and has landed in the league protocol. HC Shane Steichen said, "He should be back soon." Leonard has struggled with injuries over the past couple of years but has generated buzz in camp this summer. With plenty of time to rebound from this concussion before the regular season, Leonard should remain in your IDP draft plans. He's not moving off a high perch in our IDP rankings.
Rams WR Cooper Kupp (hamstring) will take part in joint practices with the Broncos this week, HC Sean McVay said Sunday. Kupp has been sidelined since August 2 but will now have close to three weeks to gear up for the regular-season opener. Barring a setback, the hamstring shouldn't impact his 2023 fantasy value.
Patriots WR Tyquan Thornton missed Saturday night's preseason game with what's believed to be a shoulder injury. "He's doing fine. It's a week-to-week situation," a source told The Boston Globe's Christopher Price. Thornton can't afford the missed reps. He was sidelined for part of the spring with a soft-tissue injury and has been out-played by rookie WR Demario Douglas in camp. At this point, Thornton is well off the redraft fantasy radar. We'll let you know when he returns from this latest injury.
Cardinals WR Rondale Moore played 42.8% of his snaps out wide last year. That number is down to 21.1% through two preseason games this year. Assuming that continues, it means Moore won't play much in 2-WR sets in new OC Drew Petzing's offense. It's a significant hit to Moore's 2023 fantasy value. Marquise Brown and rookie Michael Wilson look like the favorites to lead Arizona WRs in snaps this season.
Jags HC Doug Pederson praised QB Trevor Lawrence in a recent interview. "I'll tell you what, he's throwing the ball the best I've seen him in the year and a half I've been with Trevor," Pederson said on SiriusXM NFL Radio. "And just really, the sky is the limit with this guy. And if we just continue to improve and just really keep those pieces around him healthy, this offense could really take off." Our QB rankings page turn up career-best numbers for Lawrence. He’s fairly priced with an ADP around QB8.
Broncos RB Javonte Williams played in Saturday night's preseason game -- his first live action since last October's multi-ligament knee injury. He carried three times for 12 yards and caught four of five targets for 18 yards. Williams didn't do anything spectacular but certainly didn't look limited coming off the injury. "I just wanted to get tackled again and see how it goes," Williams said afterward. "That’s the biggest hurdle I feel I have left.” He added that he feels "100 percent" and is "good to go" for Week 1. Williams still figures to be limited at least early on this season. But he continues to trend in a positive direction.
Raiders QB Jimmy Garoppolo "was up-and-down early in camp but has been impressive of late," ESPN's Paul Gutierrez writes. Garoppolo also looked good in his 2023 preseason debut on Saturday night, completing all four of his passes for 39 yards on a 68-yard TD drive. He's still not an exciting fantasy option, but the improved play is good news for Vegas pass-catchers.
The Athletic's Joe Buscaglia believes WR Khalil Shakir is currently fifth on the Bills' depth chart. He played fewer snaps with QB Josh Allen in the team's second preseason game than both WRs Trent Sherfield and Deonte Harty. Shakir is not worth a roster spot in redraft leagues at this point. We're tentatively expecting the Bills' primary 3-WR set to open the season to be Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis out wide, with Harty in the slot.
The Buccaneers didn't play QB Baker Mayfield at all in the second preseason game. Instead, they rode Kyle Trask throughout the first half, and then re-inserted him after John Wolford left with a neck injury. HC Todd Bowles said afterward that doesn't mean he has named a starter. "We were going to play Baker at the end of the half, but we wanted to see Kyle in the two-minute period, so we kind of left him at the time it went down," Bowles said, according to Pewter Report. "He was up to play. I made the decision at the last minute." Although Bowles still refuses to admit it, signs sure seem to point toward Mayfield being the guy. Of course, either Bucs QB will only be an option in 2-QB and superflex formats, or as a late third QB in best ball drafts.
Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker sat out the team's second preseason game Saturday against the Cowboys. But he returned to full practice two days before that for the first time since suffering his groin injury. We'll see whether Walker gets into the final preseason game, but he'll at least have multiple weeks of workouts before the regular season.
Titans rookie QB Will Levis warmed up ahead of Saturday's preseason game against the Vikings but sat out the contest because of a lower-body injury sustained in practice earlier in the week. The fact that they had him test it ahead of the game points to the issue being minor. Missing the game likely didn't help Levis in his competition with Malik Willis for the No. 2 role. Willis did nothing special with his opportunity, completing 10 of 17 passes for just 85 yards (5.0 per attempt). He threw for 1 TD and 1 INT. Willis also ran for 91 yards on 11 carries. That, of course, would be his primary avenue to fantasy upside if pressed into regular-season duty. Willis has seemed to be trending at least slightly ahead of Levis for the backup job to date. He's an interesting late pick in superflex fantasy football drafts.
The Commanders are releasing K Michael Badgley. That means Joey Slye is retaining the job. He spent all of last season in that role for Washington after arriving late in 2021. Slye went 25-of-30 on FGs and 24-of-28 on extra points. Adjust your kicker rankings.
The Patriots are unsurprisingly happy so far to have RB Ezekiel Elliott on board. (Otherwise, why would they have signed him?) Coaches have praised his football intelligence and communication with new teammates. The most noteworthy comment, though, seems like OC Bill O'Brien telling ESPN's Mike Reiss, "I do think he's a three-down back." Elliott's receiving fell way off last year, from 2.8 receptions per game in 2021 to just 1.1 in 2022. He also saw the second-fewest pass-blocking reps of his career, according to Pro Football Focus, trailing only a 2017 season in which Elliott was suspended for six games. This might be a throwaway comment from O'Brien. We'd be shocked if New England actually treated Elliott like a challenger to Rhamondre Stevenson's pass-game snaps. But we'll also keep watching for specifics on the new old guy's role. There remains plenty of separation between Stevenson and Elliott in our 2023 PPR rankings.
Jets RB Israel Abanikanda left Saturday's preseason game with an injury to his right thigh. ESPN's Rich Cimini said the rookie RB was putting no weight on the leg as he left the field early in the fourth quarter. We'll look for more info on his outlook. The rookie likely wouldn't be heading for much regular-season work even if healthy, though, after the Dalvin Cook signing.
Update: HC Robert Saleh said after the game it's merely a thigh contusion, Cimini reports. This shouldn't be a long-term issue.
Texans WR Tank Dell was held out of Saturday’s preseason game with a tight leg muscle. In other words, he shouldn’t miss much practice time. “[He] felt a little tightness there… Tank will be fine,” HC DeMeco Ryans said. “We didn’t think it would be smart to put him out there, but Tank will be fine.” Dell remains an intriguing late-round flier in PPR setups.
Bills TE Dawson Knox sat out Saturday's preseason game with a finger injury. Beat writer Joe Buscaglia labeled him as "day to day.” Even at full health, Knox isn’t a priority target in fantasy drafts.
Dolphins RB Devon Achane injured a shoulder in Saturday's preseason game vs. the Texans, HC Mike McDaniel said afterward. We'll look for more details on the severity and a timeline for Achane's return. The rookie got zero snaps with the first-team offense on Saturday, so he's not shaping up as an early-season fantasy option.
Saints TE Jimmy Graham was arrested on Friday night for suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance and resisting, delaying, and obstructing a police officer, TMZ reports. The team has since released a statement claiming that Graham had a "medical episode," believed to be a seizure, which resulted in him becoming disoriented. He was admitted to a hospital after being taken into custody and is now back with the team. We'll see where this goes, but Graham was already a long shot to be a 2023 fantasy factor.
The Athletic’s Paul Dehner projects Bengals RB Chris Evans as the “passing-down starter.” He’s taken advantage of missed time from RB Trayveon Williams (ankle). Per Dehner: “The story of the third-down job has been dominated by the rise of Evans. He’s shown well in pass protection and improved running the ball downhill over last year’s disappointing preseason to become the frontrunner with Williams sidelined.” Current Bronco Samaje Perine ran 239 routes for the Bengals last year and turned them into 38 receptions. We’re not forecasting that type of role for Evans right now. But the third-year back -- with high-end athleticism — is a name to monitor in deep PPR setups.
Giants TE Darren Waller caught three balls for 30 yards in Friday night's preseason game, getting open at will vs. the Panthers defense. More importantly, Waller ran a route on 80% of QB Daniel Jones' dropbacks and was targeted on four of Jones' nine passes (44.4%). That elite usage follows a buzzy training camp. If his health cooperates, Waller is in for a big 2023 season. He's climbing our TE rankings.
Search
