Cardinals RB James Conner missed four games and most of two others last season. But he was busy and productive when healthy. In 11 games with a snap rate of 55+%, he averaged 15.2 carries, 63.8 rushing yards, 4.8 targets, 3.9 catches, 24.2 receiving yards, and .73 total TDs. Conner's scoring average in those games would have ranked seventh in PPR and eighth in non-PPR. Arizona made no significant additions to the backfield this offseason and only returns RBs Keaontay Ingram and Corey Clement. So Conner appears poised for more big volume and looks like a prime value in 2023 fantasy football drafts with an ADP of RB25. See exactly where Conner sits in our RB Rankings.
The Texans have been “impressed” with RB Devin Singletary this offseason, per insider Aaron Wilson. The former Buffalo Bill signed a 1-year deal (with $2.5 million guaranteed) in March. “Devin has done a good job,” HC DeMeco Ryans said. “Devin has put himself in a really good spot – love the attention to detail, how he prepares each and every day, so I’m excited where Devin is.” Singletary ultimately projects as a complementary piece behind Dameon Pierce. Given Houston’s new coaching staff, though, we’ll keep a close eye on first-team reps at training camp. See where both guys landed in our updated RB rankings.
Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth is dealing with an undisclosed injury, per beat writer Brian Batko. “He’s frustrated because he has something that’s kind of slowed him down from having a good camp,” TE coach Alfredo Roberts said. “He was having a really good camp. He’s missed in the red zone, for sure.” Freiermuth says he’ll be ready for training camp. But before that, he'll take part in a different camp — “Tight End University” — led by Greg Olsen, George Kittle, and Travis Kelce. Freiermuth remains a top-8 option in our TE rankings.
The Steelers morphed into a run-heavy offense over the second half of last season, ranking sixth in rush rate. It sounds like the plan is to continue in that direction this year. “I think our identity was pretty clear the last nine games (of 2022),” OC Matt Canada said. “We ran the ball well, we were physical. You see who we drafted, who we acquired (this offseason). I don’t think there is any question about what our identity is going to be. We want to run the ball, we want to be physical, and we want to be a good team that can throw the football down the field. I think our identity is well known, and we’ll stay where we’re at.” The Steelers spent the 14th overall pick of this spring's draft on OT Broderick Jones and signed free-agent G Isaac Seumalo to bolster the offensive line. They return RBs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, who will presumably be busy this year. Both guys are fine picks at ADP. The run-heavy plan is worrisome for QB Kenny Pickett, WRs Diontae Johnson and George Pickens, and TE Pat Freiermuth.
Rams RB Cam Akers closed the 2022 season strongly, scoring as a top-4 fantasy RB over the final six games. He's rolled that momentum over into 2023, HC Sean McVay said from minicamp. “He’s really capitalized on a lot of the momentum he built up toward the latter part of the year," McVay said. "And he’s going to be a huge part of what we’re doing moving forward. He’s had a great offseason. I love the rapport that he’s established with Ron Gould, our new running backs coach. Cam is going to be a central figure in this offense. I think he’s priming himself to have a great year." Akers has had a rollercoaster first three NFL seasons. But he's flashed workhorse ability in stretches, is still only 24, and has a chance to dominate backfield work this season. He has plenty of profit potential at a RB24 ADP.
Commanders HC Ron Rivera said QB Sam Howell has “shown us [the coaching staff] what we want to see.” Howell will enter training camp as the team’s starter. “He's young, we know he is young,” Rivera said. “There was a lot of room for growth, and we know that, but he's got a good skillset. He's mobile, he’s got good foot movement, he's got quick twitch to him, good decision maker. He is still learning to make those decisions, but he's also got the arm talent and that's the thing that that excites us.” Howell’s learning a new system under OC Eric Bieniemy, one that utilizes a word-based play-calling system -- not the numbers-based one Howell learned in 2022. So far so good on that front, though. We’ll learn a lot more about Howell’s progress when training camp arrives. He remains a QB3 in best ball drafts.
Bills WR Khalil Shakir has had a strong offseason so far and "is going to push hard for prime snaps in the Bills’ three-receiver set," The Buffalo News' Mark Gaughan writes. Shakir played limited snaps as a rookie last year but flashed with 16.1 yards per catch on his 10 grabs. With Isaiah McKenzie gone, we consider Shakir the favorite for the No. 3 WR job heading into training camp, with Deonte Harty providing the primary competition.
"It looks like Washington's tight ends are going to be heavily involved in the passing game this season," Zach Selby of the Commanders' official site wrote after attending minicamp. The Commanders are installing a new offense under OC Eric Bieniemy, who just spent the past five seasons helping Chiefs TE Travis Kelce to huge numbers. No one will come close to that level of production in Washington, of course. But Selby notes that TE Logan Thomas has been busy in the passing game. "Thomas, who looks fully healthy for the first time in years, has been the top target for the position and looks like the threat he was back in 2020," Selby writes. "He made contested catches over defenders, looked fluid in his route running and found soft spots in coverage to be a reliable target for Howell." Thomas has struggled with injuries the past couple of seasons but finished fourth among TEs in PPR points back in 2020. We'll continue to keep a close eye on this new-look Commanders offense, but Thomas looks like a value late in best-ball drafts.
Saints WR Chris Olave missed practice on Thursday. “He wasn’t feeling good today," HC Dennis Allen said of the rising star. "He’s dealing with an inflamed Achilles (tendon). Nothing that we’re worried about.” For now, we’re not lowering his spot in the WR rankings.
Rams HC Sean McVay said he should have utilized WR Tutu Atwell more last season. Atwell — who McVay called “a real bright spot” this offseason -- finished 2022 with 35 targets. “You can see just the comfort in playing a lot of snaps last year, gaining some confidence and then being able to move around,” McVay said. “That’ll be really valuable.” The former Round 2 pick brings big-play ability, but he’s ultimately a fringe best ball flier. Atwell doesn’t crack the top 90 of our PPR WR rankings.
The Athletic’s Paul Dehner believes the NFL could still suspend RB Joe Mixon. The veteran back is facing a charge of aggravated menacing. On the positive side, Dehner writes that Mixon was “involved, saying the right things, doing the right things and looked every bit a core part of the offense for 2023 during the offseason program.” Mixon cracks the top-10 of our updated RB rankings.
Per Zac Jackson of The Athletic, Browns RB Jerome Ford “is going to be given every chance to be the guy” behind Nick Chubb. Citing Cleveland’s current depth, Jackson writes: “I believe the Browns know they can find a veteran runner if necessary but won’t be in a hurry to sign one.” Some candidates include Zeke Elliott, Leonard Fournette, and perhaps a reunion with Kareem Hunt. Ford remains an excellent shot to take near the end of best ball drafts.
Jon Machota of The Athletic believes RB Malik Davis is “the most likely candidate” to earn Dallas’ RB2 job. His competition includes Ronald Jones and rookie scat back Deuce Vaughn. As Machota admits, the team could bring in a veteran to share the load with Tony Pollard. We’ll see how this situation develops in training camp. For now, outside of ultra-deep formats, Davis isn’t someone we’re looking to buy. The former Florida Gator brings some pass-catching chops with 54 receptions over his final two college seasons. But Davis also went undrafted last April following his redshirt senior campaign. He'll turn 25 in November.
Cam DaSilva of USA Today writes that QB Matthew Stafford is “fully healthy and taking part in everything” this offseason. That wasn’t the case last year, as the veteran needed an injection in his right elbow after the ’21 season. “Oh, it’s night and day. And he’ll be the first to tell you,” HC Sean McVay said on Stafford’s improved health. At QB20, he's going in a reasonable range in drafts. It’s just hard to see Stafford crushing that spot given the Rams’ lack of weapons behind Cooper Kupp.
The Bucs are signing K Rodrigo Blankenship, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Blankenship nailed 86.5% of his FG attempts as a rookie for the Colts back in 2020. But he missed most of 2021 with a hip injury and was dumped by the Colts last September. Blankenship had surgery in January to repair a torn muscle in his leg, per Rapoport, and is "finally healthy for the first time in over a year." He'll compete with K Chase McLaughlin for Tampa's starting job.
ESPN's Jordan Raanan has come away from minicamp believing WR Parris Campbell will be a "big part" of the offense this season. "See him as top producer out of the new WRs this season," Ranaan tweeted. "At one point Tuesday. He caught three straight passes. Working mostly out of slot." Campbell is one of a plethora of primary slot receivers on the Giants roster, along with Wan'Dale Robinson, Sterling Shepard, and Jamison Crowder. It sounds like Campbell is the early favorite to win that job, but he's still not an exciting fantasy pick in what figures to be a run-leaning offense featuring RB Saquon Barkley and TE Darren Waller.
Packers TE Luke Musgrave has been a standout in offseason work. He's already getting first-team reps and has drawn praise from both beat writers and teammates. “He’s going to be a great player," QB Jordan Love said. "He’s a lot faster than I think anybody thought. He picked up the offense really fast. He’s getting a lot of reps right now, which is great for him. He’s making the most of it.” Betting on rookie TEs usually isn't a good idea. But Musgrave has the talent and opportunity to make an immediate impact. He's an intriguing TE3 target in best-ball drafts.
Alec Lewis of The Athletic reports that Vikings RB Kene Nwangwu is competing for the No. 2 spot behind Alexander Mattison, in the wake of the team releasing Dalvin Cook. "He frequently was used alongside [Kirk] Cousins in 11-on-11 snaps and could earn the spot depending on the development of Chandler and rookie DeWayne McBride," Lewis wrote after Wednesday's OTA practice. Nwangwu has just 28 offensive touches through two NFL seasons, operating almost solely as a kick returner. But he has been stellar in that role, averaging 28.3 yards per return and scoring three times. And his primary competition -- Chandler and McBride -- has six total NFL touches between them. So it's a trio we don't know much about. It's too early to get enthusiastic about Nwangwu, but the speedy RB is fine to mix in at the end of your best ball tournament drafts. In that format, he balances a low floor with the fact that he'll show up on relatively few rosters. So if Nwangwu does anything worthwhile, you'd get a boost not available to many other teams. See how we sort the Vikings RBs in our 2023 fantasy football rankings.
Broncos RB Samaje Perine left practice on Wednesday with a thumb injury. Perine walked to the locker room with Denver’s training staff, although HC Sean Payton downplayed the injury later on. We’re not expecting Perine to be limited for the start of training camp.
UPDATE: Perine's injury was a thumb bruise. Carry on.
Vikings QB Kirk Cousins said he expects to enter the upcoming season without a new contract. "I think we'll probably talk about the contract next March," Cousins said Wednesday, "and until then just focus on this season and the job to do right now.” Contract negotiations began over the winter, but talks “stalled” — and haven’t resumed — per beat writer Andrew Krammer. Cousins, nearly 35 years old, has reached 4,200 yards in three straight seasons. He projects as a high-end QB2.
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