Steelers beat writer Chris Adamski believes WR George Pickens is in position to play a “significant role” by the end of the 2022 season. Patience might be key here, as he's coming off a March 2021 ACL tear. (Pickens, however, managed to appear in 4 games with Georgia last year.) While his size (6’3, 200), speed (4.47 forty) and early breakout age (18.5) signal a potential difference-maker, targets will be tough to earn early on. Current 2022 WR projections have him down for 63 targets.
Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth shared his expectations for the 2022 season. “I should be more in the range of 800, 900 (season) yards, so I think I definitely need to get (yards/reception) higher and want to push the ball down the field,” Freiermuth said. As a rookie, the Penn State product posted 497 yards at just 8.3 yards per catch. Eric Ebron departed this offseason, while Pittsburgh only added rookie Connor Heyward in Round 6. Increased production is likely for Freiermuth, but current projections have the TE falling shy of the 800-900-yard range.
Packers WR Amari Rodgers gave a candid assessment of his rookie season. The Clemson product caught only 4 passes across 16 appearances. “It’s the longest season I ever played,” Rodgers said this week. “I didn't really have a break, it was like two years straight of football. So you know, I feel like it kind of took a toll on me mentally and physically towards the end of the year. “I’ve had an offseason to actually take care of my body, get my body right. So I feel like I'm back to myself.” The 23-year-old (in September) watched Green Bay trade Davante Adams over the offseason, only to bring in 2 rookie WRs and Sammy Watkins. Green Bay could still add another veteran pass catcher, too. Rodgers remains a fringe deep-league sleeper.
Browns HC Kevin Stefanski gave his assessment of TE David Njoku. “He is young,” Stefanski said during OTAs. “I do not know if he physically can grow any more, but his game can grow. That is a conversation I have had with him. I do expect his game to grow, and it is not as simple as saying, ‘Hey, we are going to throw more balls to you.’ I think his game will grow, and you will see it in the run game and in the pass game, and you will see it kind of throughout. I think he is committed to that. David wants to get better, and to be 25, I think you have that opportunity to get better.” This comes after Stefanski said he wants to “feature” Njoku last month. The TE's new contract —combined with the departure of Austin Hooper — only supports that claim. The only downside here is Deshaun Watson’s looming suspension.
Colts HC Frank Reich “would like to alleviate some of the load on [Jonathan] Taylor’s shoulders,” per beat writer George Bremer. (To be clear, these are Bremer's words -- not Reich's.) Taylor led the league with 332 rush attempts last year — 25 ahead of #2 Najee Harris. With Matt Ryan in town, the thought is this offense goes slightly more pass heavy. We do project a smaller workload for Taylor, but the decline is negligible. The 3rd-year back remains a top-2 fantasy RB.
Beat writer Nate Taylor called Marquez Valdes-Scantling the best-performing WR of Kansas City’s offseason program. Taylor writes that MVS “offers a combination of speed and size that [Patrick] Mahomes has never had before.” The former Packer is currently a value pick in Round 12 of FFPC best ball drafts. Surprisingly, he’s going ~1.5 rounds behind rookie WR Skyy Moore.
Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic named James Proche the standout WR of Ravens minicamp/OTAs. Of course, we’re talking about padless practices, and Zrebiec even points out that Proche won the offseason over his first 2 seasons. Still, the long-time beat writer credits Proche’s toughness, confidence and good hands as reasons for him to be a “bigger contributor” this fall. Clearly, Baltimore has a major need at WR behind Rashod Bateman. A veteran signing remains likely, but there could be some deep league value to mine if Proche can lock down a steady role. At 5’11, 201 pounds, Proche was a considered a productive, sure-handed prospect coming out of SMU. He's tallied 17 catches through 2 pro seasons.
Per beat writer Nate Taylor, Chiefs WR Skyy Moore missed most of the offseason program with a left hamstring strain. He’s expected to be fine for the open of training camp later this month. There, he’ll battle with a host of others to be the #2 target behind Travis Kelce.
Cardinals HC Kliff Kingsbury talked up the offensive fit for new WR Marquise Brown. "I think it's similar to what he played in at OU [Oklahoma],” Kingsbury said. "Obviously, position-wise, no-huddle type stuff, signal-based. But he's been in Baltimore for a while now, and so it's just readjusting to that, but I think he feels comfortable in what we're doing.” Kingsbury believes Brown is “ahead of the curve” with the new offense — no surprise considering his experience with Kyler Murray in a similar system. With DeAndre Hopkins out for the first 6 games, Brown’s short-term WR1 potential is obvious. Over the course of the season, Brown projects more as a WR2.
Eagles insider Adam Caplan described WR Quez Watkins’ role as a “rotational deep threat.” He’s on track to be the team’s WR3 behind A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. Watkins, at 6’0, 193 pounds, already garnered a 13.8-yard average depth of target in 2021 — well above league average. Still, barring an injury to Brown or Smith, Watkins is unlikely to be a fantasy factor in 2022.
ESPN’s Lindsey Thiry considers Chargers RB Joshua Kelley to be on the roster bubble. He enters training camp as the 3rd or 4th RB behind Austin Ekeler, Isaiah Spiller and likely Larry Rountree. Kelley owns only 456 rushing yards through 2 seasons (3.2 per attempt). Even in deep formats, the 24-year-old isn’t a recommend late-round target.
According to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, the Giants have had discussions about moving on from WR Darius Slayton. Raanan actually wrote that such discussions started last year — before New York overhauled its coaching staff and front office, of course. Slayton reportedly struggled with drops in offseason practices and routinely worked with backups. The 25-year-old is off the redraft radar.
ESPN’s Jake Trotter writes that Browns RB D'Ernest Johnson “could be the odd man out” in the backfield. Trotter points out that Johnson's due a reasonable $900K in guaranteed money, so the contract isn’t an issue. Cleveland also spent a Round 5 pick on Cincinnati RB Jerome Ford. In what could be a lost season for Cleveland — pending the length of Deshaun Watson’s suspension — it might make the most sense to get something in return for Johnson. Note that Kareem Hunt enters a contract season; Nick Chubb is signed through 2024.
Titans WR coach Rob Moore gave his assessment of Round 5 rookie WR Kyle Philips. "He's starting to understand some of the fundamentals he has to develop and how he's going to have to play in this league, in regards to being able to create separation and to be effective on a consistent basis. And those are things he is figuring out right now," Moore said. "But the kid has really good short area quickness and he has a lot of tools to build on.” QB Ryan Tannehill complimented Philips’ route running, quickness and agility. The UCLA product isn't going to overwhelm DBs at 5’11, 191 pounds, so his ability to grasp the nuances of route running will be key. Despite a thin WR corps, Philips must compete to secure a spot on the regular season roster.
Per beat writer Cam Inman, new 49ers RB coach Anthony Lynn “is believed to be high” on Trey Sermon. The 2nd-year RB handled only 41 attempts as a rookie and watched Elijah Mitchell — drafted 3 rounds later — lead the team in rushing. A former HC, Lynn brings a wealth of experience following stops with 8 different organizations. Only 23, Sermon will look to carve out a role alongside Mitchell, Jeff Wilson and rookie 3rd-rounder Tyrion Davis-Price.
Bears WR David Moore was arrested on July 4 in Texas on drug and weapons charges. We'll see where this goes and whether Moore draws a suspension from the league, but this obviously won't help his chances of making Chicago's roster.
The Browns are trading QB Baker Mayfield to the Panthers for a conditional 5th-round pick in 2024, NFL Network reports. The 2 teams "split the financials to make it happen," according to Ian Rapoport, so Carolina is presumably picking up about half of Mayfield's nearly $19 million 2022 cap hit. Mayfield is coming off a disappointing, injury-riddled 2021 season but played well the previous year, finishing 10th among 32 qualifiers in Pro Football Focus' passing grades. In fact, Mayfield earned higher PFF passing grades in each of his first 3 NFL seasons than QB Sam Darnold has managed in any of his 4 NFL seasons. So Mayfield is a tangible upgrade for D.J. Moore, Robby Anderson, Terrace Marshall and Christian McCaffrey. Mayfield himself looks like just a middling QB2, although those weapons give him some weekly upside. Check out the updated projections for the Panthers offense.
Update: Per NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, Mayfield agreed to shave about $3.5 million off his 2022 salary. The Browns will pay him $10.5 million this year; the Panthers around $5 million.
Falcons WR Bryan Edwards talked up his fit in HC Arthur Smith’s offense. “I just knew he liked the big-bodied receiver and they ran a lot of in-breaking routes with a lot of guys who could get YAC and make big plays off YAC,” Edwards said. “When I heard I was coming here, I felt like it was a really good fit for me, probably as good as it was going to get.” Edwards is also expected to fill a deep-threat role alongside rookie WR Drake London. QB play remains a concern, but Atlanta’s WR depth (Auden Tate, Olamide Zaccheaus, Geronimo Allison, Frank Darby) at least looks like the weakest league-wide. Note that Edwards turns just 24 in November.
Commanders RB Antonio Gibson has dropped 7 pounds and several points from his body-fat percentage with the help of a dietician and a physiotherapist this offseason. Gibson says he played last year around 235 pounds -- 10 pounds heavier than he'd like. "I’m so used to being twitchy … and I feel like I lost a good bit of that," Gibson said. "So I wanted to cut some weight and get back to that and show people what I’m really capable of.” Gibson faces lots of touch competition this season after Washington re-signed RB J.D. McKissic and drafted RB Brian Robinson. But his ADP has sunk into the late 5th round of recent FFPC drafts.
Panthers WR Robby Anderson missed most of OTAs and minicamp with a nagging hip injury. It’s been an eventful offseason for the former Jet, who contemplated retirement over the spring. If healthy, Anderson should slot into the #2 role and have little trouble beating a WR72 ADP (per FFPC best ball drafting). “I think in this offense, Robbie will have a ton of production,” HC Matt Rhule said. “I think last year was a confluence of many different events. And I think in this offense, the way we’re doing things, he’ll have a ton of production.”
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