"The belief among Ravens powers that be is that the [J.K.] Dobbins knee injury is indeed serious," insider Michael Silver tweeted on Saturday night. That's the only update we've seen on Dobbins since he had to be helped off the field and carted back to the locker room after hurting his left knee in Baltimore's final preseason game. Stay tuned.
Eagles insider Rueben Frank expects RB Kenneth Gainwell to play "a lot" this year. He got off to a slow start in camp but has seemingly gotten rolling lately. He had a nice preseason, capped by a 5-32-1 rushing line and 4-27 receiving line in Friday night's finale. We'll see exactly how Gainwell fits in a backfield that also includes Miles Sanders and Boston Scott. The rookie is just a late-round flier in drafts but could be a drain on Sanders' fantasy production.
Steelers WR Chase Claypool played 18 snaps in Friday night's preseason finale, catching 1 of 2 targets for 18 yards and carrying once for 11 yards. The big takeaway is that Claypool played -- a little over a week after injuring his ankle in practice. That's obviously not an issue going forward. Claypool is a fine target at his 6th-round ADP.
Ravens RB J.K. Dobbins injured his left knee in Saturday's preseason game. He was in obvious pain and needed assistance to get off the field and into the medical tent. He was eventually carted back to the locker room. We'll update Dobbins' status as soon as we know more.
The Panthers have released K Joey Slye. No surprise there, as the team recently acquired K Ryan Santonso via trade. Slye, only 25, will likely resurface this season.
The Jaguars have traded QB Gardner Minshew to the Eagles for a conditional 2022 sixth-round draft pick. Philly also released QB Nick Mullens, positioning Minshew as at least the 3rd QB on the depth chart. He'll need only to work past Joe Flacco to become Jalen Hurts' backup. That's a nice spot for the 25-year-old Minshew, whose rookie contract runs through 2022. Jacksonville, meanwhile, has C.J. Beathard and Jake Luton around as backups to Trevor Lawrence.
Chiefs WR Mecole Hardman started Friday night's preseason finally with Tyreek Hill in a 2-WR package. He would go on to play 9 of Patrick Mahomes' 15 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, vs. 14 for Hill and 11 for Demarcus Robinson. Byron Pringle was the only other WR to see 1st-team work, but he played just 1 snap. We'll take that level of involvement for Hardman. It would be nice to have him as the clear 2nd wideout ahead of Robinson, but even splitting that role while clearly working among the top 3 should present enough playing time to help Hardman approach his high weekly fantasy ceiling. He's a risk-reward pick in the middle rounds of your fantasy football draft. Robinson is well worth a look near the end of drafts. Pringle looks like he'll need an injury ahead of him to make him relevant.
The Jets rested starters Friday night in their preseason finale vs. Philadelphia. That meant no action for RB Tevin Coleman. Michael Carter and Ty Johnson played, however, and Johnson took the field 1st. Carter did mix in for the 1st drive but saw just 1 carry vs. 5 for Johnson. The work evened out between them by halftime: 8 carries, 1 target for Johnson; 7 carries, 1 target for Carter. The rookie then sat out the 2nd half, while Johnson remained heavily involved. That last point could be a positive for Carter. But he's clearly opening the year at least behind Coleman. Keep that in mind as you decide where to draft any Jets RBs over the next couple of weeks.
The Lions held QB Jared Goff and many other starters out of Friday night's preseason finale. Fourth-round rookie WR Amon-Ra St. Brown played, however, and continued to see just limited action. He spent just 7 snaps on the field, while the game's starters played 26. According to Pro Football Focus' Nathan Jahnke, St. Brown "hasn't played a single snap" in 2 WR sets through 3 preseason contests. There's certainly room for his role to grow through the season, but the rookie doesn't look like a player you should bother with in redraft fantasy football leagues.
Panthers QB Sam Darnold opened the final preseason game with 6 straight completions against the Steelers en route to a productive night. He finished 19 of 25 for 162 yards and 2 TDs. Darnold found Terrace Marshall and Robby Anderson for 2nd-quarter red-zone scores, while D.J. Moore led all Panthers with 6 catches and 48 yards on a team-high 6 targets. Carolina opens the season with a favorable schedule, including a home date with the Jets in Week 1 and a Week 3 visit to Houston. Keep Darnold in mind as a late-round fantasy football option -- especially if you wait on addressing QB in your draft. As for the WRs, Anderson and Moore operated as the clear leaders, playing 38 snaps apiece among Darnold's 41, according to Pro Football Focus. Marshall worked in for 23. TE Dan Arnold played 30 snaps, with TE Ian Thomas taking the field for 22.
49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk is dealing with a "slight hamstring" injury, HC Kyle Shanahan said. Aiyuk won't play in Sunday's preseason finale but should be back next week, per Shanny. This sounds minor, but we'll keep an eye on it. Hamstrings can be tricky.
The Bills on Friday activated WRs Cole Beasley and Gabriel Davis from the COVID list. That comes less than a week after each player got deactivated, which means neither tested positive at all.
QB Jameis Winston has been named the Saints' starter, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. Winston and QB Taysom Hill seemed to play to a draw in training camp, but Winston won this job with his 123-yard, 2-TD performance in Monday night's preseason game vs. Jacksonville. Having Winston under center is good news for RB Alvin Kamara and New Orleans' WRs. But Winston himself isn't a very attractive fantasy option. He'll be working with an underwhelming group of pass catchers until WR Michael Thomas returns. And Hill still figures to steal snaps, especially in the red zone.
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler confirms that Saints QB Jameis Winston "appears well-positioned to start opening day vs. Green Bay." HC Sean Payton has yet to officially name a starter, but it'd be a surprise if it wasn't Winston after his impressive showing in the 2nd preseason game. "Winston is receiving significant locker-room support this week for the Saints starting QB job, with many teammates treating him as if he is the starter or giving indications he will get the job," Fowler adds. If you're drafting this weekend, assume Winston is the Saints' starter. He's not an appealing fantasy option -- but Winston being under center is good news for RB Alvin Kamara and the rest of New Orleans' skill guys.
Scott Bair of the Falcons official site believes Mike Davis will see “200 plus carries.” “They'll use several [RBs] in the rushing attack,” Blair says, “though I think Davis ends up the workhorse.” Our current RB projections have Davis down for 205 rush attempts, so it's a reasonable take. We’ll keep an eye on Atlanta adding another RB as teams make cuts to get rosters down to 53 by 4pm Monday. For now, Qadree Ollison looks like the team’s #2 rusher.
The Broncos don't expect TE Noah Fant to miss any regular-season time with his lower left leg injury, according to NFL Network's James Palmer. Fant has missed the past few days of practice and won't play in the preseason finale. But this doesn't sound like a serious issue. We'll keep you updated.
Rams HC Sean McVay talked about his new-look backfield of Darrell Henderson and Sony Michel on Thursday. “Wanted to make sure that we got somebody else that’s played in big-time games," McVay said of Michel, per NFL Network's Andrew Siciliano. “The goal is to get him ready to go and have him a big-time contributor on the 12th (Week 1)." Of Henderson, McVay said, "Darrell’s still going to have a very big role. Doesn’t really change the outlook for him." We at least expect Henderson to open the season as Los Angeles' lead back. But it could be a fluid situation.
Broncos WR Courtland Sutton is expected to play in Saturday's preseason finale vs. the Rams. It'll be his 1st game action since tearing his ACL last September. “I definitely want to be able to go out and play fast and just not think about anything,” Sutton said. “That was one of my biggest things going into camp — I wanted to go build that confidence in myself that my leg is completely fine and I can be who I am at a high level. I think that’s exactly what I want to do Saturday and moving forward with the rest of the season.” We're excited to see how Sutton looks this weekend -- especially after early-August reports that he was hesitant on that knee.
Bengals WR Ja'Marr Chase has had a "fantastic week" of practice, The Athletic's Paul Dehner writes. It's certainly noteworthy after an early-August report that he was struggling in camp and then a 3-drop 2nd preseason game. We're not worried about Chase's on-field performance. It's the target competition and volume projection that's keeping him suppressed in the WR rankings.
Cowboys QB Dak Prescott is back to full practice participation. “I thought he looked great,'' OC Kellen Moore said Thursday, referring to Prescott's Wednesday workout. "We’re not looking at anything from a limitation standpoint ... We're just playing ball at this point. We're fired up." Obviously, there's always chance of a re-injury, but Dallas has clearly been playing it cautiously with their franchise passer. It sounds like we should feel confident in drafting Prescott in fantasy football leagues.
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