Shark Bites are the latest fantasy football news & NFL updates. Draft Sharks has been in business since 1999. And when we started, redraft was the dominant form of fantasy football. Check out what we've learned about this most basic form of fantasy football along the way.
Bills GM Brandon Beane suggested recently that WR Keon Coleman still has a lot of developing to do. Beane noted the big difference between college and NFL playbooks and that Coleman will need to learn to stay engaged on run plays.
The Bills are signing WR Chase Claypool to a one-year deal. Claypool has been in a free fall since an impressive rookie season. He totaled 451 yards and one TD between Pittsburgh and Chicago in 2022 and then just 77 yards between Chicago and Miami last year. Claypool is still only 25 and finds some opportunity in Buffalo. But there's little to suggest that he'll take advantage of it. We'll keep an eye on Claypool this summer, but he's not worth a pick in early best-ball drafts.
Per The Athletic's Dianna Russini, the Bears are trading WR Chase Claypool and a 2025 seventh-round pick to the Dolphins in exchange for a 2025 sixth-round pick. Claypool's tenure in Chicago was short-lived, as he only appeared in 10 games after being acquired from the Steelers prior to the trade deadline last year. On Wednesday, Bears GM Ryan Poles shared in a radio interview that trading for Claypool last season "didn’t work out and we were hoping for him to be a little bit more productive," signaling that a potential move was on the horizon after marking the wideout inactive for two straight games. From a fantasy perspective, moving to the Dolphins at least keeps Claypool somewhat on the radar. He'll have a hard time finding relevance ahead of his new teammates Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, but it's never a bad thing to move to one of the NFL's highest-scoring offenses. Still, he's only worth stashing in very deep leagues for now. Most 10 or 12-team league managers shouldn't take action.
Bears HC Matt Eberflus said Monday that WR Chase Claypool won't be with the team this week. He was a healthy scratch for the Week 4 loss to Denver. Claypool and the Bears seem headed for a split. We'll see if it's via release or trade, but he's not worth hanging on to in redraft fantasy leagues.
Bears WR Chase Claypool will be a healthy scratch for today's game vs. the Broncos, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Claypool had to apologize to his coaches and teammates for lack of effort in the season opener and then told the media this week that he's not being put in the best position to succeed. We'll see where the situation goes, but Claypool is off the redraft radar for now. WR Equanimeous St. Brown is expected to be active in Claypool's place today, according to Rapoport. Chicago is also replacing Nathan Peterman with Tyson Bagent as backup QB.
Bears WR D.J. Moore racked up 104 yards on 6 receptions in Sunday's loss to the Buccaneers. His 7 targets ranked second on the team and accounted for 24.1% of QB Justin Fields' total pass attempts. Moore also garnered 49.3% of Chicago's receiving yards. The Bears passed or took a sack (six of them) on 68.6% of offensive snaps, leaning that way even in the first half. We'll be curious to see if that split continues. The Bears' early tendency toward trailing opponents would certainly help to drive up passing volume. WR Chase Claypool led the team Sunday with 8 targets, catching three for 36 yards and Fields' lone passing TD. TE Cole Kmet finished with 6 targets, 4 receptions and 38 yards. Chicago heads to Kansas City in Week 3 before hosting the Broncos in Week 4.
Bears WR Chase Claypool picked up a hamstring injury in Wednesday’s practice. It’s minor by all indications, but we’ll see when the 25-year-old returns to the field.
"It's been clear early in training camp that Justin Fields has a strengthened trust in Chase Claypool. Feeding him the football, even in tight coverage, and they're connecting." That tweet comes from Chris Emma, a reporter for 670 The Score in Chicago. There's never been much question about Claypool's talent. It's been preparation and attitude. Fields spoke earlier this offseason, though, about Claypool showing improvement on that front. Of course, the big remaining question for fantasy is passing volume. The Bears ranked way behind the rest of the league in pass share in 2022. But they traded for Claypool and then paid even more for D.J. Moore. They clearly plan to pass more. How much more? We probably won't know until the season starts. Claypool will have a tough time being relevant for weekly redraft lineups. But he's interesting in the very late rounds of best ball drafts. See where all the Bears' wideouts sit in our WR rankings.
The Bears have removed WR Chase Claypool from the PUP list. That means he can begin practicing with the rest of the team Wednesday. It seems as though we don't need to worry about any physical issue here. Now we'll see if he can find enough targets.
The Bears have placed WR Chase Claypool on the physically unable to perform list for the start of training camp. HC Matt Eberflus said earlier this off-season that Claypool was dealing with a “few things,” according to ProFootballTalk. We’ll keep an eye on his status, but it doesn’t sound serious
Bears WR Chase Claypool has missed the last "few weeks," according to The Chicago Tribune's Brad Biggs. HC Matt Eberflus only said Tuesday that Claypool is "dealing with a few things," adding that the plan is to have Claypool healthy for training camp. We'll keep an eye on the situation but aren't adjusting Claypool's 2023 projections right now.
Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune shared details on the health of Bears WR Darnell Mooney. Recall that he suffered multiple torn ligaments in his left ankle last November. “From what I hear, Mooney is doing well and there is a chance he will be fully cleared before the conclusion of the offseason program, which ends with mandatory minicamp in mid-June,” Biggs said. “If not, it’s expected he will be at full speed for the start of training camp.” Good to know. Mooney, the WR58 in FFPC best ball ADP, is set to enter a contract season. The 25-year-old watched as Chicago added D.J. Moore and Round 4 WR Tyler Scott this offseason. See where Mooney slots in our updated 2023 WR rankings.
The Bears selected Cincinnati WR Tyler Scott in Round 4 of the 2023 NFL Draft. Scott played RB in high school – and it shows. He’s excellent with the ball in his hands, combining vision, contact balance, and burst to average 6.6 yards after the catch per reception last year. He also has the speed to win deep, confirmed by a 4.44-second 40 time at the Combine. Scott is a raw prospect with just 1 season of big college production and plenty of work to do in the route-running department. But he has just three years of experience at WR and is only 21, so he should have more room for improvement than your typical rookie receiver. At 5’10 and 177 pounds, he’s likely destined for the slot as a pro. But he can be a dangerous after-catch weapon with seam-stretching ability from the inside. This isn’t a great landing spot for Scott on the run-heavy Bears. He figures to open the season behind at least D.J. Moore, Darnell Mooney, and Chase Claypool. Consider Scott more of a dynasty stash than redraft factor.
The Bears agreed to a trade sending the number one overall pick in the 2023 draft to the Panthers in exchange for the ninth overall pick in 2023, the 61st pick in 2023, two future picks, and WR D.J. Moore. There's certainly a lot to take in here. GM Ryan Poles managing to swing a high-end WR in Moore to go with QB Justin Fields is a tremendous boost for the team's future. Any doubts surrounding Fields and his cast of receivers are gone, solidifying his status as a top-end dynasty QB. There's got to be bad news for someone here, though. Between this move and the deadline deal that brought WR Chase Claypool over from the Steelers, it's hard to imagine a ton of fantasy upside for WR Darnell Mooney in this offense now. TE Cole Kmet also loses some value now that he seems doomed to be stuck between third or fourth in the pecking order for targets. As far as the Panthers are concerned, this is a significant investment made into finally solving their QB woes. Going up to number one enables the franchise to put an end to exploring retread experiments as they tried with QBs Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield. New HC Frank Reich will have his pick of a young signal-caller to build toward the future with. One of either Alabama QB Bryce Young or Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud feels like a natural fit to plug in right away to a pro-style offense. Unfortunately, without Moore in the mix, this Panthers' offense is devoid of weapons for whoever ends up under center. It's tough to say right now who, if anyone, emerges from this Panthers' offense as a fantasy contributor. Free agency and the NFL Draft in April will help color in those missing pieces of information. Keep up with our coverage here at Draft Sharks as the offseason continues to unfold.
Bears WR Chase Claypool (knee) is active for today’s game vs. the Lions. He’s not a recommended fantasy play, but his return is good news for QB Justin Fields. WR Dante Pettis (ankle) is also active.
Bears WR Chase Claypool (knee) is expected to play vs. the Lions today, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Claypool has been out since Week 13. He's not a viable fantasy option, but his return is a boost for QB Justin Fields.
Bears WR Chase Claypool (knee) logged limited practice on Friday and is officially listed as questionable for Week 17 vs. the Lions. The midseason acquisition hasn't appeared in a game since Week 13 vs. the Packers due to injury. Teammate WR Equanimeous St. Brown practiced fully and doesn't carry an injury designation, while WR Dante Pettis (ankle) is questionable. Despite a quality fantasy matchup against a Lions defense that ranks as the 4th-best matchup in adjusted fantasy points allowed to WRs, it's wise to sit these wideouts in fantasy championships. The Bears and QB Justin Fields have only surpassed 200 passing yards in a game once this season. The only Bears pass-catcher that warrants fantasy consideration is TE Cole Kmet, best viewed as a low-end TE1.
Bears WR Chase Claypool (knee) managed to log limited participation in practice on Thursday. Fellow WR Equanimeous St. Brown (concussion) also practiced in a limited fashion. Neither player practiced at all on Wednesday, so this is certainly a step in the right direction. We'll continue to track the health of the Bears WR corps ahead of Week 17's game vs. the Lions on Sunday.
Bears WR Chase Claypool (knee) did not practice on Wednesday. Fellow WR Equanimeous St. Brown (concussion) also did not participate. Neither player suited up for Week 16 due to these injuries. Their availability for Week 17 vs. the Lions is up in the air as of now, but there's still a whole week of practice ahead of them. We'll keep an eye on this situation.
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