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.
The Chiefs have held RB Jerick McKinnon out of offseason practices. There’s no injury to report, as the plan is all about keeping McKinnon fresh. “Last year was a long year,” he said. “I was fortunate to make it through the whole season — every game. But those hits definitely take a toll on you. Going into Year 10, older guy, so the thing about being here — the coaching staff, medical staff, everybody’s on the same page with coming up with a plan to make sure I’m good to go for the season.” The 31-year-old is in for TD regression after scoring ten times on 128 touches in 2022.
Saints WR Rashid Shaheed will miss the team’s minicamp with a groin injury. According to team insider Nick Underhill, the injury is “not a major concern.” He’s expected to be fine for training camp. Shaheed will slot into the No. 3/deep threat role for new QB Derek Carr.
Per Broncos insider Troy Renck, WR Tim Patrick “continues to make steady progress” in his return from a right ACL tear. The injury popped up last August. Patrick looked like a deep sleeper prior to the injury following a 53-734-5 line in 2021. Now, he’ll struggle for looks in a WR corps that includes Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, and exciting Round 2 pick Marvin Mims. Even in deep best ball formats, Patrick isn’t a recommended fantasy target.
Titans OC Tim Kelly gave his thoughts on QB Will Levis’ ability to throw with different speeds. That, of course, proved problematic at Kentucky. “I think that’s part of learning how to be a professional quarterback,” Kelly said. “Yeah, he can sit there and he can rip it. He’s got a strong arm. But it’s also, to use the baseball reference, having a different pitch in your bag, too, if you need it. It’s not just having it — it’s knowing when to use it, the location of the balls, and all that.” Per long-time beat writer John Glennon, Levis’ accuracy has remained an issue in offseason practices. The 24-year-old remains just a dynasty stash.
Falcons RB Bijan Robinson is taking reps with the WRs during individual drills at minicamp. In clips posted to Twitter, Robinson looks smooth running routes and making catches. It’s not exactly a breaking news development. Robinson tallied 60 catches, 803 yards, and 8 TDs across three seasons at Texas. Keep in mind: Falcons RBs totaled only 64 targets last year, as HC Arthur Smith opted for a run-heavy approach. Our current RB projections have Robinson for 53 targets and 41 receptions.
Bills WR Stefon Diggs took part in the team’s mandatory minicamp on Wednesday. His absence lasted only one day. This should be a non-issue moving forward, so continue drafting Diggs as a mid-tier WR1.
Greg Auman of Fox Sports believes the Bucs might use more pre-snap motion and shifting in 2023. Tampa Bay utilized motion at the snap on only 7.5% of its plays last year — 2nd fewest league-wide, per ESPN. New OC Dave Canales comes from a Seattle offense that ranked 14th (17.7%) in the same category. "I would say it's unpredictable," QB Kyle Trask said of the new approach. "You don't know what you're going to get. We can come at you in different ways, then throw it over the top of your head. You just never know. You saw the success they had in Seattle [with Canales] with that philosophy, and I think you add our weapons into that, we could be very dangerous. I'm really excited to see how this plays out in the fall.” Baker Mayfield is the favorite to start Week 1. But we remain skeptical of his fantasy value outside of superflex leagues.
Colts RB Jonathan Taylor (ankle) remained sidelined for Tuesday's minicamp practice. He continues to work his way back from January's right ankle surgery. Taylor said at the time of that surgery that he expected to be ready for the start of the season. And, at this point, there's no reason to think that won't be the case. We'll continue to keep you updated on his health.
Bills WR Stefon Diggs' absence from this week's mandatory minicamp is not contract related, his agent told NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. QB Josh Allen shed some additional light on the situation this afternoon: "I know, internally, we’re working on some things not football related, but Stef, he’s my guy. Excuse my [language], I f---cking love him. He's a brother of mine. This does not work, what we're doing here, without him. We wish he was in here today and was out there on the field with us and that's not the case, but I've got his back no matter what. And again, I've got no doubt that we will figure out what's going on." Allen added that the situation is related to "teamwork" and "communication" and that part of the solution is "getting him the ball or getting more involved in the game plan." It sure sounds like Diggs wants more targets. He saw 154 of them last year, fifth-most among WRs. But he sunk from 11.0 per game over the first nine games of the season to 8.2 over the final nine (including playoffs). Diggs and the team figure to ultimately work this out. And if it leads to just a few more targets for Diggs this season, it'd certainly be good news for his fantasy value.
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.
The Jets are signing former Packers S Adrian Amos to a one-year deal worth "up to" $4 million, according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. That's likely enough money to give Amos a shot at winning a starting job. But it's less than the 2023 cap hit for S Chuck Clark, whom the Jets acquired from the Ravens in March for a 2024 seventh-round pick. S Jordan Whitehead got a one-year $5.25 million contract from the Jets in free agency. We'll see how the Jets sort their safeties through the summer, but we're not currently projecting Amos to start in our 2023 IDP rankings.
Vikings WR Justin Jefferson reported for this week's mandatory minicamp, according to ESPN's Kevin Seifert. Jefferson skipped voluntary workouts earlier this offseason, presumably because he's looking for a new contract. We'll see if he and the Vikings can come to an agreement before the start of the season.
Bills HC Sean McDermott said Tuesday morning that WR Stefon Diggs was not attending the team's mandatory minicamp and that he was "very concerned" about the situation. Diggs' agent told ESPN's Adam Schefter about an hour later that Diggs would be there for the minicamp. The team has since said that Diggs was present on Monday and on Tuesday morning but left before the start of Tuesday's practice. We'll continue to keep you updated on the situation. For now, Diggs isn't moving in the 2023 WR Rankings.
Colts WR Alec Pierce admitted that he hit the rookie wall in 2022. “I don’t know if I necessarily felt it. But I think looking back on the film [late in the season], I did feel like I just wasn’t moving as good as I was early in the season.” While bad QB play factored in, Pierce mustered only nine catches for 82 yards over the final month. The second-year deep threat also noted an offseason area of emphasis. “I definitely needed to work more on my route-running at the top of routes, creating separation,” Pierce said. He projects as a full-time outside WR for new HC Shane Steichen, but we’re not expecting Indy to resemble a pass-happy offense. Pierce isn’t someone we’re looking to aggressively target in best ball leagues — even with an ADP past WR70.
Ravens WR Rashod Bateman received a cortisone shot in his foot, per HC John Harbaugh. He’s only expected to be out for a couple of days. “We decided to let him keep rehabbing and make sure he's ready to go for training camp," Harbaugh said. We’re not concerned about the foot right now, but it’s worth monitoring after November surgery. Bateman’s missed 16 games over his first two NFL seasons.
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