Panthers WR Terrace Marshall returned for Friday night's preseason finale after missing the first 2 contests with a hamstring injury. He played 43 snaps but finished catch-less on 1 target. Marshall is off the redraft radar at this point.
Titans WR Treylon Burks injured his wrist in Saturday night's preseason finale vs. the Cardinals. The team deemed him questionable to return, which suggests it's not a significant injury. We'll update Burks' status when we know more. It's just another bump in what's been a rocky offseason for the rookie. He won't be an early-season fantasy option but still possesses enough longer-team upside to stash on benches.
Update: Burks returned to the game, scoring a TD late in the 2nd quarter.
Packers HC Matt LaFleur shared why WR Christian Watson wasn’t active for the team’s preseason finale. "Our medical staff thought it would be in his best interest to give him two more weeks before we put him in a game situation,” LaFleur said. The rookie, of course, missed a chunk of training camp following knee surgery in June. He remains a weak bet for early-season fantasy production.
Panthers HC Matt Rhule announced Saturday that K Zane Gonzalez suffered a "significant" injury that's likely to keep him out "long term," according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Further testing will determine whether Gonzalez misses the season. All you need to know is that Gonzalez shouldn't go in any fantasy football drafts.
Falcons LB Deion Jones returned to the practice field this week for the 1st time following offseason shoulder surgery. He worked with 3rd- and 4th-stringers, though, according to the team website. The highly paid also saw time on the punt team. "I'll give Deion credit, because he's going to come out here and he's going to compete," HC Arthur Smith said afterward. "He's going to work his way back in. It's going to be hard to get on the field in that room. And that's what you want with that competition. Rashaan [Evans] and Mykal Walker are doing a great job. We gotta see what Troy [Andersen] can do. [Nathan] Landman, Dorian [Etheridge]? They've had good preseasons. It's going to play itself out." Jones was the subject of trade/cut rumors before the shoulder surgery sidelined him. Atlanta would probably love to trade him for pretty much anything, which would offer salary-cap relief. Cutting Jones, on the other hand, would cost nearly $25 million in dead cap. The final year on his contract (2023) has much more cuttable terms. All of that is complicated by Jones coming off -- by far -- the poorest-graded season of his career. It seems likely that Rahsaan Evans and Mykal Walker start ahead of him, at least to open the season. Don't be afraid to just avoid the whole Falcons LB situation in your IDP drafts.
Seahawks HC Pete Carroll announced after Friday night’s preseason finale that QB age Geno Smith will open the regular season as the starter. We’d bet on Drew Lock also getting some starting time at some point this year, and neither looks especially interesting for fantasy football purposes. But Smith should be the guy if you’re grabbing a Seattle QB later in superflex or 2-QB drafts.
Panthers QB Sam Darnold suffered a nasty looking left ankle injury in Friday night's preseason game vs. the Bills. He was quickly ruled out for the game. We'll pass along an update on Darnold when we get one, but this had the look of a long-term injury. Darnold, of course, had already lost the starting job to QB Baker Mayfield.
Update: It's a high-ankle sprain, per multiple reports.
Panthers K Zane Gonzalez hurt his groin in Friday night's preseason finale. We'll update his status when we know more, but avoid Gonzalez in fantasy drafts for now.
Patriots RB Ty Montgomery suffered a leg injury in Friday night's preseason game vs. the Raiders. He was carted back to the locker room. We'll update Montgomery's status when we know more, but he's not worth a pick if you're drafting tonight. His absence would open up passing-down snaps for RBs Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson
Panthers DT Derrick Brown left Friday night's preseason game with an oblique injury and will not return. We'll see how serious the issue is for a guy who should be Carolina's top DT.
Saints QB Jameis Winston made his 2022 preseason debut on Friday night and looked sharp. He went 4-of-4 for 59 yards on a 9-play, 75-yard TD drive. Winston connected with WR Jarvis Landry for 20- and 15-yard gains and found WR Chris Olave for 19 yards. That foot injury that cost Winston a couple of weeks earlier this month looks like a non-issue. Consider Winston a QB2 to start the season -- but there's certainly spot-start QB1 potential with this revamped WR corps.
When asked whether RB Antonio Gibson will enter the season as Commanders lead kick returner, here's what HC Ron Rivera had to say: “I think you still need to see some more stuff, but you know, I think he is. I do. I think he’s done a nice job.” That's nice. Wanna guess how many total kickoffs and punts Gibson returned over his 1st 2 NFL seasons? Zero. To be fair, Tony Pollard and Cordarrelle Patterson factored heavily into their teams' kick-return plans last year. But it sure seems like another signal of a downgrade to Gibson's standing within the offense.
Titans WR Treylon Burks left Wednesday's practice early and then didn't participate Thursday. We haven't seen any report of a specific injury, and he was on an exercise bike during Thursday's practice, according to Kayla Anderson of WKRN-TV in Nashville. We'll watch for something official on this front. Burks carries plenty of risk (but still upside talent) in fantasy football drafts right now.
The Jaguars signed K Michael Badgley. He's the only K on Jacksonville's roster. So, by default, Badgley looks like the team's Week 1 starter.
Steelers HC Mike Tomlin announced Friday that QB Mitchell Trubisky will start the preseason finale. He did not specify how much each QB will play in the game. This doesn't necessarily mean Trubisky will open the regular season as starter. But it would seem to make sense for the team to get a look at Kenny Pickett to open the game if it planned to put him behind center in Week 1. We're certainly betting on the 1st-round rookie taking over at some point this season, and we'll see about the Week 1 plan. Signs points to Pittsburgh opening with the vet, though.
Texans rookie RB Dameon Pierce ran for 37 yards and a TD on 6 carries in Thursday night's preseason finale against the 49ers. Pierce started the game and handled Houston's first 4 RB carries before giving way to Rex Burkhead for a 2nd-down run on the opening possession. Pierce then converted the 3rd-and-1 play that followed and later scored the 1-yard TD run to close the drive. That marked the end of Pierce's night, with Burkhead, Marlon Mack and other playing on. HC Lovie Smith tried to temper the buzz on Pierce ahead of the game. “We’re talking a lot about Dameon, but I’m going to say the same thing for, we like what Marlon has done, Royce, Rex, Dare," he said Wednesday, per Texans Wire. "We have a good group. We have a good strong running back room.” It's pretty clear that the rookie will lead that room into the season. Just how much work Pierce gets will be the question we can't answer. And it's worth keeping in mind that no one expects this offense to rank in the top half of the league. Still, there's a case to be made for Pierce anywhere beyond the top 24 RBs in fantasy football drafts right now. The rookie moved up our RB rankings a little this morning.
Broncos WR K.J. Hamler will play a “couple snaps” in the team’s final preseason game. “Him getting into football shape and being out there in full pads, watching him run, you feel some of that speed that he has and he brings,” HC Nathaniel Hackett said. “There’s also an attitude he brings that you love to have out there. He’s just got to continually build into it.” Hamler missed most of last season following hip and ACL surgery. A fine best-ball pick at ADP, Hamler figures to be an inconsistent performer in lineup setting leagues.
ESPN's Field Yates reports that the Chiefs and WR JuJu Smith-Schuster have adjusted the wideout's contract to double his per-game roster bonus from $30,000 to $60,000. Smith-Schuster signed his original 1-year deal before the team traded WR Tyreek Hill to Miami, so clearly he has gained value to the Chiefs simply because of that move. This seems like a relative good-faith gesture: We'll reward you better if you produce. We're not sure there's any projections adjustment needed on this news, though.
Rams-Bengals joint practice Thursday ended early because of an embarrassing brawl. That included Rams DT Aaron Donald swinging a helmet, an action that now has many calling for the vet to be suspended. One issue getting in the way of swift movement on this front is that the NFL reportedly isn't in charge of player behavior at practices. That responsibility falls to the teams. So the Rams would need to take action against Donald. We'll see whether their hand is forced -- or if nothing happens to Donald. We obviously can't adjust our fantasy outlook for him until something happens. It's at least a situation to be aware of in the thick of fantasy football draft season, though.
Update: The Rams tell ESPN's Sarah Barshop that "the incident will be addressed internally, and any discipline will remain in house." Doesn't sound like they'll be doing much.
ESPN’s Jon Keim writes that Commanders WR Jahan Dotson “has been sharp since the spring.” Keim points out the rookie’s “veteran route-running savvy” and “excellent hands.” In addition, Washington reportedly believed that Dotson was one of the most “pro-ready players” in the draft. While a surprise pick at 16th overall, the team clearly has high hopes for the 22-year-old. Which version of Carson Wentz we get might ultimately decide Dotson's 2022 fantasy value.
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