How do the Cowboys feel about QB Dak Prescott's play this summer? “I thought he’s had his best camp that I’ve seen him have since he’s been a Cowboy,” VP Stephen Jones says, according to Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News. “Velocity, his accuracy, the whole thing. Obviously, as the quarterbacks get older, they get better. The good ones do. They get better every year. There’s no question in my mind, I think he’s had his best training camp he’s ever had.” We're not altering our projections on praise from the team's front office, but it's certainly good to hear -- especially considering that Prescott has to deal with losing WR Amari Cooper and likely opening the year without WR Michael Gallup (ACL recovery). Prescott sits in low-QB1 territory in our fantasy football rankings and hasn't been a specific target of ours in drafting so far. But he has displayed the upside to outperform that level and is worth a look when he stays on the board into that range.
Chiefs WR JuJu Smith-Schuster missed several practices this week with what the team deemed a "sore knee," according to Chiefs Wire. HC Andy Reid said Thursday that Smith-Schuster is progressing, though it seems unlikely he'll play in Saturday's 2nd preseason game. We'll keep an eye on the situation beyond that, but the issue doesn't appear serious.
Panthers rookie QB Matt Corral left in the 4th quarter of Friday night's preseason game against the Patriots with a left foot injury. It's not yet clear how significant the issue is, though Corral reportedly left the stadium with a walking boot on the foot. The rookie doesn't appear likely to start games this season anyway.
Patriots rookie WR Tyquan Thornton left Friday night's preseason game with a shoulder injury. The team has provided no details to this point, with HC Bill Belichick saying he doesn't know yet whether Thornton will be available for the team's next exhibition. We'll keep an eye on the situation, but there's not much relevance for redraft fantasy football leagues here.
The Texans elected not to play rookie RB Dameon Pierce in Saturday night's 2nd preseason game against the Rams. HC Lovie Smith said afterward that it was because they didn't need to see him, according to Pro Football Talk. Marlon Mack started the game, with Rex Burkhead, Dare Ogunbowale and Royce Freeman all working in as well. This doesn't necessarily mean that Pierce will lead the Week 1 backfield, but it sure seems to indicate things are heading in that direction. Pierce should certainly be the 1st Texans RB drafted (and the only one picked in many leagues). But be wary of chasing him too early. We still don't expect this to be a good offense, and the veteran RBs do figure to work in for touches. Smith said recently that all the RBs "have a certain strength."
Bengals HC Zac Taylor gave his assessment on new TE Hayden Hurst. “Hayden has a really good catch radius,” Taylor said. “He has got good burst. He has got a good understanding and feel for some of these concepts in the red zone. He’s a really good weapon for us on the field.” Hurst will fill the role left by C.J. Uzomah, who ended 2021 with 49-493-5. Consider Hurst a streaming option in opportune matchups.
Panthers WR Terrace Marshall did not play in Friday night's 2nd preseason game after aggravating a hamstring injury, according to insider Joe Person. It's just another stumbling block for a guy coming off an ugly rookie season. There's still a clear path to #3 WR duties for Marshall, but he's not worth a pick in fantasy drafts right now.
Three days after getting dumped by the Raiders, WR Demarcus Robinson has signed with the Ravens. It's obviously not a good look that Robinson couldn't crack a thin Vegas WR corps. But Baltimore's WR room is even weaker. Robinson will duke it out with James Proche, Devin Duvernay and Tylan Wallace for snaps behind WR Rashod Bateman. We'll keep an eye on Robinson but wouldn't spend a roster spot on him in any redraft or best-ball leagues.
The Athletic’s Adam Jahns considers Bears TE Cole Kmet the team’s #2 option in the passing game. No surprise there, but per Jahns, Kmet has earned the “trust” of Justin Fields and OC Luke Getsy. The young TE snagged 2 of 3 targets from Fields for 31 yards in Thursday night’s preseason game, carrying over what's been a strong training camp showing. There’s clear TE1 potential here.
Eagles RB Boston Scott returned to practice on Friday. He ended up missing a little over a week with a concussion. Scott is slated to open the season as Philly's #3 RB, although #1 Miles Sanders is dealing with a hamstring injury.
Eagles RB Miles Sanders has missed 4 straight practices with a hamstring injury. We’ll see if HC Nick Sirianni puts a timeline on the RB’s injury over the next day or so. For now, though, Sanders is tough to draft as anything more than an RB3.
The Athletic's Mark Kaboly lists Steelers QB Kenny Pickett among the team's training camp winners. The rookie got off to a slow start in camp but has evidently turned things around. "He’s been more consistent in practice, making quicker decisions," Kaboly writes. "And how can you not take into account what he did in his first preseason game? Now, he still won’t be the starter in Week 1 in Cincinnati, but he seems to be at the point where he can be trusted at the No. 2, and you couldn’t say that three weeks ago." Although QB Mitchell Trubisky remains the heavy favorite to open the season as Pittsburgh's starter, Pickett is still a strong bet to make starts.
Colts QB Matt Ryan showed some love for rookie WR Alec Pierce. “More so than anything he does on the field, it’s the combination of the work ethic, the competitiveness, all of the intangible stuff combined with the talent,” Ryan explained. “If you’re going to be a great player in this league, which I think he can be, you’ve got to have it all.” It’s been a smooth summer for Pierce, who’s most recently impressed at join practices with Detroit. “It was good to see Alec make a couple of those plays [in joint practices]– a couple of those back-shoulder plays,” HC Frank Reich said. “I thought Matt put a couple of those right on the money. Alec made the plays. Those are the kind of things we saw from Alec in college.” A Round 2 pick, Pierce looks like a dark horse candidate for 90-100 targets.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler tweeted Friday that Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold “are still in a QB battle” for the starting job. Mayfield is believed to be the heavy favorite, but HC Matt Rhule hasn’t announced who’ll get the Week 1 nod vs. Cleveland.
Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic calls TE Isaiah Likely “the talk of camp.” Zrebiec expects the rookie 4th-round pick to see a lot of time in the slot and hold a “major part” in the 2022 offense. In other words, look for Baltimore's rate of 2-TE sets to rise. There are certainly targets up for grabs in a unit that’s thin at WR. Likely isn’t a high-end athlete and goes nearly 6’5, 245 pounds, but he emerged from Coastal Carolina with a huge career line of 133-2,050-27. Likely at least needs to be on the radar in FFPC leagues.
Jaguars rookie LB Devin Lloyd has worked only on the side throughout training camp because of a hamstring injury. The Athletic reports that HC Doug Pederson thinks he might be ready for full-team work by Saturday's game against the Steelers. We'll see about Lloyd's progress through the rest of August. For now, he's an upside flier late in IDP drafts.
Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic reports that rookie S Kyle Hamilton has had a "rough" training camp. That included inconsistent performance in the team's preseason opener. The 1st-round pick is running with the 2nd-team defense. Zrebiec expects the team to "find ways" to get him onto the field in games, but that doesn't sound like a role that will make him startle in IDP leagues. We wouldn't bother with Hamilton in most redraft formats right now.
Cowboys WR Michael Gallup ran routes on Thursday for the first time since tearing his ACL last January, according to insider Michael Gehlken. “It felt great," Gallup said afterward. Gallup is still likely to open the regular season on the PUP list and miss at least the first 4 games. But he's at least making progress in his rehab.
Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic writes that rookie WR Khalil Shakir "has been outstanding this summer, to the point that the Bills are likely trying to find ways to get him involved on game days." Shakir has apparently gone from being viewed as a slot receiver to getting a lot of reps on the outside. Shakir has a shot to hit the regular season as the #4 WR, or at least the backup to Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis. Perhaps more importantly, the impressive 1st camp makes it easier to like Shakir's long-term upside in dynasty leagues.
DK Pittsburgh Sports' Dale Lolley believes Jaylen Warren has supplanted Benny Snell as the Steelers' #2 RB. Warren, a 5'8, 215-pound undrafted rookie out of Oklahoma State, has been the surprise of Steelers camp. He also looked good in the preseason opener, posting a 6-34-0 rushing line and 4-30-1 receiving. We'll continue to keep an eye on this depth chart. Of course, neither Warren nor Snell is a fantasy option without an injury to RB Najee Harris.
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