Cardinals QB Kyler Murray returned to practice on Saturday. He missed 5 days with COVID but still has over a month to go before the season opener. Murray remains a high-upside QB1 in fantasy drafts.
Browns WR David Bell made his training camp debut on Saturday. Previously on the PUP list, Bell was activated following a return from a foot injury. He didn’t appear in team drills, as the Browns are bringing the rookie along slowly. Per Zac Jackson of The Athletic, Cleveland “still has high hopes” for Bell.
Ravens WR Devin Duvernay returned to practice on Saturday. He missed about 1 week of practice with a thigh bruise.
Patriots DB Kyle Dugger did not start in Friday night's simulated intrasquad scrimmage. NESN reports that he rotated in with slot CB Jonathan Jones on the "blue" team, which featured 1st-stringers. It's obviously early in the process, but this doesn't seem good for the playing time of the 3rd-year player. Dugger spent most of last season playing near full time. He came in short of 75% playing time just twice across the 1st 12 games, exceeding 80% 6 times. But his final 3 regular-season outings checked in at just 56%, 63% and 51%. Dugger rebounded to 83% in the playoff loss at Buffalo. If he continues to be more of a sub-package player through the preseason, Dugger might be hard pressed to reach 70% playing time consistently without injury to a teammate. That, in turn, would make it tough for him to deliver regularly useful fantasy points. We've knocked Dugger way down the IDP rankings for now.
Commanders LB Jamin Davis played just 56% of the defensive snaps for his 16 games as a rookie and saw no meaningful growth in his role as the season went on. Heading into Year 2, it sounds like that might not change. Cole Holcomb remains the lead LB and only 3-down player in the corps, according to ESPN's John Keim. Davis, meanwhile, is seeing inconsistent usage. That has included losing some base-package snaps to David Mayo, who Keim says the team prefers in run defense. There's obviously still time for Davis to earn more playing time before the regular season arrives. And it's just his 2nd season. But the 2021 first-round pick doesn't look like a great bet for IDP redraft leagues this year. He's still talented enough to keep stashed on dynasty rosters, however.
ESPN's John Keim says Commanders S Kamren Curl is having the best training camp among his 3 years with the team. Kim says the 23-year-old has been more vocal, displaying growth in both his confidence and his comfort within the system. Curl has reportedly seen some time in the "Buffalo nickel" role that Landon Collins played last season, which includes some LB-type duties. Curl has the versatility to play in the box and deep. He spent a greater percentage of his time in deep coverage last year vs. 2020, which is generally negative for a safety's fantasy-scoring potential. But Curl's skill set and situation give him DB1 upside for IDP leagues.
Bills S Jordan Poyer hyperextended his left elbow in practice this week. The AP reports that he's expected to miss "several weeks." That timeline could still return the vet ahead of the regular season. HC Sean McDermott also told reporters "maybe a week or 2." So we won't alter our IDP outlook for him just yet. We'll be watching for his return to the field, though.
The Broncos have LB Josey Jewell relaying plays in the defensive huddle, according to the Denver Post. It's a role Jewell filled last year, and it's not surprising given they brought him back on a sizable 2-year deal this offseason. The role puts Jewell in the green-dot helmet and should mean 3-down duty. That's obviously good for the IDP upside on a player who should stay on the board late into fantasy football drafts.
NJ.com's Chris Franklin has Quez Watkins and Zach Pascal as the Eagles' 3rd and 4th WRs right now, behind the obvious lead duo of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. That leaves 3rd-year WR Jalen Reagor fighting Greg Ward, Britain Covey and Deon Cain for what's expected to be the final 2 spots at the position. Reagor should certainly hold an edge at that level, but this standing doesn't bode well for his chances of finding fantasy football relevance.
Saints WR Michael Thomas took part in 1-on-1 drills Friday for the 1st time in training camp and impressed. "He looks exactly like he used to look, before the ankle injury," writes Luke Johnson of NOLA.com. Multiple reports had Thomas abusing the coverage of CB Paulson Adebo, who Johnson reports "had been locking up just about every receiver he'd gone against." The flow of positive reviews on Thomas' work makes it even easier to gamble on him in best-balls drafts. His Underdog ADP remains at just WR32 as of this writing.
Cardinals TE Zach Ertz left Thursday's practice early and remained out Friday. HC Kliff Kingsbury said the veteran strained a calf, according to Jess Root of Cards Wire. We'll watch for further indications on the severity. Rookie TE Trey McBride (back) also missed a 2nd straight day of practice Friday.
The Cardinals let LB Jordan Hicks walk in free agency this offseason, clearing the way for LB Zaven Collins to enter the starting lineup in Year 2. He has been working there so far in training camp. According to Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic, Collins and Nick Vigil have been the starting ILBs in the base defense. Collins has called plays in the huddle at times (green dot) but is also coming off the field in nickel and dime packages. "He's got to be able to diagnose it, see it and go, and not wait on the play to come to him," HC Kliff Kingsbury says. "I think last year he was kind of waiting for everything to unwind. I think he's still learning, but there's no doubt he's reacting faster than last year at this time." There's still time for Collins to earn more of a 3-down role, but we've moved him down our 2022 IDP rankings. The role uncertainty makes him a boom/bust fantasy option. Isaiah Simmons, meanwhile, has shifted to the "star" LB role, which will move him around the formation. Somers writes that he "seems to have a role in every package."
Packers S Darnell Savage sustained a hamstring injury in Friday night's practice, the AP reports. He downplayed the issue afterward, saying: "I don't think it's a concern. It's a fast-people injury. Some of those things you can't avoid. ... I'll be all right." We'd bet on the team proceeding cautiously in returning Savage to action. Vernon Scott stepped in for Savage on Friday.
Seahawks HC Pete Caroll was back with the team after a bout with COVID, and he had a Friday update on the QB competition: "Geno [Smith] continues to be on top. He's ahead. He's been in the lead for all of the obvious reasons and he's holding on to it and doing a really good job of battling." Carroll did add that there's still a good bit of time left in the evaluation process. "We need reps, we need turns to see more situations to really find any reason to see a difference between the guys," he said, according to The Seattle Times. So we won't consider it decided yet, but it does seem we need to consider Smith the front-runner at this point. His primary advantage is having been with the Seahawks since 2019. For fantasy football purposes, the winner of this battle only matters in superflex, 2-QB and DFS formats.
SNY’s Connor Hughes expressed concern over the Giants’ pass protection. “The pass protection, ever since the Giants strapped on the pads, is becoming a problem, Hughes wrote. “The severity of which has the potential to derail any [Daniel] Jones evaluation.” HC Brian Daboll admitted that this unit still has “a long way to go,” adding that he believes “they’re moving in the right direction.” We’ll see how this unit looks in preseason action. But it’s worth noting that they’re going up against one of the game’s most aggressive DCs in practice (Wink Martindale). New York’s also breaking in several new starters — including rookie RT Evan Neal.
Elijah Mitchell "continues to look like the clear-cut No. 1 option at RB" for the 49ers, ESPN's Nick Wagoner tweeted on Friday. That's been the consistent sentiment coming out of 49ers camp so far. Mitchell figures to lose some goal-line work to QB Trey Lance and doesn't project for a big role in the passing game. But he could still deliver value on his RB24 ADP.
Browns rookie K Cade York had his 1st miss of FG drills Friday, according to Scott Petrak of Browns Zone. That followed 17 straight makes. Cleveland drafted York in Round 4, so they should be counting on him entering the season as their guy. But it's nice to get early confirmation. York looks like a kicker we can mix in across fantasy football draft formats with relative comfort.
Bengals TE Drew Sample left Thursday's practice on a cart after hurting his left knee. HC Zac Taylor told reporters Friday that he's only expected to miss a couple of weeks, though, with a mild sprain. That should put Sample on track to begin the season on time. Sample played in every game last year but tallied only 15 targets. Sample has performed well as a pass-blocker, though. So any regular-season absence could hamper that area. The Bengals have also been without new RT La'el Collins, as he works through a back issue.
The Ravens PR staff released the 1st "unofficial" depth chart of the year Friday, with RB Mike Davis the top active player at the position. That still slots him behind J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards, who remain on the PUP. Justice Hill, Corey Clement, Nate McCrary and rookie Tyler Badie follow, in that order. These depth charts are notoriously unreliable, especially ahead of preseason debuts for nearly all teams. We'll be watching to see if Badie -- in particular -- works in earlier once the exhibition contests get rolling. In the meantime, Davis is worth considering as a low-owned, end-of-draft option for best-ball tournament rosters.
Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News noted Friday that WR Darius Slayton was running with the 3rd team. That's a notable fall for a guy who has exceeded 80 targets twice in 3 NFL seasons. We already expected Slayton to be brushed aside in this year's offense, with Kadarius Toney and Kenny Golladay entering their 2nd Giants seasons and Wan'Dale Robinson arriving in Round 2 of the NFL Draft. Consider this a signal to not even look Slayton's way much as an end-of-draft flyer in best-ball tournaments. Slayton could be in danger of missing the Giants' regular-season roster.
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