We scour the news around the NFL to bring you what matters most to you and your dynasty team: the most current news on players, both superstars and the relative unknowns, and analysis to decipher the respective situations. These are many of the major stories and not meant to be an exhaustive look at all the recent happenings around the league.
Ben Roethlisberger had secretly been dealing with an elbow injury for quite some time. During the loss to the Seahawks on Sunday, the injury became evident. He was replaced at the beginning of the second half by Mason Rudolph. Ian Rapoport tweeted on Monday, “The #Steelers announce that QB Ben Roethlisberger had an MRI on his right elbow and will need surgery this week. He is out for the season.” Mike Garafolo tweeted, “On phone with a team personnel guy as he Roethlisberger news broke: ‘Obviously it’s a huge loss because of his experience and what he’s done but with the way Mason Rudolph played in the preseason and yesterday, they’ll be in better shape than a lot of other teams would be.’” The venerable Chris Mortensen found an interesting comp for the situation. He tweeted, “When I called Jake Delhomme very early this morning, he didn't even say hello. It was, ‘You're calling about Ben Roethlisberger, aren't you? As soon as I saw it, looked just like my injury.’ - The UCL tear in right elbow, which led to Tommy John surgery in October 2007.” He followed that up with, “Jake Delhomme had the Tommy John surgery and said his arm was ‘better than ever’ six months later. Panthers finished 12-4 that next season (2008) and Delhomme started all 16 games.” Maybe there is an underlying hope for Roethlisberger. Rudolph should not impact the fantasy expectations of the skill-position players and could even be a step up, especially for former college teammate James Washington.
Something is wrong with Cam Newton. It was obvious in the loss to Tampa Bay last Thursday. Jordan Reid saw the same. He tweeted, “Cam Newton has never been the most accurate passer in the world. Now that his arm doesn’t have as much pop behind it to overcompensate for it, the flaw has become more glaring. Last night was tough to watch.” Yes, he was harassed for much of the game, but the “old” Newton would have found a way to be effective. To illustrate the pressure Newton endured, Jenna Laine tweeted, “Cam Newton was 0-10 under duress. That's the most attempts without a completion under duress in his career, per @ESPNStatsInfo. It doesn’t always come in the form of sacks and hits though. He was sacked three times and hit six, but was hurried, forced off his spot quite a bit.” The offensive line struggled in the contest, as evidenced by the poor outing from Christian McCaffrey, but Newton has rarely enjoyed playing behind a solid offensive line. Footballguys own, Chase Stuart, tweeted some context regarding how poorly Newton has played of late, “Cam Newton didn’t have a game with 0 TDs for two years, from Oct 29, 2014 through Oct. 29, 2016. He’s now failed to throw or score a TD in four straight games.” As the Panthers play the Cardinals this week, the pressure is mounting not to start the season 0-3. Jay Pauley tweeted out an interesting perspective about Newton’s playing style. His tweet had a graph depicting Carolina’s win percentage broken down by how many times the quarterback ran the ball. When Newton runs 10+ times in a game, the Panthers have won 76.6% of the time. When the rushing attempts decline to 5-9 per game, the team’s winning percentage drops to 52.1%. When he rushes less than 5 times, Carolina only wins 35% of the contests. Scott Barrett also ran some of the numbers around Newton’s effectiveness of late, “Cam Newton has failed to score a touchdown in four consecutive games. He averages just 6.0 yards per attempt over this span (worst). He's thrown seven interceptions in his last five games. Through two games this season, he totals just five carries for -2 rushing yards.” Putting the puzzle pieces together, the picture is an ugly one. Newton has lost arm strength and does not utilize his athleticism as a runner. This is a BAD combination. Veteran NFL reporter Ed Werder had another interesting note, “Cam Newton’s unwillingness or inability to run is the biggest issue for the #Panthers. They had a fourth-down play to decide game and Panthers go Wildcat and snap to McCaffrey, basically eliminating Cam as run threat.” Werder is 100% correct. Without the threat of Newton running the ball, the offense becomes sterile and predictable. After the Thursday night loss, Werder captured a great quote from Newton, “Cam Newton: ‘I’m extremely, brutally honest with people and I’m extremely, brutally honest with myself. It’s time for me to look in the mirror and do some soul-searching.’” We do not know where this is heading, but an early retirement has to be in consideration. Something must change.
The Drew Brees thumb injury rocked many fantasy teams. As fantasy players sought answers, Adam Schefter tweeted, “Saints' QB Drew Brees is expected to undergo thumb surgery as early as today that would be expected to sideline him approximately 6 weeks, per leagues sources.” It will be the Teddy Bridgewater show for a few weeks. The Saints started the season with a difficult schedule against the Houston Texans and the Los Angeles Rams. It gets a little easier soon.
Jeremy Fowler has deftly moved from a local Pittsburgh beat reporter to the national stage. He gave a timetable for Nick Foles’ return, “Nick Foles is loosely targeting a Week 11 return from his broken collarbone, per source, expecting around a 10-to-12 week recovery, depending how the bone heals.” Since Foles is on injured reserve, he must miss at least eight games. By the time the Super Bowl MVP is ready to return, the Jaguars may be out of playoff contention.
Local beat reporter JP Finlay broke the news Friday on Derrius Guice’s injury, tweeting, “Redskins moving running back Derrius Guice to injured reserve, per source. Had knee surgery earlier this week.” He followed it up with, “Guice could return after 8 weeks. We will see what happens with his recovery.” This is a huge blow to an offense needing play-makers. Sure, Adrian Peterson and Chris Thompson are decent NFL backs, but with Jordan Reed out of commission with a concussion and Case Keenum under center, the threat of a strong running game helps the offense immensely. The injury could push up the timing for Dwayne Haskins to take the reins.
After gaining his release from the Oakland Raiders, Antonio Brown signed with the Patriots. The allegations stemming from a civil suit have tainted the signing, but it makes a great team – one that pummeled the Steelers in the opener – even better. Now, the focus will turn to spreading the ball around enough to keep everyone happy. Josh Gordon, Julian Edelman, and Antonio Brown make a formidable trio for Tom Brady to target. Maybe they will not miss Rob Gronkowski. Team chemistry will be key, and Brown’s volatility will be something to monitor. Also, the new allegation may be disruptive.
As we have come to expect from New England, the team shrewdly showcased Demaryius Thomas in the last preseason game in an attempt to trade him. It worked. After signing Antonio Brown, the Patriots traded Thomas to the Jets for a 2021 sixth-round pick. In a related move, New York sent Quincy Enunwa to the injured reserve list with a neck injury. Thomas still does not look fully recovered from the Achilles injury that cut short his 2018 campaign. The Jets are building a competitive offense. Losing Sam Darnold to mononucleosis for a few weeks will not help the cause. He was unsettled for much of the Buffalo game and needs to find his groove.
On Friday, Michael-Shawn Dugar tweeted, “David Moore practiced some this week. He won’t play Sunday. But Pete Carroll is optimistic David has a chance to come back next week.” Look for Moore on your league’s waiver wire. He will have a role and could emerge as a fantasy starter is either DK Metcalf or Tyler Lockett is injured.
After landing in Minnesota following his release from Washington, Josh Doctson quickly landed on injured reserve. He was oft-injured in Washington and now ends the 2019 season ends like many of the others. Doctson was penciled in as the Vikings WR4 behind Adam Thielen, Stefon Diggs, and Chad Beebe but now the team must look elsewhere. While he is a candidate to return later in the season, each team only gets to activate two players from the list each year. Doctson may not add enough value compared to other players.
Beat reporter Jeff Miller broke the Hunter Henry news by tweeting, “#Chargers also just announced this: ‘Hunter Henry suffered a tibia plateau fracture to his left knee during last Sunday’s game versus the Indianapolis Colts. Henry will continue to be evaluated, and the timeframe for his return has not yet been determined.’" Adam Schefter gave a timetable for his return, “Chargers have thought that TE Hunter Henry’s knee injury would sideline him 4-6 weeks, per source.” This is a big blow to the Chargers offense. With Melvin Gordon still holding out, Philip Rivers has one less weapon at his disposal. The upside is that both Henry and Gordon could help Los Angeles’ late-season push for the playoffs.
Tampa Bay beat writer Greg Auman had the quote of the week after the Buccaneers victory over the Panthers referring to the slow start by O.J. Howard. Auman tweeted, “Asked Arians why things haven’t clicked for O.J. Howard: ‘You’d probably have to ask him. He has so much talent. He can play a heck of a lot better than he’s playing.’” Howard has disappointed the fantasy community and the coach is laying the blame squarely on the player. No, Arians is not known for utilizing the tight end position, but hopes were high this time would be different given Howard’s talent. Cameron Brate may be the sneaky pick-up in case Howard lands further in the coach’s doghouse.
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