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.
Tuesday morning, Adam Schefter reported of a quarterback switch in Miami. The Dolphins will start first-round rookie Tua Tagovailoa over veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick versus the Rams when the team returns from their bye in Week 8. This decision must have been the plan all along as Fitzpatrick has played extremely well, leading the team to a 3-3 record while completing 70% of his passes. In deeper leagues, we advise fantasy managers to scoop up Fitzpatrick once discarded as Tagovailoa will need to prove his durability in the NFL. The move should not impact the other fantasy options on the team as the rookie is a good passer. Expect more blitzes and attempts to confuse the youngster.
After he was benched, many rumored that Dwayne Haskins could be traded. Last week, ace beat reporter John Keim reported Washington had yet to receive trade calls for Haskins. The current regime seems to have moved on from the young passer and there does not seem to be a demand for his services. As a long-term project, Haskins will need the right team to believe in him. The timing of any trade will likely be in the offseason as he offers little in-season upside and will need to learn a new system. For the near future, Kyle Allen and Alex Smith will be active on game days.
In Monday’s press conferred, San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan said star tailback Raheem Mostert has a high-ankle sprain and is likely headed to injured reserve. A very productive fantasy back when healthy, Mostert seems to be nicked up often. His absence leaves Jerick McKinnon, Jeff Wilson, and JaMycal Hasty to carry the rock for the 49ers. Tevin Coleman is still on injured reserve. We expect Hasty will be a popular waiver-wire acquisition this week, but the team’s tailback usage varies from game to game so there is no guarantee he will be the guy any given week. Hasty is a promising young player but buyer beware.
Last Tuesday, the New York Jets released LeVeon Bell. It was a fitting end for the Bell/Adam Gase relationship. Gase was unable to take advantage of Bell’s skillset. The Jets front office did not draft him so there was no reason to keep a disgruntled Bell in a dysfunctional locker room. After signing a monster contract in 2018, New York will face salary-cap consequences for releasing Bell. Spotrac tweeted, “LeVeon Bell’s release leaves behind $15M of dead cap in 2020, & another $4M in 2021 to the #Jets. Bell earned $28M across 18 games played for NY.” On Thursday, Bell signed a one-year contract with the Kansas City Chiefs. Since he was still being paid by the Jets, Bell went to a team with a solid chance at a title. He will split time with rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire. The duo has complementing styles and capabilities. We expect coach Andy Reid to know how best to leverage each player’s abilities. We fully expect Bell to showcase enough talent to put his former coach – Gase – under pressure for how he was used in the Big Apple. As for his one-year deal with Kansas City, Jeremy Fowler tweeted, “LeVeon Bell's deal with Chiefs includes base salary of $1 million and incentives of around $1 million tied to playing time and playoffs, per source. Base prorates based on 11 games remaining -- in theory, should lighten the load of Jets' $6 million in guarantees due to offsets.---- LeVeon Bell's contract is worth $690,000 with an additional $1 million in incentives.” So, in fact, Bell did receive a small contract with the Chiefs since the Jets were already picking up Bell’s $6 million tab. We expect the veteran ball carrier to begin practicing mid-week. His role should ramp up over time.
Rookie Darrynton Evans was one of our NFL Draft favorites. He has battled injuries throughout most of his first season. After battling hamstring injuries for several weeks, he suffered a setback in the Tuesday night victory over the Buffalo Bills. Middling veteran, Jeremy McNichols, will back up Derrick Henry until Evans is back. Even though it is frustrating for Evans and fantasy managers, it is likely best that he now has three-plus weeks to get right.
If there is a tailback on the Jacksonville Jaguars roster who could push James Robinson, it is Devine Ozigbo. Ozigbo has been on injured reserve since Week 1 with a hamstring injury. Last week, Ozigbo practiced last week and could return in the next couple of weeks. The Jaguars are circling the drain without hope so the coaching staff is incentivized to see what they have at all positions.
Last Tuesday, the Green Bay Packers activated Equanimeous St. Brown from injured reserve. He is finally recovered from his knee injury. The Packers were happy to have Davante Adams back in the lineup Sunday, but the offense is short on weapons in the passing game. Allen Lazard will be sidelined until roughly Thanksgiving. St. Brown has an opportunity to move into the WR3 job. Beat reporter Matt Schneidman had a great quote from Green Bay receivers coach Jason Vrable, “I felt really, really good about him going into the season. It was unfortunate for him the knee kind of had its issues, but I'm excited about EQ. Obviously, if he gets back, he's gonna have a role for us.” Now is the time to stash St. Brown before he has a decent game. He saw a couple of targets in the loss to Tampa Bay but seemed a bit rusty, which is to be expected.
Chris Mortensen was the first to tweet a timeline for the Zach Ertz injury. Mortensen reported that Ertz would miss 3-to-4 weeks with the ankle injury. Rising star Dallas Goedert should be back on the field before Ertz. The veteran has disappointed so far this season while the youngster has excelled. We could be witnessing a passing of the proverbial torch in Philadelphia.
Last week, long-time beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot reported Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku restated his desire to be traded. He originally asked for a trade in July, but acquiesced. Still just 24 years of age, Njoku has flashed potential but has been inconsistent so far in his young career. The Browns gave Austin Hooper a big contract and drafted the promising Harrison Bryant. A former first-round pick, Njoku has enough upside that there may be suitors like the Patriots or Eagles should the Browns comply with the request. A change of scenery might do him wonders. There have been many tight ends who flourished on their second team with Delanie Walker, Jared Cook, and Darren Waller a few notable examples.
If you would like to review our most recent Dynasty rankings, here is a link.
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