NFL Player News

After redshirting in his 2022 rookie campaign, Austin caught 17 passes for 180 yards and one touchdown for the Steelers last season. The speedy fourth-round pick “continued to get better from the first day to the last” throughout the offseason, per Kaboly, and will have a chance to compete for a starting job on a wide receiver depth chart that is wide open after Pickens. Austin earned five-plus targets in three of his first four games to start last season, but was targeted just nine times in his final 13 games — a brutal footnote on his sophomore season. Even if he earns a “big role” in 2024, expectations should be tempered in an Arthur Smith/Russell Wilson led attack.

Graff notes that Jacoby Brissett is the starter, as he took all of the first-team reps this offseason—something offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt was very intentional about. However, Maye will have a chance to challenge Brissett for the starting job in camp. The No. 3 overall pick won’t face much competition from backups Bailey Zappe or Joe Milton, but the Patriots’ roster is such that Graff doesn’t think the staff will shoehorn him into a starting role if he’s not ready. Maye will almost certainly start at some point, as the Patriots need to see what they have in their QB of the future. But the Patriots are short on a roster talent at receiver, which could make for a difficult transition for the rookie out of the gate.

“Rookie Audric Estime is making the team,” writes Renck, who also believes second-year back Jaleel McLaughlin’s place on the roster is secure. Assuming this is correct, it would, in all likelihood, leave Williams and Perine to battle things out for the final roster spot. Perine, 28, feels like the early odd man out, but he is coming off a season in which he averaged a career-high 6.7 yards per touch while also totaling 693 yards from scrimmage — the second-highest total of his career. Williams, on the other hand, struggled in his first year back from a devastating knee injury. He averaged just 3.6 YPC on 217 carries but could rebound now that he’s nearly two years removed from his injury. It’s worth noting that Williams is a carry-over from the previous regime, while Perine, Estime, and McLaughlin were hand-picked by Sean Payton and his staff over the last two years. The Broncos’ camp battle will be one to watch throughout the summer. There could be some strong fantasy value here as McLaughlin is currently going as a low-end RB4, while Estime is being drafted well outside the top 50 at his position.

This isn’t great for Quentin Johnston, who is hoping to put a disappointing rookie campaign behind him this season. The former No. 21 overall pick out of TCU totaled 38 receptions for 431 yards and two touchdowns in 17 games last season, which included 10 starts. Despite the ample play time, Johnston was repeatedly passed by in the target pecking order. Johnston eclipsed 50 receiving yards in just three games last season and was targeted on just 13.3 percent of his routes — a dreadfully low mark. Popper reports McConkey has played primarily in the slot this spring, with Chark fitting in as “a true X.” We have a long way to go until the start of the season, but it sounds like Johnston will be battling out of the gate to earn significant reps.

According to Cronin, Williams will get “ample run” in the preseason — a plan the Bears have reportedly been discussing all spring. Head coach Matt Eberflus said the team hasn’t made any concrete decisions for the No. 1 overall pick but said, “We certainly want to get him some reps [in the preseason].” Williams enters a rookie year with lofty expectations and a roster built for immediate success. In addition to having D.J. Moore, the Bears also went out and added veteran receiver Keenan Allen and rookie Rome Odunze to give him three legitimate weapons in the passing game. Williams has been drafted as a high-end QB2 for much of the fantasy offseason but could return far more value if things click early. A substantial amount of preseason reps could help him progress at a faster rate.

We don’t know the specifics of Everett’s injury, but we’d assume it’s minor until we hear otherwise. The veteran tight end signed a two-year deal with the Bears this offseason and will work in tandem with Cole Kmet in a revamped Bears offense. Everett, 30, caught 51 passes for 411 yards and three touchdowns while averaging a career-low 8.1 YPR with the Chargers last season. As long as Kmet is healthy, Everett can be left off fantasy rosters. Everett can be activated from the NFI list at any time.

Drake made the announcement via a photo collage Instagram post, saying “he wouldn’t change a thing” about his time in the NFL. He finishes his career with 5,521 yards from scrimmage and 41 total touchdowns.

Brooks can be activated at any time. The rookie suffered a torn ACL last November while playing for Texas and is expected to be eased back into things. This news doesn’t come as much of a surprise, given the timing of his injury and the fact that head coach Dave Canales said back in June that he may not be ready for camp. As long as Brooks is out, Chuba Hubbard is expected to handle RB1 duties in the Panthers’ backfield, with Miles Sanders likely to spell him on occasional downs. It’s too early to know when Brooks could be activated from the NFI, but it wouldn’t be surprising if his absence stretched into the early part of the season.

The Packers selected Lloyd with the no. 88 overall pick in this year’s draft. In a Packers mailbag article, Schneidman notes that Lloyd “won’t be the starter, per se,” but added that he won’t ride the bench like we saw AJ Dillon do in his rookie season. Lynch brings a versatile skillset to the Packers’ offense, similar to what we saw from Aaron Jones and what we expect to see from Josh Jacobs. Schneidman also highlighted Lloyd’s shiftiness and explosiveness in traffic. Lloyd will likely open the season as the Packers’ RB2 with a chance to spell Jacobs on third downs. He’s a solid stash late in redraft leagues and has some contingent top-24 PPR upside if Jacobs were ever to miss time.

The report comes from ESPN Insider Adam Schefter. Jackson has been plagued by recurring foot issues since suffering a 2022 Lisfranc fracture but his excellent play in 2018-2019 yielded two-time Pro Bowl honors and a first-team All-Pro nod. He joins a talented Ravens safety unit that will hopefully allow him to safely play as a high-impact contributor. Despite the foot issues, Jackson recaptured some of his prior magic, producing the second-best forced incompletion rate (22.2 percent) of his career last year.

Jackson split last season between the Browns and Giants. He totaled just 30 scoreless yards from scrimmage on 19 touches and hasn’t amassed more than 98 touches in a season since being signed as a UDFA by the Colts in 2021. If he were to sign with the Texans, Jackson would likely need to show flashes on special teams to secure his spot on the roster.