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 are not meant to be an exhaustive look at all the recent happenings around the league.
On Sunday morning, Ian Rapoport reported that the Seattle Seahawks are expected to have contract extension talks with quarterback Geno Smith after the season. The issue is that Smith is playing the 2022 season on a one-year deal. Rapoport reported that Smith has now shown enough to warrant being the team’s starter in 2023 and beyond. He has the Seahawks at 6-4 and in the playoff chase. Smith could enter free agency and force the team to franchise tag him or give him quality money. Still just 32 years of age, Smith has a chance to cash in this offseason.
Los Angeles Rams rookie tailback Kyren Williams was activated from injured reserve in time to play in Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. He appeared to be fully recovered from the ankle injury that shelved him in Week 1. In the loss, Williams ran the ball once (for 9 yards) and caught three passes (for 30 yards in total). He looked sharp and should soon ascend the depth chart. The porous offensive line will limit any fantasy upside. Malcolm Brown was waived in a related move. He is safe to drop if you are still hanging on to the mediocre plodder.
Over the weekend, the San Francisco 49ers activated running back Elijah Mitchell from injured reserve. He played in the Sunday night contest against the Los Angeles Chargers. With Christian McCaffrey now in town, Mitchell is relegated to backup duty. He is a high-upside dynasty stash given McCaffrey’s injury history and the run-heavy offense.
Last week, the Detroit Lions placed tailback Craig Reynolds on injured reserve. The team’s third-string running back has a rib injury and will need time to recover. Justin Jackson will fill the void until Reynolds returns. Normally, a depth back is not newsworthy, but both DAndre Swift and Jamaal Williams missed action early in the season. Reynolds has late-season upside upon his return if the injury bug hits Swift and Williams again.
Superstar receiver Cooper Kupp exited Sunday’s loss to Arizona in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury. On the play, Kupp jumped for a pass along the sideline but had his ankle rolled up on as he landed. He was in obvious pain and needed help making it to the bench. Before the injury, Kupp had caught three of his five targets for -1 yards. With John Wolford under center, the entire Los Angeles offense looked out of sorts. Sunday night, beat reporter, Jourdan Rodrigue, tweeted an update, “Multiple sources said that after initial testing on Cooper Kupp's ankle, he appears to have avoided a worst-case scenario with the injury. Important to remember, though, that he'll go through more testing in the coming days for a clearer picture of the situation.” This leads us to believe that Kupp will miss several weeks but hopes to return this season. With the way the Rams’ season is going, we are unsure if that is a good idea. Why rush Kupp back if Los Angeles is far out of playoff contention? The team sits at 3-6 presently, and the next two games are on the road.
It was surprising last Wednesday to see the reports of Tennessee Titans rookie receiver Treylon Burks possibly coming back for the game against the Denver Broncos Sunday. He had been on injured reserve with a turf toe injury. Burks injured the toe roughly a month ago and is close to full strength. Coach Vrabel spoke to reporters last week about the possibility of Burks playing against Denver, "We'll see how he is feeling … He has worked extremely hard to stay in shape and condition, take care of his body, lift. … I think this is the best he has been from the standpoint of handling a distraction. Whenever he is ready, I'm excited for him to get back out there." Between the training camp weight issues and dropped passes, Burks has been under scrutiny to live up to his first-round pedigree. Burks’ fantasy upside will continue to be limited in the run-heavy Titans offense. In the victory over Denver, Burks reeled in three of his six targets for 24 yards. While the stat line looks unimpressive, there are two positives. First, the six targets tied his career-high. Second, the game was Ryan Tannehill’s first game back from injury, and it did not look like he was at full strength.
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