NFL Player News

He’ll struggle to climb above No. 4 on the depth chart.

The injury effectively closes the door on the team’s WR3 battle, with third-year pro Jalen Tolbert almost assuredly in line to start the season in the starting lineup alongside CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. Mingo has yet to fully pan out in the NFL and joined the Cowboys during the 2024 regular season, with the team hopeful a change of scenery could ignite his career. It appears as if he has avoided surgery but he could start the season on injured reserve/designated to return.

The undrafted Eastern Washington product has been tearing up the preseason gridiron after a hype-filled offseason program. “I think he’s got tremendous football instincts,” Wolf gushed. “I think he’s tremendous at the top of the route. His play strength for a shorter guy is very good. We’re excited about what he can bring to our football team.” Quotes can be deceiving this time of year, but Wolf is certainly talking like Chism will make the 53-man roster. Fantasy managers need to remember that is Step 1. Step 2 — generating actual value — probably wouldn’t come until 2026, but Chism remains an intriguing end-of-bench stash in Dynasty leagues, and maybe, just maybe someone to put on re-draft watch lists.

NFL insider Jordan Schultz was the first to report the actual signing. Judon will head to the Fins to serve in what will likely be a situational pass-rush role. During three seasons with the Patriots, Judon totaled 32 sacks in 38 games, but managed just 5.5 sacks in 17 games with the Falcons last season. Set to enter his age-33 year, it’s fair to assume his best years are behind him, but Judon should still have enough in the tank to offer a defense in a lighter-used role.

The Browns’ decision to keep four quarterbacks on the roster has felt like a possibility ever since they drafted Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round, following his unprecedented fall. Both Sanders and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel have always been near locks to make the roster, and with Joe Flacco the unquestioned QB1, the only decision to really be made was whether or not to retain Kenny Pickett. The Browns’ quarterback room isn’t great. At best, it’s a room full of question marks that may or may not have a franchise quarterback in the waiting, such as Gabriel or Sanders, but that’s still to be determined. Rostering four quarterbacks in hopes of getting a look at the younger guys later in the season feels like the most logical move for a team that has plenty of questions to answer at the position this season and beyond.

It’s not much of an update, but Harbaugh also didn’t sound like a coach overly concerned about Hopkins’ Week 1 availability. Hopkins’ knee injury was first reported on July 24, but the veteran receiver has still participated in some practices since then. We’ll assume that Monday’s absence isn’t much more than a management day until the team gives us reason to fear otherwise.

Anudike-Uzomah was a first-round pick of the Chiefs back in 2023 and has totaled three career sacks in the 34 games he’s appeared in this season. He has yet to live up to the hype that made him a top pick and will now hope to rebound in 2026 in what will be a contract year.

Dugger was playing deep into the fourth quarter with third-stringers in New England’s second preseason game, and he finished 2024 with a ghastly 34.8 PFF coverage grade — by far the worst of his five-year career. The Patriots wouldn’t get much cap relief from releasing Duggar, who is making $14.5 million a season, but Graff believes “they might do it anyway.”

With a lot of uncertainty in the wideout corps due to injuries, Barrows expects the 49ers “will lean on” McCaffrey and George Kittle early in the passing game. That is music to the ears of fantasy managers. McCaffrey being in tip-top shape is also huge news — though we’re sure we’ll see plenty of him on the injury report as always this year. The fact that he objectively looks close to 2023 form after a short 2024 comeback where he didn’t appear to be himself is great news.

McDaniel said 12 days ago that Waller was a week away from practicing, so we won’t expect too much here. The veteran tight end came out of retirement to join the Dolphins in late July and was reported to be in “tremendous shape,” but his camp-long absence suggests there’s some work to do to get him ready for the season. Waller’s fantasy outlook is tough to predict, but there’s little reason to think he’ll be more than a league-average tight end at this point in his career.

It’s important to note that McDaniel said the decision to keep Achane out of practice this week is “preventative in nature,” which seemingly downplays the severity of this injury. Achane was reported last week to have suffered a “soft tissue lower-body injury” that would keep him out between “days and weeks,” but it doesn’t sound like he’ll be at risk of missing Week 1 based on McDaniel’s update. We’ll have to revisit this the next time McDaniel provides an update on his RB1’s availability.