NFL Player News

McFadden came up as Mort was naming players on the block, beginning with Albert Haynesworth and ending with unsigned restricted free agent Shawne Merriman. Merriman, though, can’t be traded until he inks his one-year tender. The No. 4 overall pick in 2008, McFadden has already missed seven games due to injury in his first two seasons and averaged just 3.9 yards a carry.

Likely has been targeted four times in each of the last two games, but has largely remained a hard-to-trust, touchdown-or-bust option since Week 1’s 9/111/1 line.

Of course he did. Andrews was left free to roam in a zone hole on his first score, a nine-yarder. He added a four-yarder in the third quarter where Jordan Whitehead completely lost track of him. Perhaps we all should have listened when the Ravens said he’d have big games. He’s back on the TE1 radar against the Browns, though this year should tell you he’ll be hard to trust until we see more volume.

Bateman reeled in a 49-yard deep shot touchdown to help the Ravens (mostly) put Tampa Bay away in the third quarter. He added another field-flipper in the second quarter for 59 yards. It’s going to be hard to predict when Bateman will explode and his target volume has remained fairly low, but this is three games over 58 yards in a row and two touchdowns over those games. Perhaps this is finally the year Bateman fulfills some long-forgotten fantasy promise.

Hill’s 18-yard touchdown scamper came as Tampa sent a full blitz at Lamar Jackson, leaving Hill and four offensive linemen alone to truck ahead the rest of the way through the red zone. Hill continues to be dynamic when targeted in the screen game, but he’ll remain a what-the-heck FLEX at best behind Derrick Henry.

Second half Derrick Henry is inevitable, and after the Ravens jumped out to a 27-10 lead, he went to work with an 81-yard run down the left sideline, a 39-yarder over the left tackle, and an easy touchdown catch where Jordan Whitehead decided that funneling Henry inside instead of trying to tackle him was a smart business decision. Henry will remain a locked-in RB1 again next week against the Browns.

He added nine carries for 52 yards. Four of his touchdowns were fairly elementary — Mark Andrews found himself wide open in (or near) the end zone twice, and a screen to Justice Hill with four blockers in front of him after a failed blitz was an easy walk-in. To formally conclude the game’s competitive section, he dumped it off to Derrick Henry in the red zone for another score. Jackson also mixed in a 59-yard bomb touchdown to Rashod Bateman over Zyon McCollum. He’s playing better than he did last year and he won the MVP last year. Jackson merely threw for 223/1/2 and 186/2/0 against the Browns last year, but he remains a likely QB1 overall rank next week.

Todd Bowles would later call the injury a “dislocated ankle.” He had seven catches for 65 yards and nine targets before leaving. His leg was trapped under Roquan Smith’s body weight and ESPN refused to show the replay and immediately speculated that Godwin would likely miss the rest of the season as he was aircasted and carted off. With both of Tampa’s top two receivers leaving Monday night with injuries, the fantasy pecking order is suddenly wide open for the Buccaneers.

ESPN’s wording is a little unclear, but it appears the ban will begin immediately, meaning Williams will miss games against the Titans and Packers. The third-year pro seems to have copped to the crime, telling ESPN he has “no choice but to take it on the chin.” He also said he is “in good spirits just ready to get back with the my brothers ASAP soon as possible.” Williams’ snaps had been down ever so slightly the past two weeks, while his targets have been dwindling for a month. It’s fair to wonder if the Lions have known for a week or two. This is a major rupture of trust between team and player after coach Dan Campbell in particular displayed unwavering public faith in Williams following his gambling ban. It’s possible his role could be decreased upon his return, but he still does things role players like Kalif Raymond and Tim Patrick can’t. Despite the headache and uncertainty, we would keep Williams around on our fantasy benches.

Smith took some friendly fire while trying to tackle Justice Hill near the end of the second quarter. Christian Izien took over at nickel. The Bucs safety was having a nice rookie year and is another big loss for a defensive secondary that has been gotten used to losing big pieces this year.

Humphrey’s knee got banged on his second interception of the game, he was checked out in the blue medical tent and walked to the locker room just before halftime. He seemed to be walking just fine, and given Baltimore’s lack of cornerback depth, he would surely have returned if he could have. He was later ruled out.