NFL Player News

Midwestern State held its Pro Day on Thursday, and Silatolu improved his broad jump to 9'3" and vertical to 32" after standing on 28 bench press reps from the Combine. The 6'4/314 pound behemoth moves well for his size and punishes defensive linemen on contact. The 2012 guard class is incredibly deep, but Silatolu warrants some comparisons to 2010 first-round pick Mike Iupati.

Though Mahomes is “built differently,” per Rapoport, and won’t miss the usual 4-6 weeks it takes to recover from a high ankle sprain, his Week 16 status is in doubt. That would mean Carson Wentz would get the nod for KC against the Texans. It would be a marked downgrade for Travis Kelce, DeAndre Hopkins, and the rest of the Chiefs pass catchers. The team will do everything in its power to have Mahomes ready to go for the postseason.

Hockenson is Minnesota’s man-beater, and the Bears rarely bothered getting out of zone coverage tonight so he didn’t have much to work with. He did break up a near-interception by playing defensive back on a ball over the middle from Sam Darnold that was bearing in on Kevin Byard’s hands. He also converted a third-and-15 with a 16-yard catch and added a five-yard DPI. He’ll remain a functional low-end TE1 in Week 16 against the Seahawks.

He added a 30-yard defensive pass interference penalty in the end zone that set up a Cam Akers score. Addison had scored six touchdowns in his last six games, but we’d argue nine targets is still a very strong signal for his rest-of-season involvement even if he didn’t quite land the knockout blow in this one. Addison will remain on the WR2 line against the Seahawks in Week 16.

Tucker fell victim to inadequate quarterback play from fill-in starter Desmond Ridder on a night Aidan O’Connell was held out due to injury. Furthering his struggles was a game environment in which both teams largely struggled to move the football while combining for just 277 yards through the air. Tucker’s next opportunity to return a usable fantasy score comes in Week 16 against the pass-funnel Jaguars.

His touchdown came as he ran a crosser in the back of the end zone and blew by a trail defender, it was one of the most open looks he’s had all season. Unfortunately Jefferson dropped another ball near the five-yard line that looked like it had scoring potential when he tried to turn and run with the ball before it got there. Jefferson took another Sam Darnold pass 17 yards to the one before Aaron Jones vultured the score. Jefferson will remain a high-end WR1 in Week 16, even with a draw against a stingy Seahawks pass defense.

The entire offense struggled for more than three quarters, with Jakobi Meyers eventually leading the team in receiving while notching all five of his receptions on the final two drives of the game. Help appears to be on the way for Bowers and the rest of the pass-catching corps after Aidan O’Connell nearly played against the Falcons after not practicing all week, making it likely he returns for a Week 16 showdown with the struggling Jaguars.

All five of Meyers’ receptions came on the final two drives of the game for a Raiders team that struggled to move the football for more than three quarters. The general ineptitude of the Atlanta offense kept Las Vegas within striking distance in a game that came down to two Hail Mary attempts from Desmond Ridder. The veteran wide receiver appears likely to get back Aidan O’Connell for a Week 16 matchup with the Jaguars.

Akers had just three carries before things got out of hand, then salted away the fourth quarter with a one-yard touchdown to take the score to 27-6 and was given additional closeout work. His role feels as strong as you can get on a non-committee team, but it doesn’t amount to much more in fantasy than touchdown-or-bust. He finished with 21 snaps to Aaron Jones’ 47.

Sincere McCormick earned the start for the second consecutive week before bowing out in the second quarter with an ankle injury he initially attempted to play through, after which time Mattison served as the primary rusher to little effect. The team rotated pass-catching specialist Ameer Abdullah through at an elevated rate considering the negative game environment, who amassed 58 yards through the air on seven receptions to go along with eight yards on three carries. There is little fantasy value in a backfield averaging the fewest rush yards per game this season, regardless of McCormick’s status moving forward.

That makes touchdowns in three of four games for Jones. The Vikings had some trouble establishing it in the first half as they struggled with penalties and Jones had a pair of negative-one yard carries on a tough 15-play drive that ended with a pick. But they finally cracked Chicago’s defense late in the third quarter as Jones took seven carries on a 12-play drive that he capped with a score. Jones ceded some late playing time to Cam Akers, but that was about the game situation. He’ll be in the RB2 ranks for Week 16’s game against the Seahawks.