NFL Player News

Stupar has a high motor, but stands at 6'2/241 and wasn’t a starter for Penn State until a torn ACL to the team’s starting middle linebacker forced him into the lineup. He figures to be a weak side linebacker and special teams contributor in the pros. The Raiders aren’t very deep at the linebacker position, giving Stupar a chance to earn a roster spot behind projected starting WLB Aaron Curry.

Although the five receptions were a new season high, the seven-touch, 19-yard effort capped a dismal sophomore campaign for the 2023 fourth-rounder. In a year where the Bears needed any offensive spark they could get, Johnson never provided one behind struggling lead back D’Andre Swift. He failed to reach three yards per carry, and could not carve out a short-yardage niche, something other backs have had little issue doing alongside Swift. Although Johnson still has two years to go on his rookie deal, there’s no guarantee Matt Eberflus’ replacement will keep Johnson around on the 53-man roster. 26 days shy of his 24th birthday, Johnson is now a fringe dynasty league hold.

The Vikings square off with the Lions for the Conference title, with the winner securing the lone bye out of the NFC and the loser looking at a road playoff game in the Wildcard Round next weekend. The stakes could not be higher for each franchise, and the Vikings come into the contest relatively healthy considering it is the final game of the regular season.

Montgomery will miss his third straight contest as he rehabs a knee injury sustained in Week 15. The Lions square off with the Vikings in what many are calling the game of the season, with the winner clinching the No. 1 seed out of the NFC and the loser looking at a road Wildcard game.

Hot to begin the season, Kmet finished the year on the coldest of streaks as the Bears tried to hide Caleb Williams and limit the number of sacks he took as they await their next head coach. Kmet totaled 26 yards in five games after Thanksgiving. Kmet is capable of more, but he’s been party to one awful setup after another in the Windy City. Someone like Lions OC Ben Johnson could change that for 2025, but this is not an organization we would count on to make the “right hire.” For now, Kmet is a dynasty league TE2. For re-draft, he’s struggling to crack the top 20.

McCloud’s day was highlighted by a 42-yard diving grab in the first half on a nicely thrown ball from Michael Penix. McCloud had a career year in 2024 as the Falcons’ primary slot guy, catching 62 balls for 689 yards and one touchdown. He had four games with at least six receptions, most of them coming in the first half of the season. McCloud, 28, is signed through the 2025 season.

The second-year pro out of North Dakota State saw a small increase in his fullback role this season. He ended the season catching 12-of-16 targets for 111 yards, while carrying the ball 12 times for 38 yards. Luepke is likely to stick on the Cowboys in a similar role next season, though that does not carry much weight for fantasy purposes.

Swift was held without a catch for only the third time all year. The lead back for a horribly inefficient offense this season, Swift averaged under four yards per carry while scoring only six touchdowns. Swift’s setup was rotten, but NextGenStats charted him as dead last in rush yards over expected per carry. He kept the company of players like Javonte Williams and Kareem Hunt. Awful, though not something that is going to affect Swift’s contract status for 2025. The Bears for some reason guaranteed him over $6 million for next season. His going-forward fantasy status depends on whom the Bears hire to replace Matt Eberflus and what kind of reinforcements are made up front along a horrid offensive line. Swift will begin the offseason on the RB2/3 borderline.

Vaughn was forced into RB2 duties for Week 18 after the Cowboys released Ezekiel Elliott. He saw six carries against the Commanders, inflating his season totals to 17 carries for 70 yards, with three catches for 18 yards. Vaughn never really got going as more than a depth option in the Cowboys’ backfield. He finishes his second season in the NFL with minimal fantasy impact, as his size keeps him out of the backfield often, despite some burst plays. Unlikely to find a lead or daily role any time soon, fantasy managers can expect Vaughn to be a strictly depth piece without long-term fantasy considerations.

Legette injured his backside in the first quarter but he seemed fine afterward. The No. 32 overall pick in the 2024 draft, Legette had what can best be described as an up-and-down rookie campaign in a Carolina offense lacking a quarterback who could hit Legette downfield. Scoring four touchdowns on the year, he managed just four games with more than 40 receiving yards while leading all Panthers pass catchers in air yards by a wide margin. Legette, considered something of a long-term project coming out of college, profiles as a deep ball specialist, but nothing close to a No. 1 receiver.

After a somewhat absurd Thanksgiving to Christmas heater, Allen ends the season with back-to-back 25-yard outings. Beset by his now-typical lower-body woes to begin the season, Allen surprisingly didn’t miss a game after returning to the lineup for good in Week 4. Good news as he heads to free agency for the first time, but the soon-to-be 33-year-old has certainly lost a step even as he continues to compile in the short area of the field like few others in the league. Pro Football Focus charted Allen’s yards per route run as cratering from 2.36 in 2023 to a rough 1.36 (approximately). That number, of course, could say as much about the Bears’ abysmal offense as Allen’s age. The Bears will probably look to re-sign Allen after he unsurprisingly became a Caleb Williams security blanket, but he will probably have more value as a one-year rental for a contending club.