NFL Player News

Metellus (5’11/209) was a three-year starting strong safety at Michigan who earned an All-Big Ten honorable mention as a senior after recording 74 tackles and two interceptions. An overly aggressive safety with a compact frame, Metellus was better as a downhill tackler than in pass coverage. His instincts and first step need to improve to see passing-downs snaps in the NFL, especially because he only has 39th percentile Adjusted SPARQ athleticism and 4.55 speed. While below-average as a coverage safety, Metellus may be a productive player against the run and on special teams based on his physicality.

Pierce suffered the brain injury in Indy’s Week 15 loss to the Broncos and remains in the league’s concussion protocol. Rookie Adonai Mitchell will take his place in the lineup for three-receiver looks. Mitchell hasn’t caught more than one pass in a game since Week 10. Even in an elevated role, he is buried in the WR6 ranks for Week 16.

It will be Njoku’s first practice since Week 14, though he did have a pregame workout before Week 15’s game to see if he could play. Sadly, Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s elevation to starting quarterback seems likely to cap the upside of the Browns passing game in a way that makes Njoku more of a touchdown-or-bust play at tight end. He should no longer be expected to be a sure-fire TE1 if he is able to play in Week 16 against the Bengals.

Ditto Joe Burrow. Higgins is being “managed” per Taylor, but he doesn’t have any concern about his workload in Week 16. Fire up Higgins in the WR2 as you normally would. Higgins seems likely to get this sort of treatment down the stretch. Higgins is also a potential shutdown candidate if the Bengals are officially eliminated from the playoffs.

Baltimore could have a tough time fielding enough receivers for this game without going to the practice squad as Rashod Bateman is questionable and Diontae Johnson was ruled out on Thursday. Baltimore’s practice squad wideouts are Malik Cunningham, Dayton Wade, Anthony Miller(!), and Keith Kirkwood.

This barely keeps alive his hopes of playing against San Francisco after not practicing all week. Waddle’s likely absence will leave rookie Malik Washington as Miami’s No. 3 target behind Tyreek Hill and Jonnu Smith, potentially setting him up as a deep-league FLEX or dart throw as the Dolphins take on the 49ers to try to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

DeVito cleared protocol and will back up Drew Lock as the NFL’s worst quarterback room tries to make it through the last three weeks of the season.

He did not practice all week and has not played since Thanksgiving. Darius Muasau and Micah McFadden started at middle linebacker for the Giants against Baltimore last week and should be in line to go again.

Samuel has been limited all week with the rib injury, getting in three partial practice sessions. Samuel has not been a particularly important part of the Bills game plan since Week 11’s win over the Chiefs, and if he did play he’d likely be more of a foil to Buffalo’s other receivers.

The James Conner show rides again. With Emari Demercado on injured reserve, the Cardinals only currently have DeeJay Dallas as a rostered Conner backup for Week 16. They will likely elevate Michael Carter or Tony Jones for the game. Conner is a good bet for RB1 production against the Panthers.

Kelly is in the last year of his contract and will turn 32 this offseason. The Colts drafted Tanor Bortolini as a potential Kelly replacement this year, and they’ve already had to use him quite a bit as Kelly has missed time with neck and knee injuries. The Colts’ interior offensive line could be a big source of churn this offseason with Kelly and Will Fries entering free agency and Quenton Nelson on a huge cap figure that he hasn’t played up to this year.