NFL Player News

Rice (6’0/238) is a former four-star recruit from Huntsville, AL who dreamed of playing for the Crimson Tide but was never offered by HC Nick Saban. He made his presence felt immediately, playing in 47 games and recording 219 tackles, 10.5 TFL and five PBU while being named a team captain last year. Rice lacks length, but he’s an explosive athlete with chase-down speed, as he showed during his pro day with an 83rd-percentile RAS broad jump (10’01) and 91st-percentile 40 (4.58). He is physical at the contact point and reliably drops his man. He incredibly missed only three tackles in 2020, finishing his college career with a sub-10% missed tackle rate, extremely impressive for anyone, particularly an SEC off-ball linebacker. His biggest knock is that he doesn’t change directions seamlessly, as his 7.34 3-cone drill (34th percentile) will attest. Rice is at his best when he’s crashing downhill to close on ball-carriers and is only average in coverage. He offers special teams value in addition to a starting-caliber linebacker ceiling. He comps out closely to Elandon Roberts. With the Titans already having a solid group of starting linebackers, Rice’s special teams utility will come in handy during his rookie season. He’ll likely play a backup role on defense in his first year while being a significant contributor on special teams.

Quitoriano, 24 appeared in seven games, but has not received a single target in 2024. Myles Bryant was promoted to the active roster in the corresponding move.

The 10 targets Kmet saw in Week 12 were clearly a one-off. In Thursday’s loss to the Lions, Kmet saw the volume fantasy managers have unfortunately grown accustomed to seeing. It was the sixth time this season that Kmet has seen three or fewer targets in a game, and the sixth time he’s been held below 30 receiving yards. With six teams on bye in Week 14, Kmet will be in play as a boom-or-bust TE2 against the 49ers.

Coming off back-to-back ten-target outings, Odunze saw his target volume take a bit of a dip in Thursday’s loss to the Bears. While six targets is nothing to balk at, there’s little fantasy upside to be had when you turn those looks into just two catches and 25 yards. Odunze was on the field plenty, as his 44 routes run, per PFF was just one less than Keenan Allen and three fewer than DJ Moore. Hopefully there will be better things in store for the rookie in Week 14’s game against the 49ers, where he can be treated as a WR4.

Ekeler entered the concussion protocol after taking a hit during the Commander’s loss to the Cowboys in Week 12, and he’s now missed two straight practices while recovering. If Ekeler can’t go in Week 13 against the Titans — and it seems likely at this point — it will be Jeremy McNichols as Brian Robinson’s backup against Tennessee.

The 16 targets Moore saw on Thursday set a new career high. Chicago’s WR1 entered halftime with just two receptions for seven yards but turned things on in the second half as the Bears attempted to mount a comeback. Moore came up big for the Bears late in the fourth quarter when he burnt past his defender and found himself on the receiving end of a beautifully thrown from Caleb Williams. Moore would haul in the pass for a 31-yard score to cut the Lions’ lead to 23-20, and caught another pass for 25 yards on the team’s final drive while looking to tie the game and/or take the lead. In three games with Thomas Brown under center, Moore has caught 22-of-30 targets for 265 yards and two touchdowns. He should make for a solid WR2 in Week 14’s game against the 49ers.

Lockett and DK Metcalf (shoulder) both didn’t practice for the second straight day. This could just be maintenance for the veteran wideout, but it does appear that this could be a limited group of targets for Geno Smith against the Jets in Week 13. It also could mean a heaping bowl full of targets for Jaxon Smith-Njigba. That might be the case, anyway.

Metcalf has now missed two straight practices with the shoulder issue. It’s possible the Seahawks are just taking precaution with the wideout, but missing back-to-back sessions is at least a smidgen concerning. Fantasy managers will hope he can get in at least a limited session Friday before Sunday’s contest against the Jets.

Allen was instrumental in the Bears’ second-half comeback. After being bottled up for much of the first half, Allen broke free in the secondary on several occasions, with his biggest play coming on a 31-yard touchdown to kick off the second half. Allen would put his sharp route running on display down near the goal line when he shook cornerback Amik Robertson to haul in a nine-yard score. Allen left the game briefly with an ankle injury but had it taped up and returned to finish out the day. He was seen limping a few times, but remained on the field to make a handful of key plays late. Assuming he’s good to go in Week 14, he’ll be a fringe WR2/WR3 against the 49ers.

Thursday’s loss to the Lions marks the fifth-straight game in which Swift has been held below 100 total yards. He has also failed to find the end zone in four of his last five games. He was the only running back to register an offensive touch after Roschon Johnson exited early with a concussion, but even with the backfield largely to himself, the veteran couldn’t get much going against his former team. Swift will be a volume-based play in Week 14 against the 49ers, and shouldn’t be viewed as anything more than a mid-RB2.

Coleman has now had back-to-back limited practices. The 21-year-old rookie has not played since Week 9, but seems like he has a good chance to go for Week 13 against the 49ers. Just keep in mind there’s a ton of volatility in his profile if he does get the nod.