NFL Player News

Nagy’s final season in Chicago was agonizing for all involved. The team waited until season’s end to part ways with Nagy, 43, only to maintain a Bears tradition of not firing a head coach during the season -- a tradition Bears faithful surely cared about. The writing was on the wall as early as October as the Bears struggled to put points on the board and Nagy’s play calling became erratic, bordering on unexplainable. His months-long commitment to Andy Dalton as the team’s starting QB -- even after Justin Fields fell to Chicago in the 2021 draft -- was baffling. When Fields finally got the starting job, Nagy refused to use the supremely talented athlete’s running ability, treating him as a pure pocket passer with predictable results. Fields, trapped in Nagy’s backward offense, had one of the worst games in recent NFL history in Week 3 against Cleveland, completing six of 20 passes for 68 yards and taking nine sacks. Nagy’s final two years as Chicago’s head coach were quite the departure from his superb first year at the helm, when the Bears went 12-4 and made their first postseason appearance in eight years. He seemed like a fresh face who had finally brought the franchise kicking and screaming into the 21st century. The luster quickly wore off; the Bears are once again a laughing stock. The team will start anew without Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace, who also got the axe on bloody Monday. Hopefully the team’s next head coach better understands how to utilize Fields as a passer and a runner.

Jennings continued racking up explosive plays even with Deebo Samuel Sr. back in the lineup. Jennings makes for a volatile flex start against the Cardinals next week but his six Week 4 targets promisingly led the team this week.

It was the least productive game of the year for Ertz, who has topped 40 receiving yards only once this season. Continuing to serve as Jayden Daniels’ safety valve, Ertz also caught a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter to pad an already commanding lead for Washington. Ertz has been solid as far as real-life football is concerned, but his fantasy upside remains low heading into Week 5 against the Browns.

Courtland Sutton dominated targets (9) on the day in an ugly offensive environment on a day that saw Bo Nix throw for just 60 yards. Reynolds is Denver’s distant WR2 until further notice.

Mason also had a 38-yard receiving touchdown overturned by a holding penalty. He was extremely efficient, averaging 5.1 yards per carry and continues to make would-be tacklers miss both as a rusher and as a receiver. Mason is up to 23 missed tackles forced on the year. He remains an RB1 entering Week 5 against the Cardinals.

For the second week in a row, Wilson was in something of a timeshare with Josh Jacobs. Whereas last week it was closeout mode against the Titans, this time it was from the opening whistle, continuing into comeback mode. We frankly aren’t entirely sure why, as Jacobs looked like clearly the better runner. The Pack seem extremely, overly interested in keeping Jacobs fresh. Wilson still isn’t pushing for standalone RB4 value in fantasy.

Watson opened the game with nine straight completions and the Browns put 10 points on the board through two drives. That was the entirety of their output on offense as they failed to score for the remaining three and a half quarters of football. The defense scooped a fumble for a touchdown late in the game and it still wasn’t enough. To his credit, Watson caught multiple bad beats in this game. His interception hit Amari Cooper in the chest and ricocheted into the waiting arms of Raiders safety Tre’von Moehrig. He also had an 82-yard touchdown to Cooper that was called back by a holding penalty. Still, Watson struggled to diagnose pressure at times and wasn’t always able to put enough speed on the ball, resulting in a few poorly placed throws. It was far from his worst game as a member of the Browns, but he still failed to rise above a poor situation, something Watson did plenty of in Houston. Watson will look to get a 1-3 Cleveland squad back on track versus a suddenly hot Commanders team in Week 5.

It was a day of new season highs across the board as Kraft benefitted from comeback game script after the Packers fell behind 28-0. Of course, he helped end the comeback by losing a fourth quarter fumble on a Peanut punch. The increased workload might not be as illusory as it seems with Jordan Love back under center and Christian Watson (ankle) on the shelf, but Kraft still profiles as a lower-upside TE2 heading into Week 5 against the Rams.

Sunday marked Zaccheaus’ most productive day as a Commander. The veteran slot receiver caught a season-high six passes for 85 yards — also a season-high, and had two receptions of 15-plus yards. A 27-yard catch by Zaccheaus in the fourth quarter helped set the Commanders up for a short rushing touchdown to put the game out of reach late in the fourth quarter. Until we see some kind of consistency out of Zaccheaus, he can be left on waivers.

Chandler got out-touched 26-4 by Aaron Jones even with the Vikings racing out to a 28-0 lead. The Vikes were obviously trying to get Jones a little something extra in a “revenge game,” but Chandler now has just 11 total touches over the past two weeks after he reached that mark in each of his first two games. He’s a contingency-only option headed into Week 5 against the Jets.

It wasn’t the 100-yard outing McLaurin enjoyed in Week 3, but it was another strong fantasy day for the Commanders WR1. McLaurin led the team with 10 targets on the day and hauled in a 10-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to help the Commanders put the game out of reach. McLaurin’s 10 targets were the most he’s seen in any game this season. We’ll see if he can make it three straight weeks with a touchdown next week when the Commanders host the Browns. He’ll be a high-upside WR2 play.