NFL Player News

Kuntz (6'8/251") tore apart the C-USA last year in a breakout campaign, catching 73-of-112 targets for 692 yards and five touchdowns for the surprisingly bowl eligible Monarchs. His 112 targets are by far the highest number among returning FBS tight ends, eclipsing Notre Dame star TE Michael Mayer by 27 targets. It’s easy to understand why he was prioritized in the passing game so often, as Kuntz ran a blazing 4.57s 40 in addition to an outstanding 40-inch vertical leap and 10-8 broad jump. Kuntz will be a focal point of the passing game when ODU faces Virginia Tech at home on September 2 in their season opener.

Pop entered Sunday with a questionable designation because of an ankle issue. He was cleared ahead of kickoff, but the Pats relegated him to check-down duties for this game. Douglas has at least four catches in five straight games but has topped out at 62 receiving yards over that stretch. He will be a low-ceiling WR5/6 versus the Cardinals following New England’s Week 14 bye.

As expected, Allgeier’s seven-touch outing against the Broncos heading into the Falcons’ Week 12 bye was an aberration. That being said, he was a more distant No. 2 than ever behind Bijan Robinson this afternoon, as the second-year pro handled a career high 32 touches. Allgeier did get the call for some critical snaps in the two-minute drill. Allgeier’s real-life relevance won’t fade as Kirk Cousins’ play goes further off the rails, but he remains a strict contingency option for fantasy purposes.

Gibson scored his first rushing touchdown of the season on an 11-yard red zone scamper in the fourth quarter. He was explosive on nearly every one of his attempts en route to 8.4 yards per carry. Despite looking more spry than Rhamondre Stevenson in most games, Gibson is stuck in a change-of-pace role that hasn’t seen him top seven touches since Week 6. That was a game Stevenson missed. Gibson will be a low-ceiling RB5 when he comes out of the Pats’ Week 14 bye.

Robinson’s absurd 32 touches were a new career high by six. It might have been more had Kirk Cousins not kept sabotaging drives with picks. It also could have been more had Tyler Allgeier not remained bafflingly involved in two-minute/hurry-up situations. Either way, those are small potatoes complaints as Robinson not only remains in near complete control of the Falcons’ backfield, but continues to expand his touch floor. Up to seven total touchdowns and 51 receptions, Robinson is the very definition of an elite RB1 heading into Week 14 against the Vikings. The Falcons are going to do everything in their power to prevent Cousins from torpedoing that one.

Charbonnet got out-touched 18-6 by Ken Walker, but it was only Charbonnet who found the end zone. It happened after both Charbonnet and Walker got stood up from the one-yard line on an ultimately fruitless third quarter Seahawks drive. Charbonnet then punched it in from the eight in the fourth. Charbonnet is mixing in for some important snaps, but he is still lagging far behind Walker from an overall workload perspective. There’s no reason to expect that to change for Week 14 against the Cardinals.

The struggles continue to mount for Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers, who turns 41 tomorrow, threw for 185-2-1 in Sunday’s loss to the Seahawks, with his interception resulting in a 92-yard pick-six to defensive tackle Leonard Williams. Rodgers has now gone three straight games without hitting 200 passing yards, and completed less than 60 percent of his passes for the third time this season. Sitting on a 3-9 record, there’s little reason to continue starting Rodgers, who has been rumored to be dealing with a myriad of minor injuries despite his attempt to downplay them. Ulbrich didn’t exactly rule out the possibility of Tyrod Taylor making the start in Week 14 against the Dolphins, so we’ll see if a QB change comes later in the week.

The good news is that Stevenson’s touch and yardage totals were strong in this game after a quiet Week 12 that saw him amass 13 yards on eight carries without a single reception. The bad news is that Antonio Gibson looked far more explosive on his seven carries. He ran for 62 yards and found the end zone. Stevenson and the Pats will regroup during the bye, though they will emerge as considerable underdogs to the Cardinals in Week 15. Stevenson will remain a touch-based RB2 for that game.

The targets are there, but they aren’t going anywhere. Engram has had five or more targets in every game since Week 7, and has yardage totals over that span of: 35, 36, 45, 40, 28, and now 41. He’s become a touchdown-or-bust player in an offense that rarely scores. This offense simply isn’t playing well enough to support Engram’s TE1 status as a tertiary receiver. He’ll be on the borderline again in Week 14 against the Titans.

He dropped one of his incompletions, but most of them floated harmlessly out of his reach. A second potential touchdown was thrown in a spot where Thomas Jr. could only catch it and land with a foot on the line. Thomas Jr. has a score or 80 yards in five of his last seven games and will be a fantasy WR3 in Week 14 against the Titans due to the extremely deficient recent form of the Jaguars passing attack.