NFL Player News

The Texans will have a different head coach for a fourth straight season. Fired with three years left on his deal, Smith managed to keep the Texans from exiting with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft by winning on Sunday. Smith’s defense was feisty at times, but had season-long issues dealing with opposing rushing attacks and ultimately has never presented a challenge for the league’s better quarterbacks. The offense was already bad, but stagnated further under Smith’s watch as Pep Hamilton introduced the world to Jeff Driskel as Diet Taysom Hill and couldn’t find ways to get Brandin Cooks involved in the offense. Assuming Nick Caserio also survives -- and the Texans have put out a statement that all but confirms this -- the Texans will likely start back where they left off last year’s coaching search. Jonathan Gannon is expected to be a strong candidate per Aaron Wilson.

O’Connell must only make it through the week setback-free to get the start against the Jaguars. O’Connell is just a mid-tier QB2 in this one but he at least stabilizes things for the Raiders’ pass catchers. Jakobi Meyers and Brock Bowers should return to their usual productivity levels.

Meyers made it through Weeks 14 and 15 without suffering any reported setbacks so he should be close to full health this week. With Aidan O’Connell (knee) potentially returning this week, Meyers is suddenly back in the WR3 conversation against the beleaguered Jaguars pass defense.

Smith’s “rest” designation is likely the thing we should pay attention to but his “back” designation is worth monitoring, just to be safe. Fantasy managers should tentatively expect Smith to play this week. His Thursday status will clarify things though.

This is the third Burns-related transaction for the Seahawks in the last four days. The former rotational player rejoins a Seahawks team he initially signed with in 2022. Burns is unlikely to vault into a high-volume rotational role but he could chip in here and there.

A Wednesday LP would typically bode positively for a player’s availability but with Prater coming off of injured reserve, this places him more so in the “truly questionable” category. His Thursday and Friday participation levels are worth monitoring.

Benson sprained an ankle in Week 15 and passing-down specialist Emari Demercado (back) was recently placed on injured reserve. If Benson is unable to play, James Conner will again handle a high-volume rushing workload while dominating the two-minute drill and split splitting third- and fourth-and-long situations with DeeJay Dallas.

Watt’s Wednesday return bodes positively for his Week 16 availability, putting him on track to play against the Ravens. Watt had a big impact when these teams played each other in Week 11, notching five quarterback pressures and 1.0 NFL sacks.

The Steelers appear to be highly unlikely to have their No. 2 QB active for their Week 16 game against the Ravens. Anyone stashing Fields in re-draft formats can safely drop him.

CEH was waived by the Chiefs earlier this week. He began the year on the non-football injury list and was activated a month and a half into the season. He was a healthy scratch in every game after that before being cut. With Alvin Kamara banged up, the Saints are in need of some depth at running back. Kendre Miller would draw the start if Kamara misses Week 16. Edwards-Helaire would mix in for backup duties with Jamaal Williams if he can get up to speed in time.

Pickens is likely heading toward his third consecutive missed game. The per-game timeline exaggerates his absence though; Pickens is just 13 days removed from his actual injury date, having suffered the Grade 2 strain on December 5th. While he could attempt to play through the issue this week, a Week 17 return appears far more likely.