NFL Player News

Per Mike Klis of Denver 9News, second-year linebacker Drew Sanders tore his Achilles in late April and has already undergone surgery to correct the ailment. That places the 2024 season in doubt for Sanders but the report states that the team in hopeful he can return before the end of the season. The standard six-to-eight-month recovery timetable for full Achilles tears leaves his expected return window some time from the end of October to the end of December, meaning it remains possible that Sanders could make it back in time for the end of the season. That said, there would be no reason to rush him back if the Broncos are out of postseason contention by that time. Sanders played a complementary role for the Broncos during his rookie season, managing just 258 defensive snaps, and was likely to serve in a similar capacity during his second year in the league.

Williams’ signing follows an Ian Rapoport report indicating Lions DE Josh Paschal “may miss some time” following an MRI on his injured knee. Williams has tallied 32 quarterback pressures and 2.5 NFL sacks since entering the league as a 2020 undrafted free agent.

Watson, additionally, had a brutal deep drop that likely would have been a score in the game’s opening three plays. He beat out Juju Smith-Schuster as the fifth option in the passing game today, but the lesson with the Chiefs right now is that they are going to spread the ball around. Watson will be a deep-leagues only play in Week 14, as he is every week.

He almost did it. Worthy managed a completely normal-looking 5/54/0 line on six targets where he was just a normal wideout with no hints of disappointment. He even caught a ball off the turf that was overturned in his favor by replay. But the Chiefs went for the jugular at the two-minute warning, sent Worthy deep, and the classic 2024 Worthy tale of an incomplete deep pass played yet again for us all. Worthy is a WR4 option in Week 14, but not one we’re particularly excited about against the Chargers.

Had Patrick Mahomes led Gray a little less on a deep target in the first quarter, this could have been a 5/~90/1 line. Alas. Gray has worked as a main offensive cog for most of the last three weeks and will be a borderline TE1 in Week 14 against the Chargers.

He had an uncharacteristic drop over the middle, and only managed three red-zone targets in the contest. One of them, though, he was open on a cover-zero look from the Raiders and Patrick Mahomes simply placed it to the opposite shoulder of what Kelce was looking for. Rough. He’ll be a realistic TE1 against the Chargers in Week 14 but this offense is struggling enough that it is hard to call him much more than that.

He added two long DPI penalties for a total of 46 yards you probably were not compensated for in fantasy. Hopkins’ only real sin in this game was dropping a wide-open catch over the middle of the field on a Patrick Mahomes miracle-scramble. He also one-handed a would-be touchdown out of the back of the end zone in the fourth quarter. Hopkins has not exactly been a league-winner for the Chiefs, being held under 60 yards in his three previous games. He’ll be a bottom-tier WR3 option or good FLEX against the Chargers in Week 14.

The 49ers selected Bell in the 2023 NFL draft’s seventh round after the former Michigan prospect flashed explosive traits at the NFL combine. Bell was never able to produce consistently as a receiver and likewise struggled to find his footing on special teams. He concludes his 49ers tenure with eight receptions, 90 yards and three touchdowns on 19 targets.

No full-time role for Hunt is pretty much the end of his fantasy viability as a starter. He added two catches for zero yards on four targets. He doesn’t have to be outright dropped — you certainly could argue he’s droppable if you need a roster spot — but he can be safely benched in most leagues for the time being.

He added one catch for five yards. Kansas City looked wholly unable to run when they tried in this game, with 13 of their 14 running back carries going for a combined 25 yards. Pacheco’s 34-yarder in the third quarter was both good (clearly salvaged some value for those forced to play him this week) and a little ugly (it didn’t look like he had rediscovered that next gear in the open field yet.) Splitting carries almost down the middle with Kareem Hunt on non-Perine downs and in an offense that is struggling, Pacheco certainly isn’t a must-play in Week 14 without some positive coach quotes about his role growing.

He’s taken 10 sacks in the last two weeks and the offensive line play was so bad that Joe Thuney, an All-Pro guard, kicked out to left tackle to replace Wanya Morris late in the game. A promising third-quarter drive was derailed by a 17-yard gigasack where he fumbled while backpedaling. Mahomes wasn’t without blame — he missed some open deep balls and it appeared he went to the wrong shoulder on a red zone throw to Travis Kelce, which is a rare miscommunication between those two. But it largely has not been his fault that this operation continues to struggle. A Week 14 matchup with the Chargers will probably remain firmly in fantasy football stayaway territory.