NFL Player News

Boutte was arrested in January after reportedly placing thousands of bets while underage by using a fake account. Some of those bets were on LSU games while he was playing at the school. Despite the charges being dropped, his future in the league remains unclear. Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo previously said the team will “wait to hear from the league going forward,” in regards to Boutte. He has been practicing with the team this offseason and is looking to rebound from a quiet rookie campaign. Boutte caught two passes for 19 yards and appeared in just five games last year.

Committing to the run doesn’t necessarily mean a team will be productive in the running game, but we’ll see how things play out in the coming weeks. We’re still not sure which running back McCarthy will commit to, but there’s some belief that Rico Dowdle is the early favorite to get the first crack at the lead role. McCarthy gassed up his commitment to the running game in 2023 only to boast the fourth-lowest rush rate (38 percent) in neutral game scripts. Even if the Cowboys do commit more to the run, Dak Prescott and his top passing options will still feast in 2024.

Van Noy will undergo further testing to determine how much time he will miss, but the veteran linebacker is almost certain to miss multiple weeks with the injury. Van Noy joined the Ravens in late September of last year and turned in one of his most productive seasons as a pro. In 14 games, Van Noy posted a career-high nine sacks while also tallying nine TFLs — the second-highest total in his career. Giants tight end Daniel Bellinger suffered a fractured orbital bone during Week 7 of his rookie season in 2022 and didn’t return until Week 13. It’s possible Van Noy is looking at a similar recovery.

The fullback’s second carry came at a surprisingly critical moment. He lost two yards on a 2nd-and-8, helping to lead to a Chiefs punt. Steele clearly has some juice, but he’s going to remain a folk hero change-of-pace option behind Isiah Pacheco and Samaje Perine for the foreseeable future.

It was a wild night for Bateman, who also committed a pair of penalties. He was nevertheless almost the hero after he got the Ravens inside the red zone with a 38-yard grab in the dying moments. Good stuff, but Bateman seems poised to remain a wind sprint all-star on the outside as Lamar Jackson focuses on the middle of the field.

Flowers’ sixth career 10-target performance featured some really low quality looks from Lamar Jackson, including an L-Jax end zone miss that should have been the game-tying or winning score in the waning seconds. Before that, Flowers drew a pair of DPIs, one of which was wiped out by an illegal formation penalty. He also lost another grab to another illegal formation call. It was that kind of night for the Ravens. Fantasy managers need Flowers’ usage to be more creative, but the Ravens won’t always be facing a front like this. That being said, the Ravens’ protection is undeniably an issue, and could continue to limit Flowers to these shorter looks for the time being. The Raiders and Maxx Crosby are on tap for Week 2.

Smith-Schuster’s lone target was a goal-line look that probably should have been caught. Clearly just a warm body as the Chiefs wait on Hollywood Brown (shoulder) to get healthy, Smith-Schuster can remain safely left on waiver wires.

With the Ravens spending most of the game playing (closely) from behind and Rasheen Ali stashed on I.R. beforehand, Hill dominated third downs and posted a new career high for receptions. Derrick Henry still out-carried Hill 13-1. It was an uncreative game plan for the Ravens facing an imposing front with a shaky offensive line. Hill probably isn’t normally going to command this many checkdowns, but tonight’s performance makes him worth a PPR looksee as a bench stash.

Seemingly still learning the Chiefs’ offense, Perine did not tally a carry. A bad night, but it’s difficult to say how much of it was Perine’s late arrival vs. the Chiefs’ faith in Isiah Pacheco. Perine still played plenty of third downs, while the Chiefs spent most of the evening with the lead. Keep Perine stashed in deeper PPR leagues if you can ahead of Week 2 against the Bengals.

With Samaje Perine still getting up to speed on the Chiefs’ offense, Pacheco dominated backfield routes and drew three targets. His missed connection was an outside look that probably should have been caught, alas. Tonight it was “Samaje who?” but we would not assume Pacheco is out of the woods yet. He does maintain a TD-based RB1 profile for Week 2 in what figures to be a high-scoring grudge match with the Bengals.