NFL Player News

The Lions selected Arnold with the No. 24 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and hope to have the rookie as a starter in the secondary. However, Arnold suffered a pec injury in practice, briefly putting a wrench in those plans. Second-round rookie CB Ennis Rakestraw Jr. was also hurt in Monday’s practice with an apparent ankle injury. In addition to the two rookies, free agent signing Carlton Davis is also expected to contribute for a revamped Lions secondary that allowed the second-most passing yards per attempt last season. The good news is that Arnold is not expected to miss regular season time, while Rakestraw said he’s “perfectly fine” via an Instagram Live. The Lions will still be able to use the rookies next to Davis to improve the defense this season.

Hunt, in what could be his final game as the Chiefs’ lead back, did precious little with his 19 touches against a miserable Panthers defense. His pass game involvement (four targets) helped matters, but for a third straight outing, the veteran failed to find the end zone. Hunt could cede the starting job to Isiah Pacheco in Week 13 against the Raiders if Pacheco is able to return from his early-season leg injury.

We’ve been waiting for a “Waddle Day” all season, and we finally got it. The 25-year-old has topped 60 receiving yards just twice all season and this is the first time he’s done it since Week 1. The Dolphins now have four receivers they really like using in the passing game, which makes it tough to rely on Waddle every week, but he showed that he still has the juice. Waddle was easily able to get open against the Patriots’ cornerbacks, who were in man coverage often, and the Dolphins schemed up routes to get him ample yards after the catch. Waddle is worth having on your roster, but he remains a WR3 with all the competition for catches in Miami.

Dowdle handled 19 of the Cowboys’ 28 rush attempts in Sunday’s win. His longest gain came on a nine-yard carry, but Dowdle kept the ball moving forward with one physical run after another to keep the offense on schedule. Dowdle has now handled 29 rush attempts in the last two weeks and has 114 yards to show for his volume. He’s also caught five passes for 18 yards over that span. The Cowboys have proven more than willing to make him the staple of their backfield. He’ll make for a nice volume-based RB3 in Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day matchup against the Giants.

The Bears out-scored Minnesota 17-3 in the fourth quarter, didn’t turn the ball over on offense, and even recovered the first onside kick of the season and still couldn’t find a way to win. It was their seventh one-possession game of the year and their fifth one-score loss. The offense relied heavily on screens for the second game in a row, with both DJ Moore and Keenan Allen being fixtures of the short passing game. Williams also did damage out of structure and put his best throw of the year on tape with a rainbow to D’Andre Swift for a 30-yard gain as he scrambled to the sideline. The rookie added an additional 33 yards on six rush attempts as well. There were still some miscues including three sacks, one of which was an obvious throw-away situation in overtime. Williams refused to let the play end gracefully and took a drive-killing sack that eventually gave the ball back to Minnesota for their game-winning drive. Despite losing, this was easily the best Bears performance in over a month. It will give fantasy managers hope that Williams can creep up the QB2 ranks for his Week 13 date with the Lions.

Don’t let the reasonably decent statline fool you, this was an atrocious effort in DeVito’s first start of 2024. He entered halftime a pathetic 3-of-5 for 31 yards, finding Malik Nabers zero times in the process. He only then “kicked into gear” with the Bucs leading 23-0. DeVito was walloped — and we do mean walloped — for “just” four sacks, but it felt like twice that amount. A fourth quarter end zone spearing left DeVito ailing enough to miss a snap. He then returned after a solitary Drew Lock check down. The G-Men were not remotely competitive with DeVito starting in place of Daniel Jones, but competing won’t be the stretch-run point. Even the lowly Cowboys will probably tee off on DeVito on Thanksgiving afternoon in Dallas.

Bradford went down with an apparent leg injury in the first quarter of the Seahawks’ Week 12 game against the Cardinals. He was listed as doubtful to return. Rookie Christian Haynes entered the game for Bradford.

Yes, Mostert is battling through a hip injury, but he also seems to have been passed on the depth chart by rookie Jaylen Wright. The Dolphins didn’t have any carries inside the five-yard line today, which has been where Mostert has earned the most fantasy value over the last two seasons, but it’s hard to recommend holding onto him for just those situations unless you’re in a really deep league.

Hopkins caught one of Patrick Mahomes’ three touchdown passes but was otherwise quiet against Carolina. Targets were once again spread around among KC pass catchers, with Travis Kelce leading the bunch with just eight looks. Hopkins could be a big beneficairy if the Chiefs continue to lean on the pass after an uncharacteristically run-heavy first half of the season. He’ll be a top-30 fantasy option in Week 13 against a Raiders defense giving up the NFL’s fourth highest drop back success rate.

It was a tale of two halves for Daniels, with most of his highlights coming in the final few minutes of the fourth quarter. He completed just 9-of-16 passes for 57 yards in the first half but punched in a 17-yard rushing touchdown on the opening drive of the third quarter, finishing the day with a rushing line of 7-74-1. He would then lead three-straight three-and-outs and a “one-and-out” thanks in part to a lost fumble by John Bates as the Commanders suddenly found themselves down 20-9. Daniels would lead a 69-yard drive that he capped with a four-yard touchdown to Zach Ertz to cut the lead to 20-17, only to see that erased by a 95-yard kick return by KaVontae Turpin. With 21 seconds left in the game, Daniels hit Terry McLaurin for an unprecedented 86-yard score that was made possible by a Cowboy’s defense that refused to tackle McLaurin and end the game. Daniels struggled for most of this one, sailing several throws on the afternoon while also taking four sacks. Sunday’s game was supposed to be a get-right game for Daniels and the offense, instead it only left us with more questions as the team heads into Week 12’s game against the Titans. It’s been rough as of late, but Daniels should be a solid QB1 option in next week’s home game.

It was an eventful day for Mayfield, who also fumbled twice, losing one of them. That came at the 9:08 mark of the fourth quarter, and Mayfield suffered a stinger in the process. It was 30-7 at the time, but Mayfield still ended up returning. That’s a bullish sign for his Week 13 availability against the Panthers. With Mike Evans back in the lineup, Mayfield unsurprisingly had his best overall start in several months. He completed 80 percent of his throws and averaged a season-best 9.8 yards per attempt. Mayfield was also totally fearless, making his presence felt as a blocker probably a little too often for the Bucs’ comfort. In this strange year for quarterbacks, Mayfield will remain in the low-end QB1 mix for Thanksgiving week even with all 32 teams active.