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NFL Player News

Rotoworld

  • SEA Quarterback #7
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    Geno Smith completed 18-of-25 passes for 172 yards with a touchdown and an interception while rushing for 30 yards and a score in a 26-20, Week 1 win over the Broncos.
    Smith got off to as bad of a start as you can, as he took a sack and then threw a silly interception in the middle of the field on his first pass attempt. The first half was mostly Smith trying to avoid sacks from his woeful interior line and checking the ball down, but he did show off his underrated wheels on a 34-yard scamper for a score. In the second half, he was protected better and showed off his impressive timing; particularly when throwing to Tyler Lockett. It was a mixed bag for Smith, one that fans of the signal-caller will find strengths in and doubters will find the negatives. He has a tough matchup in New England in Week 2.
  • DEN Wide Receiver #19
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    Parker Gabriel of the Denver Post mentions Marvin Mims as a potential number two wide receiver option behind Courtland Sutton.
    Mims has yet to break out in the NFL, but the 23-year-old took a big step forward last season, registering 39 catches on 52 targets for 503 receiving yards with six touchdowns. He has made the Pro Bowl twice as a return man and only played on 27 percent of the Broncos’ offensive snaps last season, so he will need to be given a larger role if he’s truly going to emerge in this offense. He led the team in catches of 40 yards or longer, so he can break a big play when given the chance, but he’ll need to beat out second-year receivers Troy Franklin and Devaughn Vele if he’s going to see an uptick in snap share.
    Burden III expected to be ready for Bears camp
    Denny Carter notes that Bears WR Luther Burden III is expected to be ready for training camp despite managing a soft tissue injury this offseason, with the expectation he will serve as the primary slot receiver.
  • ATL Running Back #7
    Bijan Robinson said the Falcons have “outlandish goals” for the team’s rushing production in 2025.
    Robinson and the Falcons believe they can improve on the ground after finishing 2024 with the league’s tenth most rushing yards and ninth most rushing scores. They were seventh in rush EPA and first in rushing success rate. “If he touched the ball every play and the defense knew, we’d still make big-time plays. He’s that guy,” QB Michael Penix said of Robinson. “He’s the guy that when you go to a Little League game, and there’s that one kid that never gets tackled, that scores every time, that’s him but in the NFL. As many times as we can get the ball in his hands, we’re going to do it.” It’s the latest sign the Falcons will be a run-first team in 2025, as they were in the final month of 2024. That could mean more consistent usage for Tyler Allgeier, though Robinson will remain the workhorse back in Atlanta.
  • TB Tackle #78
    The Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud reports Bucs LT Tristan Wirfs (knee) is likely to miss “at least the first couple games of the regular season.”
    The All-Pro tackle underwent knee surgery this week and will miss training camp and the preseason. He could be back sometime in September, though that seems optimistic right now. Bucs coaches said in June that Wirfs sitting out minicamp was strictly precautionary and that he would be ready for training camp. Instead, he will start the season on the PUP list, which will cost him at least four games. It’s an outsized loss for the Bucs offense. Pro Football Focus graded Wirfs as 2024’s top pass blocking offensive lineman. He allowed just one quarterback hit over 16 games. Wirfs’ absence will likely impact Baker Mayfield and the team’s pass catchers.
  • PHI Running Back #28
    Philly Voice’s Geoff Mosher believes Eagles RB Will Shipley is the offensive player most “under the microscope.”
    Shipley was a fourth-round pick out of Clemson last year and played sparingly out of the RB3 role. Mosher is watching how the 22-year-old will step up to fill the back-up running back role that Kenneth Gainwell - who departed for the Steelers - occupied last season. Gainwell was important in pass protection and a good presence when Saquon Barkley was out on possessions for blitz pickup and pass-catching. Mosher says, “if Shipley can show growth in those areas, he could undertake Gainwell’s role and give the offense even more optionality.” The Eagles added AJ Dillon in the offseason, though Dillon is more of a downhill-runner than a third-down back for the RB2 role. Shipley won’t have much value in redraft leagues, but could find his way to production through filling in an open role in the Eagles backfield.
  • TEN Running Back #20
    Titans coach Brian Callahan said “I think we can do a better job managing that load so they both play a little more evenly” when asked about Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears.
    Even when Spears was healthy last year, Callahan used him as more of a third-down back. Through two years, Spears has played on 253 running plays (blocking 63 times) and 626 passing plays (blocking 119 times) per PFF. Callahan also seems to always preface this with something along the lines of “in a perfect world,” as he did in both this quote and in one we blurbed earlier in May. It’s not completely out of the range of outcomes that Tony Pollard loses major snaps and carries this year — losing a few carries should be the expectation given how many games last year he played as essentially the only back Callahan trusted to run the ball. But we’re not completely sold on the idea of Spears as a 1B just yet. Spears is going to have to show more in camp or Callahan is going to have to actually give him a real snap share as a runner with Pollard active before this becomes more than offseason talk.
  • HOU Wide Receiver #13
    ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime believes Christian Kirk “looked like a potential safety blanket” for C.J. Stroud in OTAs and minicamp.
    That’s the smell of a PPR scam in development. Kirk, who has been called the “slot demon” by Texans defenders in the early offseason camp, looks like a clear No. 2 behind Nico Collins in the Texans pecking order coming into the season. It remains to be seen if Jayden Higgins or Jaylin Noel can make a real push for targets early in the season, and Kirk’s experience figures to make him at least a big part of the early-season plan for the Texans.
  • CIN Defensive End #91
    ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports the Bengals and Trey Hendrickson have “resumed talks” in recent weeks.
    Hendrickson “wants more long-term security” from the Bengals per Fowler, who also notes that Hendrickson is “dug in” and “prepared to miss time.” It’s good news for Bengals fans that the sides are at least talking again, but it sure sounds like the Bengals are going to have to give Hendrickson more than their recent offers have been to get him into training camp.
  • DET Wide Receiver #9
    The Athletic’s Colton Pouncy believes a Jameson Williams trade “could be on the horizon in 2026" if the sides can’t agree on an extension.
    This subplot had a brief little surge ahead of the draft that led nowhere, but the Lions did trade up to take Isaac TeSlaa in the third round of the draft. While the team has publicly prioritized extensions for Aidan Hutchinson and Kerby Joseph, GM Brad Holmes has been more muted while talking about Williams. Williams is entering the fourth year of his rookie contract ahead of his fifth-year option. The actions here are speaking loudly to the idea of dealing Williams after getting one more productive year out of him. It should be said, none of this speculation impacts Williams’ fantasy value this season, and coaches have raved about him all offseason in John Morton’s more downfield-focused attack. But the Lions have not appeared to prioritize a Williams extension and this could shape up to be the last dance for him in Detroit.
  • PIT Running Back #84
    The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo believes Cordarrelle Patterson “could find himself on the outside looking in” for a roster spot in 2025.
    “The Steelers’ backfield is full with rookie Kaleb Johnson and offseason signing Kenneth Gainwell joining Jaylen Warren. It remains to be seen if OC Arthur Smith will lobby for the hybrid RB/WR to remain on the roster as a Swiss Army knife,” DeFabo continues. Patterson only had 32 carries for 135 yards last year, but it would be a little surprising for the Steelers to cut bait with one of the greatest kickoff returners in NFL history. Entering his age-34 season, Patterson will need to keep impressing in camp to retain his spot on the roster.
  • CLE Running Back #34
    The Athletic’s Zac Jackson believes that Jerome Ford is “the starter for now” and will “still play and probably start early in the season.”
    “How many opportunities — and how soon they come — will probably be decided by how Judkins plays and progresses this summer,” writes Jackson in discerning that rookie back Quinshon Judkins is the player to watch for the Browns in training camp. It shouldn’t surprise anybody, given his offseason pay cut, that Ford is on borrowed time, but this report is at least a little optimistic about him holding some fantasy value in 2025. If Ford can start for a month or so then hang on as the team’s main third-down back, he’ll have some runouts where he’s a worthwhile RB3 this year.