NFL Player News

Beachum was added to the injury report on Thursday before being downgraded to a DNP on Friday. That puts him on the wrong side of questionable heading into the weekend. Jackson Barton and Charlie Heck are both candidates to be called up from the practice squad and take Beachum’s spot in the lineup if he can’t go.

Matthew Wright was signed to the Titans practice this week and will kick for the Titans on Sunday. Fantasy managers should look elsewhere for streaming upside.

Zuerlein was placed on injured reserve back in November after suffering a knee injury in Week 8 against the Patriots. Zuerlein struggled before landing on IR, converting on just 9-of-15 field goals while making 13-of-14 extra points; now he’ll hope to end the season on a strong note over the final two weeks. Now 37, Zuerlein is on the back nine of his pro career, but still showed plenty of long-distance abilities as recently as 2023 when he converted on 5-of-6 field goals from 50-plus yards.

Tillman returned to practice last week for a handful of limited sessions. He remained limited this week and is still in the league’s concussion protocol as he works his way back from the brain injury he suffered in Week 12. Jerry Jeudy and Elijah Moore will continue to soak up targets in his absence.

Njoku tweaked his knee in Week 16 against the Bengals and failed to practice at any point this week. With the Browns easily out of the playoff hunt, there’s no reason to rush the ailing tight end back. His status for Week 18 is now up in the air as well. Jordan Akins will start in his place this week but is not on the fantasy radar.

London was upgraded to a full participant in Friday’s practice before being cleared for Week 17. He left the Falcons’ Week 16 win over the Giants with the knee issue and did not return, though that was largely because Atlanta already had the game in hand. London is back in the WR2 ranks for his date with Washington this week.

Richardson was a DNP all week, making it highly unlikely that he would play in Week 17’s game against the Giants, but Steichen is clearly leaving the door open. Joe Flacco has worked all week with the starters and would be in line to make his fifth start of the season, which would provide a boost to all Colts playmakers in the fantasy championship. History isn’t on Richardson’s side with three-straight DNPs on the ledger, but like Steichen, we’ll wait and see how things go in the coming days.

Head coach Dave Canales said after Friday’s practice that the team expects Hubbard to play in Week 17 despite the questionable designation. The Panthers’ RB1 will be in line for another solid workload for this week’s fantasy championship matchups and should be fired up in all formats as a fringe RB1/RB2.

Thielen popped up on Thursday’s injury report with a hamstring issue but was removed from the report on Friday. Whatever he was dealing with appears to be a minor concern at this point in time, as the Panthers’ veteran WR1 will be good to go against the Bucs. Thielen continues to soak up targets even in his age-34 season. In his last four games he’s caught 27-of-34 targets for 295 yards and two touchdowns and has finished as a top-24 PPR receiver in three of those games. He’ll profile as a WR3 with strong upside against the Buccaneers’ leaky pass defense.

Despite being listed as questionable, head coach Dave Canales has said the plan is for Legette to play against the Buccaneers. The rookie receiver hasn’t found the end zone since Week 9 and hasn’t had a top-24 PPR week since Week 4. With Adam Thielen also back and soaking up targets, It’s hard to view Legette as anything more than a WR5 at this time.

Young popped up on Carolina’s injury report on Friday but was still listed as a full participant in practice. The decision to add him to Friday’s report is more a formality than a concern, and he does not carry an official game status into Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers. He’ll profile as QB2 in a game that could turn into a surprise shootout.