NFL Player News

Minshew was benched half-way through the third quarter, with Desmond Ridder coming in for him. He finished his day with 10 completions for 124 yards behind an increasingly banged-up offensive line. Minshew was credited with a fumble on a botched handoff to WR DJ Turner, leading to the Bengals recovering deep in Raiders territory and an ensuing score. With Aidan O’Connell on injured reserve, Minshew’s benching indicates the second time he has fallen out of Antonio Pierce’s favor. We will see how the Raiders move forward with their quarterback situation, but Minshew’s prospects as an NFL starter took a hit.

He pointed at the tonal shift that Brian Daboll had in yesterday’s press conference, and speculated that Daniel Jones’ $23 million injury guarantee could force the Giants to bench Jones. “Just as we saw ... Russell Wilson and Jimmy Garoppolo be benched last year, and Derek Carr the year before ... to not risk those players getting hurt, I think we’re looking at the same thing with Daniel Jones right now.” Giants GM Joe Schoen held a presser today in which he said a decision on Jones would be “based on football only,” but it’s hard to take that at face value. Drew Lock would be the starting quarterback for the Giants if Jones were to be put on ice, and we might see even uglier football ahead for the Giants after their bye if that’s the case.

Ridder’s inconsistent play makes him a bad real life quarterback, but he might have enough rushing upside to be a viable low-end superflex play, particularly if asked to pass a lot as the Raiders often have while trailing. Don’t blow the FAAB budget or anything, but Ridder is worth rostering in superflex leagues.

Grier was with the fringes of the Cowboys roster in 2022, but waived him at last cuts in 2023. The Eagles released him from the practice squad to give him a chance to play in Dallas, and there’s not a better depth chart for an aspiring third quarterback to look up to than Cooper Rush and Trey Lance. Grier has two career starts, both made in 2019, and is 29 years old.

Hill detailed to Salter that the wrist had been bothering him since preseason, but it became aggravated when he was detained by police before Week 1 and an MRI revealed that he’d torn a ligament in it. When asked about the wrist injury by a Miami-area sportscaster, Hill’s agent Drew Rosenhaus said that surgery to repair the wrist was “not something I am prepared to discuss publicly” and added “that’s something that, really, will be internal between myself, Tyreek, his family, and the team.” What to take away from that for fantasy football? Hill rosterers need to hope the Dolphins keep winning, because there’s absolutely a chance that the Dolphins shut him down for the season if they are out of the playoff picture. For now, it appears likely he’ll keep playing through it.

Highsmith had just returned to the lineup after missing Weeks 4-6 with a groin injury. The Steelers look likely to continue to not place him on IR based on this quote, so this’ll probably play out much like the groin injury did. It’s a big loss — Highsmith has an 84.6 PFF pass rush grade this year — as they head into Week 11’s game against the Ravens.

Carolina’s offensive coordinator under Bryce Young’s “development” in 2023 now falls into the Caleb Williams gig. Brown was a Sean McVay disciple and holds more background as a running backs coach than as a playcaller. On the optimistic side, it’s hard to argue that Young was failed as yet another coaching staff fails to make much of him, while he and Frank Reich took turns calling plays. Brown was a fairly hot ticket last offseason as he interviewed for the Titans head coaching job, the Steelers offensive coordinator gig, and the Bears offensive coordinator opening before accepting a lower position on the staff in favor of Waldron. Elevated into yet another bad situation, Brown certainly is fighting the toughest battles an offensive coordinator can at the NFL level so far.

That doesn’t mean Pacheco will suit up for Week 11 against the Bills. He’ll be eligible to practice for up to three weeks, and could return to the playing field any time between Week 11 and Week 13. Kareem Hunt should get at least one more week as the Chiefs’ lead back. When Pacheco returns, look for Hunt to function, at best, as the 1B option behind Pacheco. Hunt’s reliability on short yardage carries could threaten Pacheco’s high value opportunities near the goal line.

Thielen is finally coming off IR after missing seven games with a hamstring injury. If he gets a full complement of routes in Week 11, Thielen could function as Carolina’s No. 1 receiver. He had 12 targets through three games before going down with the hamstring injury, and not much target competition in the Panthers offense. Thielen should be added in 14-team leagues.

Prescott’s recovery time is expected to be about three months after his procedure to repair a partial avulsion of the hamstring tendon. Prescott and the team sought several medical opinions over the past week but were left with no choice but to go the surgical route. The Cowboys’ season is over, and with it, the Mike McCarthy era has likely reached its end. Some combination of Trey Lance and Cooper Rush will fill in for Prescott as Dallas plays out the stretch. Lance could have some deep league appeal due to his rushing. CeeDee Lamb, who caught six of 10 targets for 21 yards in Week 10 against the Eagles, becomes a borderline WR2 option with Prescott out.

Thomas Brown, the Panthers’ former offensive coordinator, will take over play calling duties in Chicago. A year after flaming out as Seattle’s OC, Waldron couldn’t make it through one season with the Bears. Stacked with as much wide receivers talent as any team in the league along with No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams, Waldron’s offense ranked 31st in yards, with a meager nine touchdowns through Week 10. Chicago has the league’s fifth lowest offensive success rate heading into Week 11, and Williams has been the most inaccurate QB in football since the middle of October. The Bears are set to clean house following the season in an effort to save Williams from being one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history. It would be shocking to see Waldron get another OC job in the NFL.