NFL Player News

Smith’s “rest” designation is likely the thing we should pay attention to but his “back” designation is worth monitoring, just to be safe. Fantasy managers should tentatively expect Smith to play this week. His Thursday status will clarify things though.

Great news for fantasy football, this is. It’s also a good sign that Murray is coming out of the competitive portion of this year mostly healthy. Thus far, Murray has completed 68.6 percent of his passes for 3288 yards, 16 touchdowns, and nine picks. Those aren’t exactly franchise quarterback numbers, but Murray has probably done enough to remain Arizona’s franchise quarterback going forward while they focus their 2025 resources on the defense and offensive line.

Two can play the “claim a wideout off waivers from the team they’re playing this week” game, Texans. Sims is more of a punt returner than anything, but the Ravens have struggled in that area as Desmond King put a ball on the ground on Saturday. The rare Festivus waiver claim trade is to be celebrated.

Johnson will be able to share some intel on his old team ahead of Christmas’ game against the Ravens. The target vacuum that has emerged in Houston with injuries to Tank Dell and Stefon Diggs is an inviting fantasy football volume spot. It is unlikely the Texans would ask Johnson to be that right away, but the #RevengeGame narratives do write themselves nicely. We’d expect them to try and get his feet wet in Week 17, and maybe give him an expanded role in Week 18 and see what happens against the Titans.

Fashanu could be placed on injured reserve to open up a roster spot. He started the final five games of his season at left tackle and looks likely to be the starter at the position in 2025. That will probably have the Jets parting ways with similarly IR’ed Tyron Smith this offseason. Max Mitchell replaced Fashanu at left tackle and should get a two-game audition in the season’s closing weeks.

Porter was also listed as a DNP on Sunday’s estimated practice report. The Steelers’ CB1 is at risk of missing Week 17’s game against the Chiefs if he’s not able to get on the field even in a limited capacity on Tuesday. If Porter is unable to play, James Pierre would likely draw the start in his absence.

Sounds like a good sign for Nick Folk’s return this week. Narveson missed his only field-goal attempt for the Titans in Week 16.

Pickens is on track to return in Week 17 against the Chiefs after missing the last three games with a hamstring injury. Pickens attempted to suit up for last week’s game against the Ravens but was ruled out before the weekend. Now, with one practice left to go before Wednesday’s game against the Chiefs, Pickens has been upgraded to a full participant and should be good to go, barring any setbacks. When asked about his potential return, Pickens said, “I feel good, but I don’t make the decision. It is the coaches and doctors. Whatever they tell me to do, I’m doing.” It’s safe to say that on Monday, those coaches and doctors decided Pickens was well enough to be a full participant in practice, which is a good sign for the Steelers and his fantasy managers. Pickens will profile as a fringe WR2/WR3 against a stout Chiefs defense if active.

Canales did call him “day to day” rather than “week to week,” but Legette didn’t practice at all this past week. Until we see him on the practice field, it will be hard to believe the Panthers would put him out there for a game. Week 18 is probably a more realistic possibility for Legette’s return.

This was to be expected after Hurts was knocked from Week 16’s game against the Commanders. Hurts will need to clear protocol in time to play in Week 17’s game against the Cowboys in a game that still bears significant weight on seeding in the NFC playoff race. If Hurts can’t go, Kenny Pickett will draw his first start of the season. In relief of Hurts, Pickett threw for 143-1-1 while completing 58.3 percent of his passes. The Eagles would lean on the run as much as they can in the event of Pickett starting, but as we saw against the Commanders, the offensive ceiling was capped with Pickett under center.

His 21-day window will open today. Dobbins has missed Los Angeles’ last four games on injured reserve. That’s not exactly a promise that Dobbins will come back this week, but he could cut into Gus Edwards’ work as soon as this week against the Patriots. Practice reports will tell the rest of the tale on Dobbins’ recovery.