NFL Player News

Premium five-star high school recruit who became a program legend with three consecutive First Team All-Big Ten Conference selections. Exceptional 10.7 percent missed tackle rate with 39 stops bolstered his 87.2 run defense grade. Rose to the occasion in big games, racking up 20 pressures in the two games at Oregon and Tennessee, while registering 6.5 sacks in the CFP Playoff. Tuimoloau has been extremely productive and durable, posting 21.5 TFLs with 12.5 sacks last year for the National Champs. However, a subpar 11.8% win rate and modest 77.8 pass rush grade reflect Tuimoloau’s underdeveloped toolkit that could restrict his NFL upside. His rush plan is centered around brute strength with some tempo changes and a few reliable go-to moves to rely upon. He will hesitate at the snap as bait then rip inside and toss out a credible ghost move after setting blockers up. Tuimoloau got the requisite power edge profile to be a productive NFL contributor, but needs to develop more as a complete rusher.

This should be taken with a grain of salt, but it’s a quote worth keeping in mind as training camp approaches. Austin is entering his third year as a pro and took a decent leap last season when he caught 36 passes for 548 yards and four touchdowns while averaging 15.2 YPR. Austin will undoubtedly have to battle with second-year receiver Roman Wilson, who missed nearly all of last season due to injuries, to secure the role, and veteran Robert Woods could also pose a challenge in training camp, but it appears for now that Austin has the inside edge on the battle. Who wins the Steelers’ WR2 job will matter more in a real football sense rather than a fantasy one, as the Steelers don’t figure to be a high-volume passing attack in their second year under OC Arthur Smith, meaning any receiver outside of DK Metcalf will likely be unreliable on a week-to-week basis.

Smith did not report to minicamp, as he continues to push for a long-term extension with the Dolphins or a trade to a team that is willing to give him the deal he is looking for. The veteran tight end is in the final year of a two-year deal he signed last offseason, but is looking to earn far more than the $4.640 million he’s owed after breaking out for 88-884-8 last season — all career bests. Head coach Mike McDaniel said the team is not looking to trade Smith, but until a new deal is in place, we wouldn’t assume a trade is completely off the table. With training camp roughly a month away, there is still time for both sides to figure things out.

Cimini notably puts Reynolds ahead of incumbent Allen Lazard, whom he believes could be traded to the Steelers after preseason play concludes. With Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall and potentially rookie TE Mason Taylor commanding defensive attention, Reynolds should be afforded one-on-one opportunities downfield. Although he is highly unlikely to provide weekly flex value in managed re-draft formats, he could return value as a last-round best ball pick, or occasionally be a worthwhile DFS flyer.

Polk has been limited through spring practices. Reiss counts Stefon Diggs, Mack Hollins, Pop Douglas and Kyle Williams as locks to make the roster and said Kayshon Boutte, Kendrick Bourne and Efton Chism III comprise the next tier. Reiss thinks Polk would “be deep on the depth chart initially” if he were to make the roster. Polk can still turn things around, but it has been a rough 18 months for him in New England so far and Mike Vrabel didn’t draft him.

Hendrickson did not report to minicamp last week, as his highly publicized negotiations (or lack thereof) with the Bengals continue. The star pass rusher who has racked up 35 sacks over the last two seasons is in the final year of his contract, but is seeking an extension that will pay him close to $30 million annually — nearly double the $15.8 million he’s set to earn this year. The Bengals signed receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to massive extensions this offseason and also brought back Mike Gesicki on a three-year contract. With nearly $32 million in cap space to play with this season, it’s possible the Bengals find a way to get a deal done with Hendrickson despite several highly paid players already locked into deals. This is at least a step in the right direction after Hendrickson claimed in May that conversations between him and the team stalled after the draft.

Shipley adds that “all four (running backs) get some run at some point,” but believes Etienne will have a chance to hold on to his new role under the new regime. Etienne is coming off a second-straight season in which he averaged less than 4.0 YPC and less than 5.0 yards per touch. The former first-round pick has struggled to match the success he enjoyed in 2022, and lost work to Tank Bigsby during parts of last season. The addition of speedster Bhayshul Tuten in the fourth round of this year’s draft immediately led to speculation that Etienne’s time as the Jaguars’ lead back could be coming to an end. While that still may be the case, it sounds as if he’ll have every chance to prove he’s deserving of the top role to open the season in Week 1 against the Panthers. Bigsby and Tuten still make for interesting late-round values given Etienne’s recent track history, but they shouldn’t be viewed as anything more than high-end handcuffs at this time.

This is seemingly a continuation of Legwold’s Wednesday report, where he indicated the recently signed J.K. Dobbins will “get a long look in [the Broncos’] third-down role” and quoted head coach Sean Payton complimenting Dobbins’ rushing ability. Still, this is quite the decline in projection for Harvey, who Payton assessed as having three-down potential in mid-May. Things are not yet set in stone, but Harvey may have to seriously compete for a PPR-friendly role in training camp and preseason play.

The Broncos’ mandatory minicamp has officially wrapped up, with no sign of Vele. Per Athlon Sports’ Douglas Santo, “Payton did say some players would not be attending minicamp for personal reasons.” Payton did not disclose the reason for Vele’s absence. Hopefully, this is not injury-related, and Vele is away somewhere, honing his craft. Santo adds, “reports from media who attended the Broncos’ OTAs were that Vele added muscle this offseason and his route running had been more pristine.”

Per Detroit Lions’ reporter Tim Twentyman, Choice believes “the sky is the limit” for Gibbs, whom he calls “one of the smartest running backs I’ve ever coached.” Choice is intimately familiar with Gibbs’ game, having “recruited and coached Gibbs at Georgia Tech.” While we would reasonably expect Gibbs, an elite back, to “consistently produce at a high level year after year,” Gibbs could feasibly take on a larger workload than the eighth-ranked 302 touches handled in his overall RB1 season last year. Gibbs is currently being drafted as the PPR RB3.

While confirmation of the injury’s mild severity would be reassuring, we’ll take both Tillman’s starter status and Jackson’s injury belief as positives. Tillman has beatable competition for the No. 2 wide receiver role, facing journeyman Diontae Johnson for the gig. TE David Njoku will likely function as the passing game’s No. 2 overall weapon, but Tillman should still be able to return matchup-based flex value as the de facto No. 3.