NFL

Watson was carted off after suffering a non-contact right leg injury in the second quarter of the Browns’ Week 7 game against the Bengals. The injury had the characteristics of an Achilles injury and Watson was subsequently ruled out for the rest of the game. The Athletic’s Jeff Howe reports Watson will undergo further testing to confirm the torn Achilles, but his season is likely over. He ends his 2024 completing 61.3 percent of his passes for five touchdowns, three interceptions, and a career-low 5.1 yards per attempt before completing 15-of-17 passes for 128 yards in Week 7. Dorian Thompson-Robinson stepped in for Watson in Week 7 with Jameis Winston inactive, but Winston will be in the mix to start moving forward. The Browns are on the hook for the rest of Watson’s contract, currently in year three of his fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract; he has now played exactly six full games in each year of his deal. How the Browns move forward with their quarterback situation remains to be seen, but their struggling offense will now get different looks with Watson out.

Increasingly injury prone, Samuel was labeled questionable in the second quarter before being ruled out after the break. He had zero catches on only one target before going down. Samuel has 15 touches all year, and now Amari Cooper has been added as competition.

Jennings will sit against the Chiefs while rookie WR Ricky Pearsall make his NFL debut after sustaining a gunshot to the upper body just before the regular season. A solid performance from Pearsall could endanger Jennings’ playing time going forward.

Huntley landed hard following a third quarter incompletion. He had very limited range of motion as he walked to the locker room afterward. Tim Boyle is now in the game and seems likely to finish the final 1.5 frames. Huntley was having a predictably rough start before going down, completing 7-of-13 passes for 87 yards and a touchdown. He did add five carries for 20 yards.

Pearsall will make his NFL debut after sustaining a gunshot to the upper body in August. He could see extended run against the Chiefs with Jauan Jennings sidelined. Pearsall is likely to play primarily from the slot.

The talented rookie is averaging 2.17 yards per route run and earned a career-best 10 targets in Week 5. The Rams were on bye in Week 6. Whittington finished as the PPR WR35 and WR17 in his last two game and remains WR3-viable against the Raiders.

The Patriots unleashed Maye on their first drive with nine dropbacks and just two designed runs. Maye made the most of the pass-heavy approach with a touchdown toss to JaMycal Hasty to cap the drive. It was a similar story on their second drive and Maye got another three points on the board with a field goal. Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt got more conservative on the following drives and the Jaguars stormed back to take a lead by halftime. Maye led one more scoring effort in the second half but didn’t look as in rhythm as he did on his first two drives. Still, it was a solid showing from the rookie in his second start as he didn’t commit any turnovers and was sacked just two times. He will look to get his first career win versus a punishing Jets defense in Week 8.

White is likely to handle double-digit touches but his 3.1 yards per carry average instills little confidence. Fantasy managers in need of a flex player can roll the dice on a White touchdown but this is unlikely to be a ceiling game for him. He is a low-floor/capped ceiling RB3/4.

Meyers’ absence is a big blow to the Raiders’ short-staffed pass-catching corps though Brock Bowers’ fantasy-scoring potential certainly rises. White will mix in as a member of the Raiders’ inefficient rushing attack. The Raiders also declared RB Dylan Laube, CB Sam Webb, LB Kana’i Mauga, LB Tommy Eichenberg, OG Dylan Parham and DE Janarius Robinson inactive.