Cabot later writes that “the Browns really need Jeudy to return to his Pro Bowl form, and are confident he will.” We think her initial, hopeful framing is closer to the truth. Last week, Browns general manager Andrew Berry said rookie WRs KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston’s presence has “zero impact” on Jeudy. There’s an awful lot of reassurance going on here. Jeudy posted a 92/1,229/4 receiving line in 2024 before cratering to a 50/602/2 receiving line in 2025. Jeudy is under contract through 2027, but the dead money and salary cap savings are nearly even if designated as a post-June 1 cut next year. Given the Browns’ pass-catching investments over the last two drafts, and Jeudy’s poor 2025 showing, he looks like a dicey pick in fantasy for 2026.
According to ESPN’s Ryan McFadden, Mendoza took just five snaps under center over the course of his three-year college career. He took 2,073 snaps in shotgun formation. Mendonz said he is focused on footwork, particularly the first two steps, “securing the snap and getting out of there,” right now. He’s also been conducting walk-throughs at the team hotel with his fellow rookies over the past two nights, taking 25-50 snaps under center with each offensive lineman. Raiders veteran QB Kirk Cousins spent three seasons with head coach Klint Kubiak, as members of the Vikings, so Cousins, 37, will have an obvious edge in organized team activities later this month. That said, given Mendoza’s smarts and work ethic, we expect him to make playing style adjustments very quickly. No. 1 overall picks don’t stay in the backup role for long.
In his “bold predictions” piece, Shipley said he also believes Boerkircher will play on 45.0 percent of the team’s offensive snaps, catch 16 passes, produce 200 yards and score three times. In other words, he is very unlikely to be fantasy-relevant. That said, Shipley’s most notable point is that Boerkircher “has in-line blocking value as well as the ability to be detached from the line of scrimmage” and can block well on the outside, which is a plus for the Jaguars’ run game. The team has consistently harped on improving the run game this offseason. If Boerkircher can quickly establish himself as the Jaguars’ TE2, the impact could trickle down to RBs Chris Rodriguez and Bhayshul Tuten.
It’s hard to know exactly what to make of Thompson as a fourth-round pick and a track burner (4.26 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine) — two things that have a high bust rate — in dynasty circles. What we do know is that the general manager dropped these two comparisons on Thompson, that OC Mike McDaniel “told Hortiz he would take his shirt off if the team found a way to land Thompson,” and that Tre’ Harris and Derius Davis haven’t exactly established themselves as NFL stars yet. It’s certainly plausible that Thompson is fantasy-interesting in his rookie year.
“It benefits anyone in any position to be able to sit back,” LaFleur is quoted as saying by ESPN. “Sometimes, guys don’t have the choice because you have to put your best 22 out on the field there.” Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew currently occupy the two spots ahead of Beck on the depth chart. It doesn’t seem like there’s any reason to believe that the Cardinals are pushing Beck to play this year, which is exactly the return you want from your high third-round pick.
Wagoner lists Mike Evans, Ricky Pearsall, and Christian Kirk as the current top of the depth chart for the 49ers. We wouldn’t be shocked if Stribling made a move on Kirk at some point in the 2026 season, and none of the three wideouts are exactly known for their durability at this point in their careers. Stribling belongs in the WR5 conversation even if the season is likely to start out slow for him.
Jahdae Walker could position himself as the No. 3 with a second-year jump, and third-round pick Zavion Thomas is also in the mix. This room will probably split the snaps enough to make them unappealing from a fantasy perspective, but it’s possible someone emerges as a WR4-type.
The path of least resistance is that Legette cleans up “some of the things that have slowed his development” and makes the wideout rotation. But, Person posits, if he isn’t in the rotation, it would make him a possible trade candidate. Two years into his career, the Panthers have drafted a wideout in Day 1 or 2 after both seasons and have happily given Jalen Coker work over Legette. He’s not a fantasy factor at the moment.
Same. After Kaelon Black was added in the third round, it seems like he’ll be the real competitor for Jordan James in the backup spot. Guerendo didn’t exactly play poorly when given a chance, but the 49ers simply have to draft a running back every year per unspoken NFL guidelines. If Guerendo is released, he could be an interesting reclamation project elsewhere.
Fields, a big-bodied blocker, probably has a real chance to play big snaps in his first season after the Giants traded up to get him in the third round. Giants coach John Harbaugh praised his speed (despite a 4.61 second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine) by saying “when you do the miles per hour, which we get the (GPS) tracking now, that’s fast. He tracks a lot faster ... he’s the equivalent of a mid-4.4 type 40 time. He’s running over 21 miles an hour consistently in games. He’s also got the ability to stop, drop his weight, change direction, get out of breaks. You see all that.” Fields isn’t really on the fantasy radar right now, but it wouldn’t be surprising if he became a hot waiver wire name at some point in his rookie season.
No surprise as Forbes was waived before completing his rookie contract. Forbes was a limited — if decent — find for the Rams last year. He’ll play a depth role in 2026 after the offseason additions of Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson.
He’s projected to make roughly $19 million in the final year of his rookie contract. Johnson Jr. has played well over the past two years, with PFF blocking grades of 80.8 and 76.6, respectively. He ended both seasons on injured reserve and hasn’t played 900 snaps since his rookie year. The Cardinals will likely want to see a little more durability before awarding him a monster extension.
Second-round pick Denzel Boston plays outside — as Tillman has — and Tillman is entering the final year of his rookie contract. We doubt there’s a huge market for Tillman’s services after he played just 13 games last year and wound up with only 270 receiving yards, but he’s shown flashes of talent in the past and could be an interesting reclamation project if the Browns wanted to move on.
With Tyler Goodson gone, Giddens is the incumbent and has the higher draft capital, so we’re surprised to see a beat writer giving some leeway to the idea that McGowan could be the backup right away. Neither player figures to play much without a Jonathan Taylor injury, but they could be interesting contingency holds in deeper leagues.
He mentions Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and seventh-round pick Deion Burks as possible competition for the spot. We also (our speculation) wouldn’t rule out the Colts picking up one of the several as-of-yet unsigned free agents like Jauan Jennings, Deebo Samuel, or Stefon Diggs. Westbrook-Ikhine has flashed big touchdown upside in the past and would be the most fantasy-useful player in this group if he wins a role.
The Raiders did not address wideout in April’s draft until the sixth round, leaving Nailor, Tre Tucker, and Jack Bech as the team’s likely starting receivers. It’s easy to see how Nailor could be the featured target in that group given how things have played out to this point. He’s got a WR4 case as we head into best ball season, though he’s being drafted outside of the top 150 picks more often than not at the moment.
So if the Browns start drafting injured players left and right, you know why. Baalke was fired by the Jaguars last January and didn’t have a job in the league last year. He’ll act as a sounding board for GM Andrew Berry.
Not a hard choice. Anudike-Uzomah missed all of last season with a hamstring strain. He has three sacks in 34 games and has started just three of those 34 since being drafted with the 31st pick in 2023. Anudike-Uzomah may struggle to make the roster this season.
Obviously this was always going to be the case, but it is now officially official. Richardson has languished on the trade block all offseason and may simply not have a real suitor at this point. Perhaps he’ll surface elsewhere once he is released or a team (Packers?) that hasn’t signed a real backup quarterback starts to understand the ramifications of that decision. For now, he’s likely to start the year behind Riley Leonard on Indy’s quarterback depth chart.
Henderson’s return ability likely buys him a chance to stick on the roster, but with Rashid Shaheed re-signed, the Seahawks don’t necessarily need Henderson to field a great return game. It’s hard to see much fantasy upside here with Jake Bobo back and Tory Horton likely to recover from his shin injuries in the near-term future.
Njoku met with the Ravens two weeks ago but has drawn seemingly little interest on the free agent market, with teams content to wait until after the draft to kick the tires on the soon-to-be 30-year-old tight end. The Chargers appear to be set at the position, with breakout youngster Oronde Gadsden joined by offseason acquisition Charlie Kolar, the latter of whom has made a career of his blocking chops. New offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel hardly utilized 13-personnel during his time in Miami, instead ranking near the top of the league in 11-personnel alignments. One would think that would be unlikely to change drastically considering the state of the roster in Los Angeles, making the visit a difficult one to get a true read on for fantasy purposes.
“Once you start the clock, then the clock’s got to be rolling,” Reid said Saturday. “You just have to evaluate what you want to do there. But he’s in a position where he can do everything, I think.” It’s an interesting quote about his superstar quarterback, one that also brings a sense of lingering uncertainty surrounding if the team will execute the procedural move of placing him on the Physically Unable to Perform list. The expectation for most of the spring was that backup quarterback Justin Fields would be under center once the regular season starts in September, although recent reports have thrown that idea into question.
Atkins still expects Williams to be the starter. Playing on third down and in the two-minute drill gives running backs an edge in PPR formats. Atkins did not specify which back will play in the latter scenario, but we imagine Williams will get the first crack at the gig. If Williams is also set to be the interior runner, it likely means he gets the first chance in the red zone. He out-snapped No. 2 RB Blake Corum in the red zone, 26-6, during the playoffs last year. That said, losing touches to the point of a 50-50 split hurts his upside.
Rams veteran RB Kyren Williams is expected to be the “primary third-down back and between-the-tackles runner,” which could get him most of the high-value touches. Atkins did not address whether Corum will get a chance to compete for the two-minute drill role, though. That would be big for him. If Corum does manage to take on half of the backfield touches, though, that should be enough to keep him in the low-end RB2, thanks in part to the Rams’ high-scoring offense.
The statement comes with positives and negatives. On the one hand, Atkins believes the sixth-round rookie is the favorite to start in three-wide receiver sets. On the other hand, Daniels’ fit is due partially to his blocking ability. Getting on the field is the first step toward fantasy-relevance, though. Daniels is a player to watch closely in the coming months.