2023 Fantasy Football Round Up September 4: Breece Hall and Dalvin Cook Splitting Work in Week 1
We have REAL live NFL football in only a couple days when the Detroit Lions visit the Super Bowl defending Kansas City Chiefs to kick off the season on Thursday Night Football! Our fantasy football draft rankings are set in stone, ADP has settled in, and, tomorrow, we’ll drop our first Week One rankings! Let’s get fired up! Before we do that though, we need to keep our ear to the streets so we know exactly what NFL news and rumors could affect either our final drafts or our Week One lineups. So let’s dig into the important stuff.
Cooper Kupp Meeting WIth Hamstring Specialist
- Kupp has been listed as “day to day” but so was Keenan Allen last year before he missed half the season. Flying halfway across the country to see a doctor does not feel like typical hamstring rehab to me but who knows - maybe this visit fixed him up and he’ll be back soon.
Both Jets Backs Will Play Opener And Split Workload
- Our worst nightmares for fantasy football seem to be coming true. Both Breece Hall and Dalvin Cook are set to play Week One. They will reportedly “be smart” with Hall’s return. But the committee has essentially been confirmed.
Kyler Murray Named Team Captain
- The news has gone back and forth on Kyler Murray. First his camp said he could play Week One. Then there were reports he might not play at all. Now he has been named team captain. Does that mean he will play? Or is this just a show of support from his teammates?
Juju Smith-Schuster’s Knee “Could Explode At Any Moment”
- I wish I were exaggerating but those were the words reportedly used by Sports Illustrated reporter Albert Breer. I’m not even fully sure what that means or how they would know that but you would think if he has a sprain (essentially a partial tear) that he would be resting. I’m not sure what other issue would have them predicting some sort of explosive injury.
Falcons Beat Writers Down On Kyle Pitts
- Arthur Smith continues his reign of terror against fantasy gamers as reports have come out that Kyle Pitts will continue to be used in a classic, inline tight end role. Not what we want for fantasy football as guys like Mark Andrews run ~80% of their snaps from a WR spot.
Texans Will Use A “Platoon” At Running Back
- Last year Dameon Pierce ran hard but was graded out as one of the worst pass blocking backs in the league, per Pro Football Focus. The new regime, including offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik who worked for PFF for three years, brought in Devin Singletary to help with that. There is now some credible info that they plan to split the workload there which could hurt Pierce the way it did Philip Lindsay early in his career when he struggled with pass blocking.
Daniel Jones Restructures Contract
- Players usually don’t just restructure their contract for no reason. This move free up over $6 million in cap space for this year. Some rumors have swirled that maybe they could be in the market for a guy like Mike Evans, who reportedly is not happy with his contract.
Cardinals Head Coach Jonathan Gannon Eludes To Clayton Tune As Starter
- He didn’t outright make a declaration, but he did say he thinks the rookie could start Week 1 saying “I think he’s ready to go”. Good thing we have been saying to stash Tune in your superflex leagues since June.
NFL Links:
- 2023 FANTASY FOOTBALL DRAFT GUIDE
- 2023 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet
- 2023 NFL Pre-Season Player Projections
- 2023 Fantasy Football Position Rankings