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
Player News
Free agent Gabe Davis will visit the New York Giants.
Cut by the Jaguars after one season last week, Davis visited the 49ers on Monday. New York would be a reunion of sorts, as he played for Giants coach Brian Daboll in Buffalo. The G-Men already have several wideouts capable of stretching the field, but 26-year-old Davis could still be a decent role player in a strong offense. The problem, of course, is that the Giants profile as anything but, but rookie QB Jaxson Dart is comfortable throwing down the field.
Ravens S Ar’Darius Washington has been diagnosed with a torn achilles suffered during offseason training.
The fifth-year pro became a weekly starter for the first time last season, earning elite PFF marks in the process. He was a restricted free agent this spring but had yet to sign his $3.26 million tender. That’s a tough break, to put it mildly. Achilles timelines have shortened significantly in recent years, but Washington will probably still miss the entire 2025 campaign. The Ravens are protected in part by their first-round selection of fellow S Malaki Starks, but May is not the month you already want to be dipping into your depth. Going on 26, Washington’s career future is murky after he worked so hard to finally become a regular contributor last season.
Chiefs signed fourth-round WR Jalen Royals to a four-year contract.
Royals doesn’t have an obvious and open spot in the receiving corps to build short-term fantasy value with Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown, and Rashee Rice operating in the opening 11-personnel package. He may or may not play his way into WR4 duties depending on how the team feels about JuJu Smith-Schuster. Royals has plenty of talent and Brown is on a one-year deal, so there is a future where Royals is more than a bit player for the Chiefs. It likely won’t happen in his first season without injuries in front of him.
Matthew Judon said he “probably” won’t return to the Falcons in 2025.
The Falcons, of course, drafted both Jalon Walker and James Pearce in the first round. In an exclusive interview with CardPlayer.com — not to be confused with our PokerNews.com James Cook scoop a few days ago — Judon said that his sack total was down because “I dropped (into coverage) on 60 percent of the plays. It’s hard to get a pick and a sack on the same play.” Judon also told Kyle Odegard that “a couple” teams had expressed interest in him but he was in no rush to sign.
Jets released P Thomas Morstead.
Austin McNamara and Kai Kroeger will compete for the Jets punter job this year. The 39-year-old former Saint was the league’s oldest punter last season. If he wants to keep punting, he can absolutely join the tryout circuit or a competition elsewhere. But this is probably a sign that the Morstead’s 16-year career is close to an end at this point.
Lions offensive coordinator John Morton said it’s “going to be a breakout year” for Jameson Williams.
Morton said he’d never “been around someone that fast,” then quickly corrected himself to note that Jhamyr Gibbs is also that fast. Williams came on strong last year with a 58/1001/7 receiving line, but offensive coordinator praise could mean even more targets are coming. It would likely come at the expense of Amon-Ra St. Brown’s production if Williams were to truly break out, though there’s plenty for St. Brown to give and still be a top-flight fantasy wideout. It’s risky to read too much into statements like this in the offseason, but the new offensive coordinator telling you he thinks it’ll be a breakout year for Williams is certainly noteworthy.