Training Camp Takeaways. Fantasy Football Update For All 32 Teams.

A lot of things happen in training camp that really don’t matter at the end of the day.

Everyone is in the best shape of their life.

Recaps and analysis are generally written through rose-colored glasses: It’s tough to take much of anything away from the constant supply of highlights that take over social media in early August.

But not everything is meaningless—particularly any sort of information that helps us discern what is actually going on with muddled depth chart situations.

What follows is one training camp update from all 32 teams with a heavy emphasis on supplying actionable fantasy-friendly workload information.

As always: it's a great day to be great.

Arizona Cardinals

Tidbit: Rookie WR Michael Wilson is impressing early.

While beat reporter Johnny Venerable calling Wilson “that dude” doesn’t change much in fantasy land, his follow-up reply about the rookie’s chances of starting in two-WR sets is intriguing:

“Rondale Moore and Greg Dortch appear exclusive to the slot. Marquise Brown is WR1 when healthy. The biggest thing will be Wilson needing to convince the staff he’s ready over Zach Pascal. I think he gets there.”

Wilson doesn’t exactly pop off the page in the Fantasy Life Rookie WR Super Model, although it’s tough to argue with a literally free fantasy asset who seemingly has a good chance to be a full-time player by Week 1.

The early-season best-case scenario for any WR in this likely Colt McCoy or Clayton Tune-led offense isn’t great, but Wilson is a solid last-round dart for drafters who 1.) Already took Kyler Murray at cost, and/or 2.) Need a final game stacking piece for Week 17 correlation purposes.

Atlanta Falcons

Tidbit: TE Kyle Pitts (knee) is out there practicing and seemingly fully on track to suit up in Week 1.

The rising third-year talent had the fantasy football community worried after missing some early practice time and stunting a bulky-looking brace on his knee. Luckily, Pitts has already returned to the field and is seemingly working out at full speed.

Pitts’s path to fantasy superstardom is still littered with questions surrounding his overall volume inside of this run-heavy offense; the good news is that he *should* be healthy enough to at least attempt to make the most out of his opportunities starting in Week 1. Health is wealth!

Oh yeah: Turns out that Bijan Robinson guy is pretty good too. Who would have thought!

Baltimore Ravens

Tidbit: RB J.K. Dobbins’s knee injury sure seems to just be a contract-related issue.

One of many disgruntled RBs, Dobbins remains on the PUP list due to a “knee” injury that surely doesn’t seem to be an actual problem.

Head coach John Harbaugh added, “I don’t know when he's gonna come back.”

Dec 11, 2022; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Baltimore Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins (27) runs the ball against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Baltimore won 16-14. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The team signed Melvin Gordon in the meantime, but the real winner here could be longtime No. 2 RB Gus Edwards. The Gus Bus has averaged a ridiculous 5.2 yards per carry during his career, a mark which trails only Nick Chubb, Jamaal Charles, and Bo Jackson among all RBs with at least 500-plus career rush attempts in the Super Bowl era.

It’s possible that Gus carves out a weekly double-digit carry role even if Dobbins returns and gets his usual starting job back—while his contingency value could be akin to a “2023 version of 2022 Miles Sanders” archetype as the lead early-down back for a potentially high-scoring Ravens offense. Edwards is a brilliant value pick in the final rounds of drafts at the moment.

Buffalo Bills

Tidbit: Rising second-year RB James Cook “has “continued to look like the far-and-away top back at training camp and seems designed for at least over half of the offensive snaps.”

It’s another great note for Cook, who also earned a rather resounding endorsement from QB Josh Allen.

It’d be kind of weird if Allen didn’t say nice things about his teammate, but the allure of Cook as a discount version of Jahmyr Gibbs is clear: This is an explosive, pass-catching RB with the potential to crush in full-PPR formats with a full-time role inside of this high-scoring offense.

Cook (5.7) averaged more yards per carry than any RB not named Breece Hall (5.8) last season while also posting the position’s eighth-best PFF receiving grade (71.8) among 55 qualified RBs. He certainly benefited from defenses not going out of their way to load the box against him, but then again, that sure sounds like a decent side effect of having a dual-threat talent like Cook on the field in the first place.

It’s unlikely that Cook gets short-yardage touches ahead of Damien Harris or Latavius Murray (or even Allen for that matter). But this is a prolific passing attack that isn’t exactly overflowing with proven options after Stefon Diggs. 

I’m not afraid to bump up exposure here to the current RB30 (pick 90.8 ADP), who is going in a sweet spot of drafts after the top 45 WRs, top nine QBs, and top seven TEs are already off the board.

You can grab exposure to Cook on Underdog Fantasy, where you can also get a 100% deposit match of up to $100 when you sign up with promo code LIFE below!

Carolina Panthers

Tidbit: The Panthers plan on involving the TE in their passing game far more frequently under new head coach Frank Reich.

Reich has helped guys like Antonio Gates (69-821-12), Zach Ertz (78-816-4, 74-824-8), and even Eric Ebron (66-750-13) find some pretty great success in the counting number department over the years. It’s easy to see the allure of this system for Hayden Hurst, who received a whopping $21.75 million in free agency to join the Panthers.

Here’s the catch: Carolina has several other TEs in Ian Thomas, Tommy Tremble, and even Stephen Sullivan who offer differing enough skill sets that Reich could lean more so on the multi-TE committee approach like he did during his latter years in Indianapolis.

Hurst would hardly be the first high-priced free agent TE to switch teams and not exactly boom.

The veteran is pretty much free in fantasy drafts (TE25, pick 197.6 ADP), so it’s tough to be too hard on his outlook; just realize the answer to which TE truly takes over in this offense might just be: No.

Chicago Bears

Tidbit: Darnell Mooney seems to have recovered from offseason surgery and is participating fully in camp.

Let’s take a closer look at the performance of Mooney, D.J. Moore, and Chase Claypool over the past three seasons:

• Mooney: 74.1 PFF receiving grade, 1.5 yards per route run, 81.0 QB rating when targeted, 19.7% targets per route run
• DJM: 82.5, 1.94, 79.0, 22.7% 
• Claypool: 72.5, 1.6, 86.1, 20.7%

Moore has certainly put up the best numbers of the group in recent years—but none have exactly had anything close to top-tier QB play. Perhaps the expected discrepancy in targets is a bit larger than their respective ADP is making things out to be, although expecting anyone to truly boom inside of this extreme run-first offense could be wishful thinking.

Cincinnati Bengals

Tidbit: Joe Burrow (calf) is okay.

And thank goodness, because this Bengals offense would be pretty f*cked if not. This reminds me of a pretty great quote from back in the day.

Cleveland Browns

Tidbit: The Elijah Moore hype train keeps on chugging.

Early OTA reports about Moore being used all over the field were one thing, but video evidence of him routing up anyone’s idea of a great CB in Denzel Ward is another.

There is concern regarding both Moore and QB Deshaun Watson playing far better than they did in 2022, but the best version of both could produce some scary good fantasy results for managers willing to pull the trigger in the middle rounds.

Fantasy Life Director of Analytics Dwain McFarland did a great job outlining Moore’s range of outcomes in his excellent breakout WR piece. The upside is worth the cost of admission in this writer’s humble opinion.

Dallas Cowboys

Tidbit: Luke Schoonmaker (foot) suffered a setback in his recovery.

The second-round rookie was expected to factor into the team’s TE equation from day one, but now it’s unclear if he’ll even be healthy enough for that to be an early-season possibility.

The Cowboys leaned on both Jake Ferguson (83% snaps, 51%) and Peyton Hendershot (59%, 61%) in their two games without Dalton Schultz last season. Early camp returns point toward Ferguson being the main beneficiary of Schoonmaker’s absence; he’s in play as a final round fantasy dart who might be on the cover of Week 2 waiver wires of all shapes and sizes if a true every-down role comes to fruition.

Denver Broncos

Tidbit: Javonte Williams (knee) is well ahead of schedule in his recovery.

The rising third-year talent is expected to play in Week 2 of the preseason. Quite the far cry from expectations that his messy knee injury could lead to the PUP list or worse.

Sep 12, 2022; Seattle, Washington, USA; Denver Broncos running back Javonte Williams (33) rushes against the Seattle Seahawks during the first quarter at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Either way: Sean Payton is already on the record about his preference for using two RBs. It’s likely, if not inevitable, that the newly signed Samaje Perine is also heavily involved in this offense regardless: Payton has NEVER fed an RB 250-plus carries in a single season during his time as head coach.

Nobody is debating how awesome Williams was at breaking tackles as a rookie; just be careful about booming him too far up the ranks despite this awesome injury news. His current RB26, pick 81 ADP is fine, but top-50 treatment could be a bit rich.

Detroit Lions

Tidbit: Sam LaPorta should be catching a lot of passes this season.

The projected starting TE could find himself as one of Jared Goff’s top-three pass-game options sooner rather than later if LaPorta’s camp hype is any indication. 

Ranked third in Fantasy Life’s Rookie TE Super Model, this sort of wide-open passing game could afford the volume needed for him to join Jordan Reed, Evan Engram, and Kyle Pitts as the only top-12 PPR per game performers at the position over the past 10 years.

I still prefer guys like Gerald Everett and Tyler Higbee in the later stages of the draft, but LaPorta is a perfectly fine TE2 or TE3 option in best ball land depending on how seriously you addressed the position in the early rounds of the draft.

Green Bay Packers

Tidbit: Rookie WR Jayden Reed and TE Luke Musgrave appear to have already earned starting jobs.

It’s unclear whether these are true every-down starting roles, or more like the leader of a committee: Either way, it’s great news that the Packers are getting their young day-two rookies so involved from day one.

Of course, it’s not like they have much of a choice. The Packers boast the league’s single-cheapest WR room at the moment and are less than $300,000 away from also having that honor at TE. Not great!

Not exactly the sort of pass-game weapons to make for an easy Jordan Love evaluation, but at least both Reed and Musgrave could have the sort of volume to meet value in a major way at their respectively low ADPs.

Houston Texans

Tidbit: Tank Dell could find his way into a pretty big offensive role.

It sure seems like Robert Woods and Nico Collins are cemented starters at this point, but the more interesting battle comes down to whether Dell or John Metchie will lock down slot duties. Both have earned some solid reviews throughout training camp; just realize failure for either to come away with a full-time starting role could render each as non-viable fantasy assets more weeks than not.

I continue to prefer Collins and the artist known as Bobby Trees late in drafts if looking to get exposure to this (likely bad) Texans offense. 

Indianapolis Colts

Tidbit: Anthony Richardson getting plenty of action with the starters.

This isn’t a guarantee that Richardson starts the season over Gardner Minshew, although it’d be surprising if the Colts take too much time before putting the 2023 NFL Draft’s No. 4 overall pick under center.

It feels inevitable that Richardson finds his way into the position’s top-10 signal-callers once this starting job comes to fruition: Dual-threat QBs with his sort of projected rushing volume simply don’t make a habit of busting in fantasy land.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Tidbit: Rookie RB Tank Bigsby might be the short-yardage back.

Just four RBs failed to convert at least 30% of their goal line carries into scores among the league’s 25 most-used goal line backs last season:

• Devin Singletary (28.6%)
• Rhamondre Stevenson (28.6%)
• Travis Etienne (20%)
• Kenneth Walker (11%)

Bigsby’s potential to steal goal-line touches from Etienne—who had the sixth most rush attempts inside the five-yard line last season—could prove to be a major thorn in the latter back’s side in 2023.

Nobody is expecting the rookie to take ETN’s job, although the potential to lose goal-line touches to Bigsby and pass-down reps to JaMycal Hasty and/or D’Ernest Johnson could limit the former Clemson Tiger’s potentially to truly boom in fantasy land.

Kansas City Chiefs

Tidbit: Justin Watson continues to start in three-WR sets despite various hype trains.

The projected starting WRs for the Chiefs are Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Skyy Moore, and Justin Watson with Kadarius Toney (knee) already banged up. This presence of Watson is probably a surprise to many who have simply seen one highlight after another from guys like Justyn Ross, Richie James, and Rashee Rice.

It’d make sense if Watson heavily rotates with whichever complementary WRs the Chiefs want to keep on the roster; just realize MVS and Moore are profiling as the top-two most-used receivers on this offense at the moment.

Studies show that it’s impossible to score fantasy points without being on the field first; be careful about chasing the likes of Ross, James, or Rice too far up draft boards despite their respective camp highlights.

Las Vegas Raiders

Tidbit: Zamir White is getting some praise in the absence of Josh Jacobs.

White didn’t crack the top-two tiers of my Handcuff RB Tiers breakdown due to the likelihood that Ameer Abdullah and Brandon Bolden siphon away most of the available pass-down work, but the rising second-year talent still undoubtedly profiles as the biggest beneficiary from Josh Jacobs potentially choosing to not play football this season.

Nov 6, 2022; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs (28) runs the ball against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fourth quarter at TIAA Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Reper-USA TODAY Sports

It’s hard to believe Jacobs will leave so much money on the table and simply not suit up, but even in that case, White’s price-tag is plenty affordable from a pure handcuff perspective. 

Don’t be afraid to spend a VERY late-round pick on the services of an RB who would instantly vault into the position’s top-30 options should the NFL’s reigning rushing king miss any game time.

Los Angeles Chargers

Tidbit: Quentin Johnston might not have Josh Palmer fully beat out.

Johnston said in July that he won the No. 3 WR job early in Chargers minicamp, but word out of training camp doesn’t seem to agree with that notion.

Would it make sense if Johnston eventually wins out considering the Chargers spent a first-round pick to acquire his services? Absolutely, although paying a WR4 price-tag to acquire a rookie WR talent who might be a part-time player for the first half of the season might not be ideal, despite the boom potential of this passing game in general.

Ultimately, Palmer had every opportunity to ball out in 2022 with both Keenan Allen and Mike Williams hobbled—the Chargers probably wouldn’t have drafted Johnston in the first place if they felt overly satisfied with their incumbent No. 3 option. 

Still, his benefit-of-the-doubt ADP price tag ahead of fellow young WRs with more cemented starting roles like Zay Flowers, Treylon Burks, and Elijah Moore could be a bit of wishful thinking.

Los Angeles Rams

Tidbit: Van Jefferson is the clear-cut No. 2 WR here.

The likes of Tutu Atwell, Ben Skowronek, and Puka Nacua look to be battling for the third receiver spot, but their skill sets are different enough to imagine a committee of sorts emerging.

This leaves Jefferson as the leader in the clubhouse to work as Matthew Stafford’s No. 2 pass-game option. His career-best 50-802-6 receiving line in 2021 came while sharing the field with Robert Woods and Odell Beckham Jr.; a return to form from Stafford and this passing game will inevitably help lift up more pass-catchers than just Cooper Kupp.

Don’t be surprised if Jefferson’s early-season target totals surprise and potentially lead to more consistent fantasy production than in past years.

Miami Dolphins

Tidbit: Braxton Berrios looks to have the inside track on the No. 3 WR job.

Don’t get it twisted: This passing game will continue to overwhelmingly flow through Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, who tied for the third-highest combined target share between teammate WRs in 2022:

• AJ Brown (27%) and DeVonta Smith (25%)
• DeAndre Hopkins (28%) and Marquise Brown (23%)
• Ja'Marr Chase (29%) and Tee Higgins (20%)
• Tyreek Hill (29%) and Jaylen Waddle (20%)
• DK Metcalf (25%) and Tyler Lockett (22%)

Still, Berrios is free in drafts at the moment and appears to have the leg up on Chosen Anderson, who might fit in better as more of a part-time field-stretching option.

I’m not moving Berrios too far up the ranks, but he’s at least on the last-round radar and perhaps the cheapest full-time piece of this potentially lethal passing attack.

Minnesota Vikings

Tidbit: Alexander Mattison is THE RB, y’all.

I wouldn’t recommend taking Mattison in the first round of your fantasy drafts like he recommends; just realize all signs seem to indicate the longtime backup will be assuming the every-down role that has helped lift Dalvin Cook to some great fantasy heights over the years.

He's put up some big-time fantasy numbers in his limited spot starts over the years.

• Week 6, 2020: 10-26-0 rushing, 1-4-0 receiving, PPR RB47
• Week 17, 2020: 21-95-1, 3-50-1, RB4
• Week 3, 2021: 26-112-0, 6-59-0, RB7
• Week 5, 2021: 25-113-0, 7-40-1, RB6
• Week 13, 2021: 22-90-1, 3-34-0, RB8
• Week 16, 2021: 13-41-1, 3-29-0, RB13

One concern is the reality that a lot of those performances took Mattison receiving heavy volume from a coaching staff that no longer leads the Vikings. 

Still, only adding a seventh-round rookie in DeWayne McBride to the equation in terms of competition adds credence to the idea that the rising fifth-year veteran could be featured to a heavy extent with Cook out of the picture—I’m fine making Mattison my No. 1 RB on teams without a player at the position after four rounds of drafting.

New England Patriots

Tidbit: There are four clear skill-position starters in this offense.

Their names: Rhamondre Stevenson, JuJu Smith-Schuster, DeVante Parker, and Hunter Henry. The former two players have been assumed to be in these roles all offseason and accordingly aren’t overly cheap in fantasy land, but the latter two veterans can still be obtained regularly in the final three rounds of drafts.

As a reminder, the Patriots gave Parker a new three-year contract worth up to $33 million in late June. There's only $14 million guaranteed, but at a minimum, that’s enough money to more or less cement Parker's spot in starting three-WR sets.

Parker flashed some patented grown man catches throughout 2022 while posting a couple of 5-156-0 and 6-79-2 blowup performances. It’s not a given that he'll lead the team in targets over JuJu, but Parker's much cheaper ADP makes him a low-risk bet with a fair ceiling.

The 30-year-old veteran WR has been dubbed a fantasy football sleeper for what seems like 50 straight offseasons, but that doesn't change the fact that Parker has a serviceable target projection for a WR who's currently being drafted outside of the top 150 picks.

New Orleans Saints

Tidbit: Alvin Kamara is officially suspended for three games.

I was anticipating four to six games, so this is a rather big W for early drafters willing to take a chance on Kamara while his ADP remained outside of fantasy’s top 90 overall players.

Nov 13, 2022; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara (41) runs the ball against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the first quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Don’t be surprised if Kamara doesn’t get back to true RB1 heights with Jamaal Williams and Kendre Miller fully expected to have their own roles, but at a minimum, the massive gulf between Kamara and someone like Aaron Jones (RB16, pick 52) isn’t warranted.

I’ll happily buy Kamara in the low-end RB2 range, although drafters should be careful about chasing the 28-year-old veteran too high up the board considering just how rough his performance was in 2022.

New York Giants

Tidbit: The projected starting WR trio has been revealed.

The first snap of the first game is expected to feature Darius Slayton, Isaiah Hodgins, and Parris Campbell at WR. The likes of Sterling Shepard, Cole Beasley, Jalin Hyatt, and Wan’Dale Robinson among others could complicate things depending on their combination of health and performance, but for now, the NFL’s single-cheapest WR room has a fairly clear big three.

Of course, TE Darren Waller is the leader in the clubhouse in terms of projected targets, and RB Saquon Barkley is a capable enough pass-catcher to feasibly finish second on this offense in total pass-game opportunities. 

I’m fine throwing late-round darts at the aforementioned starting trio as part of a Daniel Jones stack, but exposure to this group should probably be restricted to best ball considering the potential for a five-to-six-player rotation to emerge.

New York Jets

Tidbit: Breece Hall's (knee) timeline still looks pretty solid.

Reading between the lines on the Dalvin Cook visit seems to indicate that the Jets still firmly view Hall as their No. 1 RB and were simply looking to improve their depth behind him. This team still reportedly feels good about Hall’s chances to be ready for Week 1.

Nobody is debating Hall’s standing as an awesome young RB. No RB averaged more yards per carry (5.8) or had a better Elusive Rating (100) than the Jets’ rising second-year RB among 55 backs with at least 75 carries last year. 

Throw in a CMC-esque two yards per route run, and it’s easy to envision Hall putting up bonkers fantasy numbers with a featured role.

It’s not a given the Jets stay put in the RB free agency market, but I’ll continue to buy the dip on Hall regardless thanks to the likelihood that he still works as the offense’s clear-cut No. 1 RB once healthy enough to suit up.

Philadelphia Eagles

Tidbit: This RB rotation is leaning D’Andre Swift, but who knows.

Various reporters have hyped up Swift as the most impressive RB at Eagles camp, although this nugget a day later suggests that this still figures to be a backfield that keeps multiple bodies heavily involved.

 While the Eagles’ reigning third-ranked scoring offense is a fantastic real-life unit, their RBs collectively registered the seventh-fewest expected PPR points per game due in large part to Jalen Hurts’s tendency to 1.) Scramble instead of checking down, and 2.) Factor into the equation near the goal line.

There is still reason to believe that Swift’s overall talent wins out, although failure to condense this committee to two backs might not leave enough meat on the bone for any of these RBs to truly boom in fantasy land. He’s not on my “must fade list” in Round 7, although I continue to prefer Rashaad Penny and Kenneth Gainwell at cost.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tidbit: Jaylen Warren impressing with pass-blocking duties.

Warren made more out of his opportunities than Najee Harris all season long in 2022, ultimately earning more chances down the stretch with at least a 30% snap rate in six of his seven healthy games following the team’s Week 12 bye. 

This wasn’t the norm under Tomlin previously: Seven of Harris’s 12 least-used games in terms of offensive snap rate occurred during the final nine weeks of 2022.

While a complete takeover from Warren remains awfully unlikely, this sort of “FLEX with benefits” role has the rising second-year RB as one of my top six overall handcuff options and someone who could really make life tough on Harris in pass-first situations.

San Francisco 49ers

Tidbit: Elijah Mitchell (adductor strain) is already dealing with another injury.

Luckily head coach Kyle Shanahan only expects Mitchell to be sidelined for “at least probably a week.”

Still, the rising third-year back now has quite the laundry list of injury issues since entering the league in 2021.

Mitchell is reasonably priced as an RB4 thanks to his solid handcuff upside in the event of Christian McCaffrey missing time; just realize failure to get healthy in his own right could lead to guys like Jordan Mason and/or Tyrion Davis-Price carving out their own respective roles in this ever-efficient 49ers run game.

Seattle Seahawks

Tidbit: Pete Carroll’s injury analysis remains undefeated.

Rookie RB Zach Charbonnet was “out indefinitely” with a shoulder injury…and then literally returned to practice only a few days later.

Kenneth Walker (groin) appears to be a bit more banged up; either way, let’s all take a deep breath anytime coach Carroll speaks on injuries and not adjust those ranks too quickly.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tidbit: Rachaad White three-down RB season?

“This year, White should get roughly 66-70% of the touches as he is currently RB1.” Quite the assured workload for someone who was objectively really bad at football last season!

• PFF rushing grade: 65.1 (39th among 42 qualified RBs)
• Yards per carry: 3.7 (39th)
• Yards after contact per carry: 2.3 (41st)
• Elusive Rating: 31.3 (40th)

Credit to White for performing better as a pass-catcher: He graded out as PFF’s 14th-highest-graded receiver among 47 qualified RBs, and his average of 1.13 yards per route run ranked 24th.

Ultimately, RBs have been far more capable of providing good fantasy production inside of bad offenses than other positions; White is a solid arbitrage version of someone like Najee Harris at their current ADP.

Tennessee Titans

Tidbit: Tyjae Spears might not be the direct No. 2 RB just yet.

I remain high on the rookie as a late-round option who could seize the backfield’s primary pass-down role and potentially boom should anything happen to Derrick Henry, but Hassan Haskins (legal) doesn’t have a court date until August 30 and could feasibly get things delayed enough to not impact his 2023 standing.

The presence of Haskins would make it tough to imagine Spears fully taking over the backfield if anything happens to King Henry. He could still be the preferred fantasy option thanks to the pass-game upside; just realize getting overly exposed to non-Henry RBs working behind PFF’s reigning 32nd-ranked offensive line might not be the sharpest move.

Washington Commanders

Tidbit: Antonio Gibson lead pass-down RB szn is here.

There are three key variables that have caused me to draft Gibson more than any RB not named Jaylen Warren:

1. Newfound pass-game opportunity: Longtime scat back J.D. McKissic remains an unrestricted free agent. He trailed only Austin Ekeler, Christian McCaffrey, and Alvin Kamara in targets per game from 2020 to 2022. New OC Eric Bienemy helped oversee a Chiefs offense that fed Jerick McKinnon 71 targets last season.
2. Lack of incoming competition: Washington only added sixth-rounder Chris Rodriguez to the RB room. The grinder caught just 20 passes in five seasons at Kentucky and is a far bigger threat to Brian Robinson’s early-down work than anything.
3. Steady drumbeat of good news: Last August, Gibson truthers were forced to stomach updates that the former third-round pick was suddenly facing a new reality as a return specialist. Suddenly, head coach Ron Rivera can’t stop finding different good things to say about the team’s 25-year-old back.

The floor for Gibson is as a PPR-friendly RB3 inside of a bad Washington offense.

The ceiling if Robinson misses time is as a poor man’s CMC—except this time Washington might really mean it.

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