As much as I’d like to wish you a Happy Labor Day, there is no time for pleasantries this morning.
We had a wild weekend in the league with roster cutdowns, surprise trades, intriguing signings, and a bunch of injury-related news and developments.
Call me McDonalds, because I’m about to serve you up a 20-piece of nuggets...
- Adrian Peterson has signed with the Detroit Lions after being released by the Washington Football Team last week. Rookie D’Andre Swift still has a path to big pass-catching upside in this backfield once he’s healthy, but this is a concern for Kerryon Johnson’s touches. As my friend Sal Vetri put it, “I have no idea what Matt Patricia is going to do with this backfield, but I am pretty confident you won’t like it.”
- The Raiders traded exciting prospect Lynn Bowden Jr. and a sixth-round pick to the Dolphins in exchange for a fourth round draft pick. Now is probably a good time to remind people that Bowden was a 2020 third-round pick. With Allen Hurns and Albert Wilson opting out for the season, the Dolphins have plans to use Bowden as a WR.
- Most of the time the NFL doesn’t listen to us fantasy people, but sometimes they do. Cordarrelle Patterson is listed as a running back on the Chicago Bears 53-man roster.
- Atop the messy backfield rankings is the Jacksonville Jaguars. Leonard Fournette was released, Ryquell Armstead is currently on the team’s reserve/COVID-19 list, and rumors are swirling about Devonta Freeman. If Freeman doesn’t sign, keep an eye on undrafted rookie James Robinson who had a very productive career at Illinois State with over 5,000 all-purpose yards.
- The Kansas City Chiefs released DeAndre Washington leaving Darrell Williams, aka The Mentor, as the primary backup behind rookie Clyde-Edwards Helaire.
- Like a savvy fantasy manager trying to maximize roster upside before the season starts, the Patriots cut and signed both of their kickers to the practice squad. It buys them an extra week to evaluate other positions on their 53-man roster.
- The Patriots also released Lamar Miller with Sony Michel now off the PUP list. Michel, Damien Harris, and Rex Burkhead will compete for early down touches in what I’m sure will be a very predictable situation and not a headache in the least bit.
- Keep an eye on Justin Jackson’s toe injury. Jackson and rookie Joshua Kelley were expected to split work behind Austin Ekeler, but Kelley could be the full complement out of the gate if Jackson misses time.
- Sounds like Deebo Samuel has a shot to play Week 1, which is very exciting news considering he was expected to miss multiple weeks of the season when his injury was first reported.
- Antonio Gibson’s ADP has risen 80 spots since August 5th. Is Matthew in or out at the new price??
- Jalen Reagor was not placed on IR and won’t need surgery. He’s still expected to miss about a month with a minor tear in his labrum, but this is good news all things considered.
- As someone who drafted a bunch of Ronald Jones earlier this offseason, I plan on investing in Matthew’s newest invention.
- Jene Bramel has a full injury rundown of all the players who are banged up heading into the season. Sounds like things have shifted once again for Mike Williams and the reports from a few days ago were too optimistic.
- You could do much, much worse than prepping for your draft by reading Shawn Siegele’s ultimate draft plan with 37 priority targets.
LET’S GET WEIRD TONIGHT
If you are looking for a fantasy-friendly way to wrap up your weekend, I will be doing a draft with Matthew tonight at 9:15pm ET on my Youtube channel. This isn’t a regular draft, though. Each of our picks will be dictated by prompts in a randomizer wheel. Chaos will ensue.