A.J. Green Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

The Cardinals added Purdue WR Rondale Moore with the 49th overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft. Moore turned in 1 of the most impressive freshman seasons you’ll ever see back in 2018, racking up 114 catches for 1,258 yards and 12 TDs. He added 21 carries for 213 yards (10.1 YPC) and 2 TDs while also serving as Purdue’s primary return man. He set a Purdue record with 2,215 all-purpose yards and was named a consensus All-American. Unfortunately, multiple hamstring injuries limited Moore to just 7 games over the past 2 seasons (although he remained uber productive, averaging 9.1 catches and 94 yards per game). Size is also a concern for this 5’7, 180-pounder. There’s only been one 1,000-yard season by a WR 5’7 or shorter in NFL history. Moore has the goods to buck that trend, though. He blazed a 4.29-second 40-yard dash and posted a ridiculous 42.5-inch vertical at his Pro Day to earn a 93rd percentile Relative Athletic Score. The tape shows incredible burst, quickness and change-of-direction to create separation on routes and make plays after the catch. Moore also has RB-like vision on end arounds and jets sweeps. He joins DeAndre Hopkins, Christian Kirk and A.J. Green in the Cardinals WR corps. Kirk and Green are both set to hit free agency next offseason. Moore’s arrival is probably the nail in Andy Isabella’s coffin in Arizona.

The Cardinals signed WR A.J. Green. No word yet on the terms, but it's likely a cheap, 1-year deal. After playing in just 9 games across 2018 and 2019, Green played all 16 last season -- but set career lows with an ugly 45.2% catch rate and 11.1 yards per catch. He ranked 79th in yards per route run and 66th in Pro Football Focus receiving grade among 84 WRs with 50+ targets. Green turns 33 in July and might just be out of gas. He figures to be no better than 3rd in line for targets in Arizona behind WRs DeAndre Hopkins and Christian Kirk. We'll see if WR Andy Isabella is ready to take on a bigger role in 2021.

Update: It's a 1-year deal worth "up to" $8.5 million with $6 million guaranteed, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports.

The Bengals will start QB Brandon Allen against the Giants this weekend, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo. Cincinnati has evidently seen enough of QB Ryan Finley, who struggled in 3 starts last year and in place of QB Joe Burrow last week. Allen has been with the Bengals since August, spending the first 11 weeks of the season on the practice squad. A 6th-round pick of the Jaguars back in 2016, Allen's only 3 NFL starts came with the Broncos last year. He averaged 172 yards and 1 TD per game on a 46% completion rate and 6.1 yards per attempt. Cincinnati's offense is in serious trouble.

The "initial diagnosis" on Bengals QB Joe Burrow's left knee is a torn ACL, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. "There may be additional damage," Rapoport adds. Burrow has already tweeted that he's done for the season. We'll look for another update on the final damage and exactly how long Burrow will be sidelined. He might not be a lock for the start of the 2021 campaign. QB Ryan Finley will step in for Burrow the rest of the way -- a huge downgrade for the offense.

Sustained winds of 20-30 mph with gusts up to 50 are expected for today's Bengals-Steelers game. This was already a tough spot for Cincinnati's passing game. We've also scaled back our projections for QB Ben Roethlisberger and his pass-catchers. Avoid Ks Chris Boswell and Randy Bullock today.

The forecast for today's Titans-Bengals game calls for winds of 20-30 mph. That's just past the threshold of when we start to worry about the passing and kicking games. We're lowering our projections for both passing games a tad and would avoid both kickers in this game. Note that the Bengals will be without all 5 of their starting offensive linemen from Week 1 today. Their implied total has sunk from 25.75 to 21.5.

Bengals WR A.J. Green (hamstring) isn’t listed on the final Week 6 injury report. He put in a full practice on Friday, so he should be available for his usual role. That doesn’t make Green a recommended fantasy play, though. He hasn’t topped 51 yards all season.

The Colts had 1 player and 3 staff members originally test positive for COVID, but all 4 have come back as false positives, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. So the Bengals-Colts game is on for Sunday. We'll let you know if that changes.

Bengals WR A.J. Green suffered a hamstring injury in the 2nd half of Sunday's game vs. the Ravens. He was deemed doubtful to return, so don't expect to see him back out there. Green had already been getting out-played by rookie WR Tee Higgins over the past couple of weeks.

Bengals HC Zac Taylor suggested that WR A.J. Green's snaps could be limited in Sunday's opener against the Chargers. "Fifty-five is a lot of snaps. You always monitor that," Taylor said. "We're fortunate because we're deep at receiver and we feel like there are a lot of guys that can step in there and be a primary receiver." Green missed about a week of camp this summer with a hamstring injury after an ankle injury cost him the entire 2019 campaign. We'll see exactly how big a role he's ready for on Sunday, but we'd try to not use him in Week 1 fantasy lineups.

Bengals WR A.J. Green is expected to return to practice on Wednesday after missing the last week with a hamstring injury. "We’re early in training camp and we have some other guys at that position we need to look at," HC Zac Taylor said. "I think it was smart of us to hold him out for a couple of days." We'll see if Green can stay on the field between now and Week 1. His ADP is sitting in the late 6th round of best-ball drafts over the last week.

Bengals WR A.J. Green ended Monday's practice on the sideline after appearing to tweak his left hamstring, according to multiple reports. "I just told him he's done taking reps for the day," HC Zac Taylor told The Athletic's Paul Dehner afterward. "We'll see how he feels tomorrow." This doesn't sound like anything serious, but Green obviously calls for a closer watch than most players on the injury front after missing the past year-and-a-half with lower-body issues. We're not adjusting projections at all right now but will certainly keep an eye on Green. Cincinnati was already practicing without WRs John Ross and Tee Higgins on Monday. The team excused Ross to tend to a son who tested positive for COVID-19. Higgins has been sitting out with a reportedly minor injury.

Bengals WR A.J. Green is impressing his teammates early in training camp. “You can tell when a guy looks explosive and he looks explosive," WR Alex Erickson said. "The quick twitch. He’s bending, getting in and out of routes. It’s awesome seeing A.J. Green back out there.” Green obviously carries plenty of risk in fantasy drafts: He's 32 and hasn't played a regular-season game since December 2018. But he also finished 16th among WRs in PPR points per game in 2018 and ranked 10th in 2017. A healthy Green has the upside to approach that territory again in 2020. We think he's worth gambling on in the 6th or 7th round of fantasy drafts.

The Bengals selected LSU QB Joe Burrow with the 1st pick of the 2020 NFL Draft. Burrow looked like a mid- to late-round prospect at this time a year ago. He redshirted his 1st season at Ohio State and then backed up J.T. Barrett for the next 2. Burrow transferred to LSU in 2018, when he mustered just 2,894 passing yards with 16 TDs on a 58% completion rate and 7.6 yards per attempt. Then came a massive 2019: 5,671 yards, 60 TDs, just 6 INTs, a 76% completion rate and 10.8 yards per attempt. Burrow received the highest passing grade from Pro Football Focus since the site started grading college players in 2014. We could point out the fact that the breakout season came as a 22-year-old, 5th-year senior playing with a loaded group of weapons. But watch Burrow and it’s tough to not fall in love. He has incredible pocket presence and mobility, is pinpoint accurate to all levels of the field and has underrated athleticism, totaling 767 rushing yards and 12 TDs over the past 2 seasons. He’ll be under center for Cincinnati come Week 1, whether or not QB Andy Dalton is traded. Burrow will have a nice group of weapons at his disposal in A.J. Green, Tyler Boyd, John Ross, Auden Tate and Joe Mixon. Hopefully the Bengals use the rest of this draft to bolster their offensive line.

The Bengals are using their franchise tag on WR A.J. Green. This move seemed likely, based on HC Zac Taylor talking this offseason about wanting to keep the veteran wideout around. Green lost all of 2019 and half of 2018 to injury. But if he can return to full health for 2020, the veteran should remain Cincinnati's lead WR. A healthy Green in the 1st half of 2018 didn't hurt Tyler Boyd's target share at all. (Boyd actually drew a slightly larger share with Green on the field than he did after Green went down.)

Bengals HC Zac Taylor said in a Cincinnati.com podcast this week that WR A.J. Green is "a guy we want to be around." It sounds like the team could use the franchise tag to keep the veteran around if they don't agree on a contract extension. Green missed all of 2019 after sitting out 7 games in 2018, but he still looks like a solid fantasy football value at the bottom of WR3 range in early best-ball drafting. Green ranked among the top 16 WRs in PPR points per game every year from 2012 through 2018.

Bengals WR A.J. Green (ankle) is out for Sunday’s game against the Raiders. The swelling in that ankle has reportedly subsided, but Green didn’t practice at all this week. Tyler Boyd and Auden Tate will continue to serve as Cincinnati’s top 2 WRs vs. Oakland’s burnable secondary.

Bengals WR A.J. Green is out "indefinitely" after experiencing a setback with his injured ankle, according to ESPN's Ben Baby. Green doesn't sound particularly interested in pushing through the injury for the 0-8 Bengals. "For me, just gotta make sure I feel comfortable going out there and pushing it," Green said Thursday. "For me, just gotta make sure I gotta take care of me first before anything else." Green did add that he's still hoping to play in 2019, but that seems weeks away now. He's droppable if you need the roster spot.

Bengals WR A.J. Green told reporters on Thursday that his ankle is swollen and said "probably not" when asked if he'll play against the Ravens this weekend. So we'll need to wait at least another week for Green's 2019 debut. His continued absence keeps WRs Tyler Boyd and Auden Tate in play as lower-end fantasy options.

Shortly after Bengals HC Zac Taylor said WR A.J. Green (ankle) was on track to return for this weekend's game against the Ravens, Green missed Wednesday's practice. Taylor said afterward that Green didn't feel well enough to participate and is considered "day to day." His Week 10 status is now completely up in the air. Check back tomorrow for another update.