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Detroit Lions Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Fantasy Football News 2023

Most Recent Fantasy Football News & Updates

The Lions signed WR Marvin Jones to a 1-year, $3 million deal. It's a reunion after Jones spent 2016-2020 in Detroit. He averaged 859 yards and 7.2 TDs across those 5 seasons but is coming off a disappointing 46-529-3 line in Jacksonville this past year. Jones ranked 79th in yards per route run and 87th in Pro Football Focus receiving grade among 96 qualifying WRs. The 33-year-old will duke it out with Josh Reynolds and Kalif Raymond for snaps behind Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams in Detroit. Jones might provide a few spike weeks for best-ball squads if he wins the #3 WR job. But he's unlikely to be a reliable option in lineup-setting fantasy leagues.

The Lions and RB David Montgomery reached an agreement on a three-year, $18 million contract (with $11 million guaranteed) late on Tuesday evening. The long-time Bear will be moving across the NFC North and running behind a Lions offensive line that ranked 7th in Football Outsiders' adjusted line yards in 2022. Montgomery is more than capable of shouldering a sizeable workload as well, as he's handled 200+ carries in each of his four professional seasons to date. A logical conclusion to draw from this signing is that free agent RB Jamaal Williams is unlikely to return to the Lions at this point. We'll keep an eye out for news regarding where he lands. Where this situation gets dicey is how it potentially affects RB D'Andre Swift, who posted a career-low in touches (147) in 2022 after battling through yet another season of nagging injuries. Couple this Montgomery contract with a subpar injury history, and we may be looking at a significant dynasty value loss for a former NFL second round pick in Swift. He's already starting to slip down our dynasty RB rankings.

The Lions are bringing LB Alex Anzalone back on a three-year, $18.75 million deal, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. That's particularly noteworthy money for Anzalone, who played each of the past two seasons for Detroit on one-year pacts. He got just $1.75 million in 2021 and then $2.5 million last year. But Anzalone increased his playing time each season vs. what he got across four seasons in New Orleans. That included playing 95.1% of the snaps across 17 games last year. Anzalone also saw boosts in his Pro Football Focus grading across categories and cracked the top 30 LBs in fantasy points. Expect him to remain the Lions' best bet for full playing time at the position, heading into his age-29 season. There's still room for 2022 rookie Malcolm Rodriguez to grow his role, though, vs. where Rodriguez finished the season.

Lions HC Dan Campbell suggested from the Combine on Wednesday that the team is still trying to figure out how to best manage and deploy RB D'Andre Swift. "We thought we had a recipe going into the year, and it didn’t work out," Campbell said. “He got a little bit banged up and then by the end of the year he started to feel better and his production started to go up." Swift appeared in 14 games last year but was limited in the majority of them by ankle and shoulder injuries. "Let’s find another way to see if we can help him stay on the field, you know? I already know he’s doing that for himself, so we’ve got to do that on our end," Campbell added. "What can we do better by him? Can we? Because he’s too talented. He’s too talented to not have out there. He’s an explosive athlete.” It sure doesn't sound like the Lions plan on giving Swift a ton of touches in 2023. But if he can at least hang on to a significant passing-game role, he'll keep himself in the RB2 mix in PPR leagues.

Lions OC Ben Johnson is passing on HC opportunities elsewhere to stick with Detroit for 2023, according to multiple reports. Johnson elected to skip an in-person interview with the Panthers this week, after already talking with the franchise by teleconference. Johnson was viewed as the favorite for the Carolina job and has also interviewed with the Colts and Texans. He instead sticks with an offense that jumped from 25th in scoring and 22nd in yards in 2021 to 5th and 4th, respectively, this season. Detroit also leaped from 29th in Football Outsiders' offensive DVOA to 5th. Johnson's continued presence is undoubtedly good news for QB Jared Goff and other key Lions offensive pieces.

According to Dave Burkett of the Detroit Free Press, Lions HC Dan Campbell "all but confirmed" Monday that QB Jared Goff will remain the starter in 2023. "He's really a perfect fit for what we do and what we ask," Campbell said. The Rams, of course, paid Detroit draft picks (including 2 first-rounders) to swap Matthew Stafford for Goff 2 offseasons ago. Goff didn't do anything impressive across 14 games in his 1st year with the Lions. But he finished this season throwing 324 consecutive passes without an INT. Goff also finished 15th among QBs in fantasy points per game (depending on your format). He has 2 more years on his contract, though each comes with salaries of more than $30 million vs. dead-cap totals of $10 million and then $5 million if he were to get cut, according to Spotrac. Detroit also holds the 6th overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, thanks to the Rams -- along with their own selection at #18. So although Goff looks most likely to open next season at the helm, it's worth noting that Campbell stopped short of actually confirming that the 2023 job belongs to Goff.

Lions QB Jared Goff threw 3 TD passes on 21-of-29 passing for 255 yards in Sunday's lopsided win over the Bears. Goff found TE Brock Wright for a pair of scores, hitting RB D'Andre Swift for the other. He spread targets around, with 10 different Lions catching a pass but none exceeding 5 targets. WR Amon-Ra St. Brown led the team with 5 looks, catching 4 for a team-high 62 yards. It was St. Brown's lowest catch total since Week 9 and fewest targets of any full game this season. Detroit closes the regular season against the Packers, a rematch of a game that finished just 15-9 (in Detroit's favor) in Week 9.

Lions RB D'Andre Swift delivered a pair of TDs in Sunday's lopsided win over the Bears. He rushed 11 times for 78 yards, including a 17-yard TD early in the 2nd quarter. Swift added a 21-yards TD catch midway through the 3rd quarter, accounting for most of his 39 receiving yards on 4 catches (4 targets). The 15 touches marked Swift's 3rd most of the season. It was just his 2nd game with double-digit carries since the season opener. It was also Swifts 1st multiple-TD game since December 2020. He'll face a generous Green Bay RB defense in Week 18.

Bears RB David Montgomery carried just 6 times for 24 yards in Sunday's loss to the Lions. He added 2 catches for 12 targets, with Chicago completing only 7 passes all game. It was a particularly disappointing performance for the whole offense a week after Detroit allowed 527 total yards to the Panthers. RB Khalil Herbert also factored in for 5-31 rushing. Chicago faces Minnesota in Week 18, a matchup that afforded Montgomery just 12-20-1 rushing in Week 5, but also 4 catches for 62 yards.

Lions RB Justin Jackson (hip) is inactive for today’s game vs. the Bears. Craig Reynolds is active as Detroit’s #3 RB, but Jackson’s absence could be a slight boost for RB D’Andre Swift.

Lions S Kerby Joseph (back) and S DeShon Elliott (shoulder) sat out Wednesday's practice to open Week 17. Joseph played every snap of Saturday's loss at Carolina and seems like the better bet to rebound. Elliott missed Week 16 after leaving the previous game early and doesn't currently appear in our Week 17 IDP rankings. We'll keep an eye on the status of both safeties through the week.

Lions RBs combined for just 22 rushing yards on 12 carries in Saturday's loss at Carolina. RB D'Andre Swift rushed 4 times for 12 yards and caught just 1 of his 5 targets for 13 more. Jamaal Williams posted 7-11 rushing and caught both of his targets for 3 yards. The whole Detroit offense gets a positive matchup back home with Chicago in Week 17, but the RBs won't be exciting plays.

Lions QB Jared Goff threw for 355 yards and 3 TDs in Saturday's loss to Carolina. He hit TE Shane Zylstra for all 3 scores. WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, as usual, led the team with 13 targets and 7 catches, tallying 76 yards. WR D.J. Chark added 4 receptions for 108 on 5 targets. No other Lion caught more than 2 balls. Detroit gets a weak Chicago defense in Week 17, and won't have weather concerns back home in the dome.

Lions TE Shane Zylstra caught all 3 of QB Jared Goff's TD passes in Saturday's loss at Carolina. Zylstra caught 5 balls for 26 yards among 6 targets, which ranked 2nd on the team. Those 5 receptions doubled Zylstra's season total, so we wouldn't go getting excited about the 26-year-old for Week 17.

The Lions have ruled S DeShon Elliott (shoulder) out or Saturday's game against the Panthers. C.J. Moore should start in Elliott's place. He filled in when Elliott left last week's win over the Jets.

Lions S DeShon Elliott left Sunday's win over the Jets with a dislocated shoulder. HC Dan Campbell told reporters Monday that the team is awaiting results from testing on the joint. We'll see whether Elliott is available for this Saturday's game at Carolina.

Bears RB David Montgomery scored a TD rushing and another receiving in Sunday's loss to the Eagles. He took 12 carries for 53 yards (4.4 per rush) and caught all 3 of his targets for 38 yards. Montgomery next faces a Bills defense that got run over by Raheem Mostert on Saturday night. then comes a rematch with the Lions, who only allowed Montgomery 44 total yards on 9 carries and 1 catch in Week 10. The team expects Khalil Herbert to come off IR in Week 16, which will affect Montgomery's outlook.

Lions QB Jared Goff threw for 252 yards and a TD in Sunday's win over the Jets. It's not the kind of outing that's going to win fantasy football matchups, but it marked Goff's 6th straight game without a turnover -- despite a strong defense on the other side. That's enough to put Goff in fantasy consideration against a weaker Carolina defense in Week 16, and certainly for a home date with Chicago in Week 17.

Lions RB D'Andre Swift led the team in rushing yards for Sunday's win over the Jets, tallying 52 on 8 attempts (6.5 per rush). He trailed RB Jamaal Williams by 5 carries (13-33) and watched another 6 go to Justin Jackson (for 16 yards). Swift garnered 9 targets, a season high and 2nd most on the team. He caught 5 for a mere 23 yards (4.6 per reception). Only WR Amon-Ra St. Brown drew more looks. He caught 7 of his 10 for 76 yards.

Lions EDGE Aidan Hutchinson (illness) is active for today's game against the Jets. Use him as planned in your IDP lineups.

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