On Monday, Browns beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot tweeted that "there's some optimism" around WR Amari Cooper (groin) suiting up for Week 2 vs. the Steelers. Cabot adds that Cooper playing is "not a certainty" but that the Browns will see how the veteran feels in warmups and that "there's a chance" at a minimum. Be sure to check back before kickoff for any official word on his availability. Should Cooper not play, we expect a bump for fellow WR Elijah Moore in this primetime divisional bout.
Bills TE Dalton Kincaid notched 5 catches (6 targets) for 43 yards in Week 2. He matched Dawson Knox in routes run – 22 – but it was Knox who cashed in with a goal line score. The rookie saw an end zone target of his own, but it fell incomplete. Kincaid also took a hard shot to his ribs on the play. We’ll keep an eye on his practice participation this week. If he’s ready to go for Week 3 (as we expect), Kincaid will likely slot in as a fringe TE1 at Washington.
Bills RB James Cook looked explosive in Sunday’s win over Las Vegas, totaling 159 yards on 21 touches. Both figures marked career highs. The second-year back also led all early-game RBs in rush yards over expectation (+44), per ESPN’s Seth Walder. He continued to lose out on red zone work to both Damien Harris and Latavius Murray. Still, his receiving work (10 targets in two games) really helps Cook’s floor. He’ll remain an RB2 moving forward.
Bills QB Josh Allen completed 31 of 37 passes for 274 yards and 3 TDs in a win over Las Vegas. Call it a predictable bounce back in a favorable matchup. The Raiders’ pass rush struggled to get home, and Allen made them pay both inside the pocket and out. His scores went to Dawson Knox, Khalil Shakir, and Gabe Davis. Allen remains a locked-in top-3 fantasy QB.
Browns WR Amari Cooper (groin) is "considered unlikely" to play vs. the Steelers on Monday night, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. We'll see if he can make it back for Week 3, but he should be on fantasy benches for this week. Cooper's absence will leave Elijah Moore and Donovan Peoples-Jones as Cleveland's top two WRs -- and give TE David Njoku more target upside.
Browns WR Amari Cooper (groin) is listed as questionable for Monday night's game vs. the Steelers. That groin was added to the injury report on Saturday, when Cooper was limited in practice. That indicates that Cooper injured the groin in Saturday's workout. The Monday kickoff obviously makes this a tricky situation for fantasy owners. We'll look for further updates on Cooper. But his owners either need to have him on the bench, or have a Monday night alternative lined up. The Browns-Steelers and Saints-Panthers games are on Monday.
Update: Browns HC Kevin Stefanski confirmed that Cooper "aggravated" his groin in Saturday's practice. Cooper had core-muscle surgery this offseason. "We'll see how he does over the next 48 hours," Stefanski added.
NFL Network's Mike Garafolo showed Eagles LB Nicholas Morrow wearing the green helmet dot during warmups for tonight's game against the Vikings. That indicates he'll take over play-calling duties in the defensive huddle, vacated with Nakobe Dean's injury. That matters because it points to Morrow likely staying on the field most among LBs. We've knocked Christian Elliss -- who wore the dot last Sunday after Dean left -- out of the LB rankings and installed Morrow in LB4 range. Morrow was just elevated from the practice squad earlier this week, when Dean landed on IR.
Bills RB James Cook logged 12 carries for 46 rushing yards to go along with 4 catches and 17 receiving yards in Monday’s OT loss vs. the Jets. The second-year back received 18 of 25 total touch opportunities (72%) among Bills’ RBs in this contest, suggesting that the team is pretty comfortable using him in a workhorse role. While Cook didn’t have any big plays, fantasy managers are assuredly pleased to see the volume he received. He’ll have a chance to progress in Week 2 vs. the Raiders, a team that surrendered a combined 128 total yards to Broncos RBs on Sunday.
Bills QB Josh Allen completed 29 passes on 41 attempts for 236 passing yards with 1 TD and 3 INTs in Monday’s OT loss vs. the Jets. He also ran for 36 yards and lost a fumble at a crucial stage of the fourth quarter, a play that aided in swinging the momentum toward New York. Allen had a generally solid game, but a trio of INTs into the hands of Jets S Jordan Whitehead sunk his fantasy prospects. The All-Pro signal-caller can add his name to the list of big-name players who had a disappointing opening game. Allen will have a chance at redemption in Week 2 vs. the Raiders.
Bills TE Dalton Kincaid ran a route on 13 of QB Josh Allen's 19 dropbacks over the last two preseason games. That 68% route rate is a bit lower than we see from most fantasy TE1s. But it's a good starting point for a rookie. Kincaid's playing time is likely to grow over the course of the season. See exactly where he sits in our TE rankings.
Bills TE Dawson Knox played in Saturday's preseason finale. He missed Buffalo's second preseason game with a finger injury, but he's ready to go for Week 1. Knox's fantasy value obviously took a big hit with the addition of TE Dalton Kincaid, but Knox should still be on the field plenty with the Bills expected to run a lot of 2-TE sets.
The Athletic's Joe Buscaglia believes WR Khalil Shakir is currently fifth on the Bills' depth chart. He played fewer snaps with QB Josh Allen in the team's second preseason game than both WRs Trent Sherfield and Deonte Harty. Shakir is not worth a roster spot in redraft leagues at this point. We're tentatively expecting the Bills' primary 3-WR set to open the season to be Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis out wide, with Harty in the slot.
Bills TE Dawson Knox sat out Saturday's preseason game with a finger injury. Beat writer Joe Buscaglia labeled him as "day to day.” Even at full health, Knox isn’t a priority target in fantasy drafts.
Bills RB Damien Harris returned to practice Wednesday after missing a little more than a week with a knee issue. He still has nearly a month to get ready for the regular-season opener but will need to battle Latavius Murray for the No. 2 job behind expected starter James Cook. Harris has moved down our 2023 fantasy football rankings since the beginning of training camp.
Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic says that Bills RB James Cook has "separated himself" from Damien Harris and Latavius Murray in training camp, furthering the notion that Cook is headed for the clear lead role. Buscaglia adds that Murray is pushing Harris for the No. 2 job with a good camp, while Harris has also dealt with injury. Buscaglia also throws in that RB Nyheim Hines was a "borderline favorite" to be the Bills' No. 2 before suffering his ACL tear. That's especially interesting because Hines garnered only six total carries and nine targets across nine games with the Bills last year after arriving from the Colts via trade. The Hines bit plus the Murray praise could signal an iffy outlook for Harris, who signed for less than $2 million on a one-year deal in free agency. Harris has already moved down our RB rankings since the start of training camp.
Bills RB Damien Harris left practice Monday with knee soreness and has yet to return, according to Matt Parrino of NewYorkUpstate.com. Latavius Murray has been filling in. We'll see how long the absence lasts and whether we get an official diagnosis. This doesn't sound like a serious issue, though, and hasn't affected Harris to date in our fantasy football RB rankings.
Bills TE Dalton Kincaid has drawn significant intrigue as a fantasy sleeper darling this offseason. The Athletic's Joe Buscaglia fueled the hype on Monday with a glowing report from camp. Buscaglia wrote that, "Almost every day, Kincaid is making himself available through excellent route running and movement skills for his size," adding that QB Josh Allen "has shown complete trust in Kincaid when on the field together." Rookie TEs immediately walking into high-end fantasy relevance is uncommon. However, the Bills' need for a reliable secondary option to WR Stefon Diggs in the passing game was made evident last season, and GM Brandon Beane said following the NFL Draft that they view the 25th overall pick as more of a WR than a TE. We'll see if this drumbeat stays steady for Kincaid, but it's tough to extract much value at a TE13 price tag in current ADP. He's not that far behind that position in our current TE rankings.
Bills QB Josh Allen hopped aboard the James Cook hype train in a SiriusXM interview on Wednesday. Cook is "going to take a large portion of the carries and in the pass game, he's going to be kind of a dual threat guy for us," Allen said. We've expected Cook to dominate pass-catching work all along. But a big revelation over the last couple of weeks is that Cook is in line to also lead the Bills in carries. A workload similar to what RB Devin Singletary got over the past four years -- 11.0 carries and 3.2 targets per game -- is within reach for Cook this year.
Commanders HC Ron Rivera noted how WR Curtis Samuel’s skill set fits the new offense. Washington is now under the direction of OC Eric Bieniemy. “I think it fits in very well,” Rivera said. “Go back and get an opportunity to look at the stuff that they did in Kansas City and look at how creative and inventive they have been over the years with the receivers that they've had. Everything from running the jet sweeps to going vertical to working underneath, and the coverages against the coverages. You know, it's about getting the ball into the hands as quick as possible in as much space as possible, allowing these guys to make plays.” Highlighting Samuel’s catch-and-run ability makes sense. But we’re likely talking about the No. 3 option for an offense with QB concerns. Samuel, 27, projects as a bench stash to begin the season.
The theme of the Bills' first week of training camp has been TE Dalton Kincaid "being fast-tracked into what indisputably feels like a prominent, instant-impact role for a rookie within Buffalo's dynamic offense," CBS Sports' Chris Trapasso writes. Kincaid has reportedly been a fixture with QB Josh Allen and the first-team offense. It's not a big surprise considering Buffalo spent the 25th overall pick of this spring's draft on Kincaid, a 23-year-old who should be more NFL-ready than most rookies. Kincaid undoubtedly landed in an exciting spot with this Bills offense and has TE1 upside this season. The issue is that his ADP is sitting between TE12 and TE14, depending on the source. It'll be tough to squeeze much value out of Kincaid at that price.
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