It's been a "tough first two weeks of camp" for Patriots TE Mike Gesicki, The Athletic's Chad Graff writes. "He has not been frequently targeted in drills and has made little impact when targeted," Graff adds. He concludes point blankly that, "Hunter Henry is TE1 over Mike Gesicki." That's especially noteworthy considering Gesicki still sits ahead of Henry in most ADP data. That's not the case in our 2023 TE Rankings.
Bengals RB Trayveon Williams suffered a "mild ankle sprain" in Tuesday's practice, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Williams is expected to be sidelined "a couple of weeks." It's relatively good news after Williams was carted off with what sounded like a more serious injury. He should be available come Week 1, but the missed time will hurt his chances of beating out rookie Chase Brown for the Bengals' No. 2 RB job.
Per NFL insider Mike Garafolo, Colts RB Zack Moss suffered a broken arm in practice on Monday. He’s expected to miss about six weeks. With Jonathan Taylor sidelined, the Colts are down to Deon Jackson and Evan Hull atop the RB depth chart.
NFL Network's Mike Garafolo hears that Bengals QB Joe Burrow (calf) will likely be available for Week 1, although it doesn't sound like it's a lock. "No one's putting a timeframe on [Burrow's return]," Garafolo said. "But my belief is that Week 1 should be a realistic possibility for Joe Burrow. That's the sound that I'm getting. No one's really saying, 'boy he's really in danger of missing a couple of regular-season weeks.' Now, that being said, it's a calf injury. It's tricky. You can re-injure it. It can lead to other things. So the Bengals surely will be cautious with this." It doesn't sound like we'll see Burrow in the preseason, which is nothing new for him. He's played three preseason snaps in his career. Burrow's health will be the biggest storyline of the rest of the summer. Stay tuned for updates. For now, we've nudged Burrow one spot down the QB Rankings.
Bengals HC Zac Taylor said Friday that QB Joe Burrow will be sidelined for "several weeks." Burrow's calf injury isn't likely to cost him regular season games, but we'll pass along updates as they become available.
SI's Albert Breer reports that Bengals QB Joe Burrow suffered a right calf strain. "Early signs are good it's not worse than that," he adds. That's obviously good news vs. what could have been wrong with Burrow's leg. We'll see about his expected return timeline.
Bengals QB Joe Burrow was carted off the practice field on Thursday. He went down as he escaped the pocket and grabbed at his right calf, which already had a sleeve on it. Here's video of the play. We'll update Burrow's status as soon as we know more.
Update: Burrow's injury is to his calf, HC Zac Taylor said.
Bengals insider Jay Morrison believes the coaching staff remains a "fan" of RB Trayveon Williams. The 25-year-old owns only 55 career touches. Still, Morrison believes Williams could fill the “Samaje Perine role” – if he can outperform rookie Chase Brown in pass protection. The Bengals open training camp on Wednesday.
Patriots TE Mike Gesicki aims to rebound from a down 2022. A change of scenery helps, as Gesicki ran only 354 routes last season — way down from 2021 (539). His targets per route run also sunk, from 22.7% to 15.5% in Year 1 under HC Mike McDaniel. The Pats took a flier on Gesicki, inking the 27-year-old to a 1-year deal worth $4.5 million. He needs QB Mac Jones to bounce back in Year 3. But barring the addition of WR DeAndre Hopkins, Gesicki should hold a role that makes him a fantasy spot-starter. Ideally, he’s your TE3 in best ball leagues.
Bengals WR Tee Higgins is about as consistent as they come in fantasy football. He's hovered around a 20% target share and a 30% air yards share annually and has recorded three straight 900+ receiving yard seasons since 2020. Higgins has never finished outside the top 20 in Pro Football Focus receiving grade in any season among WRs who received 100+ targets in that span. He'll continue to play second fiddle to teammate Ja'Marr Chase, but Higgins is a reliable WR2 option for fantasy managers with occasional room to boom for more. Should Chase miss any time, Higgins has the upside to be a true WR1 in the Bengals' offense. In four games without Chase in 2022 between Week 8 and Week 13, Higgins ranked 11th overall in PPR (75.1), 9th in PPR points per game (18.8), 16th in target share (26.7%), 3rd in air yards share (46.4%), and 6th in receiving yards per game (92.8) among all WRs. See where we have Higgins in our current WR rankings.
Broncos RB Samaje Perine left practice on Wednesday with a thumb injury. Perine walked to the locker room with Denver’s training staff, although HC Sean Payton downplayed the injury later on. We’re not expecting Perine to be limited for the start of training camp.
UPDATE: Perine's injury was a thumb bruise. Carry on.
Nick Kosmider of The Athletic believes RB Samaje Perine “should be a fixture of Denver’s offense, regardless of when [Javonte] Williams returns.” It certainly sounds like new HC Sean Payton agrees. “When we signed Samaje, this is a guy that gave us flexibility,” Payton said. “We signed him because we knew he was durable and reliable. We felt like we got another solid runner who’s built in a strong way. There are a lot of things he does well. When we signed him, there was still uncertainty (with Williams). I was taught a long time ago to stack them up at that position. It’s a tough position in our league.” We’ll continue tracking the ACL/LCL rehab for Williams, who looks close to 50/50 for Week 1. For now, Perine’s Round 9 ADP on Underdog Fantasy looks tempting.
The Athletic's Paul Dehner believes rookie WR Charlie Jones has a chance to take over as the Bengals' slot receiver when Tyler Boyd's contract runs out at the end of the 2023 season. “No matter where you throw the ball, he’s going to make the play,” WRs coach Troy Walters said of Jones. “He’s a technical route runner. If it’s a 15-yard route, he’s going to run 15. If it’s 12 yards, he’s going to get 12. He knows how to manipulate coverages to beat the defenders at the top of his routes. He just knows how to get open. He’s a football player, and that’s what we need. Very similar to when I was in Indianapolis with Peyton Manning. With Joe (Burrow), he wants you to be in the right spot at the right time, and that’s what Charlie does. He’s going to be in the right spot. He’s someone that Joe can count on.” Jones would need an injury to Boyd, Ja'Marr Chase, or Tee Higgins to have any chance at 2023 fantasy value. But he's an intriguing bench stash in deeper dynasty leagues as a potential asset in 2024 and beyond.
The Bengals grabbed RB Chase Brown in the 5th round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Brown spent one year at Western Michigan before transferring to Illinois for the past four. He served as the Fighting Illini's lead back each of the last three seasons, culminating with a big 328-carry, 1,643-yard 2022 campaign. Brown added another 240 yards and three scores on 27 catches. The 5'10, 209-pounder blew up the Combine with a 4.43-second 40 time and 40-inch vertical to earn a 98th percentile Relative Athletic Score. Brown joins a Bengals backfield currently led by RB Joe Mixon. Mixon has been a rumored cut candidate, although Cincinnati's moves at RB so far this offseason make that seem unlikely. We'll keep an eye on the Mixon situation, but Brown at least has a chance to emerge as the Bengals' #2 RB this year. His competition for that spot: Chris Evans and Trayveon Williams.
The Bengals added WR Charlie Jones in the 4th round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Jones is coming off a huge 2023 season for Purdue: 110 catches, 1,361 yards, and 12 TDs. So why did he last until Round 4? Because 2023 was Jones' sixth year in college. He did nothing across 2 seasons at Buffalo and then 3 at Iowa. He's already 24 years old and is just 175 pounds. It's a shaky prospect profile. This is a sneaky strong long-term landing spot, though. Jones is tied to QB Joe Burrow. And WRs Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd are set to hit free agency next offseason. It makes Jones worth stashing in deeper dynasty leagues.
The Bengals chose Edge Myles Murphy 28th overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. Murphy had a strange progression through three years at Clemson. He led the team with 12.0 tackles for loss as a true freshman in 2020 and then led the Tigers again in 2021. Murphy ranked just third on the team in total pressures as a junior, though. He presents some position versatility along the line and tested well at Clemson’s pro day. Murphy sat inside the top 10 of our pre-draft IDP rookie rankings. He goes to a Cincinnati defense that doesn't have an immediate edge need. Don't be surprised if Murphy sees limited rookie-year time.
ESPN's Mike Reiss reports that Patriots HC Bill Belichick "made it sound like the team views [Mike] Gesicki more as a receiver than a traditional tight end, putting him in the category with receivers DeVante Parker, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyquan Thornton and Kendrick Bourne instead of with tight end Hunter Henry." That came from Reiss talking with Belichick at the recent league meetings. It's not clear whether the coach actually put Gesicki "in the category" with the wideouts, or if that's just Reiss' language. But this is the second Patriots writer we've seen point to Belichick treating Gesicki as more WR than TE. It certainly makes sense. As we pointed out when he signed, Gesicki has had his most productive years when playing primarily in the slot and/or out wide. He fares poorly from a traditional inline TE position. The biggest takeaway for fantasy football players is that it seems we should expect Gesicki to compete more with New England WRs for targets than with Henry. We'll keep watching for further signals on the usage for Gesicki, Henry, and the rest of an offense that will operate under a new OC (Bill O'Brien).
The Patriots are signing TE Mike Gesicki to a one-year deal worth "up to" $9 million, according to multiple reports. Gesicki was a forgotten man in HC Mike McDaniels' Dolphins offense last year, mustering just 32 catches for 362 yards and 5 TDs on a 45% snap rate. He's still just 27, though, and topped 700 receiving yards in both 2020 and 2021. He finished both of those seasons as a top-9 TE in PPR points, while ranking 6th and then 13th in Pro Football Focus receiving grade. Gesicki joins Hunter Henry in New England's TE room, but the two have played different roles to date. Henry played a career-low 26.5% of his pass snaps inline (according to Pro Football Focus) and a career-high 61.6% in the slot in 2021, his first year with the Patriots. Last season, though, he spent exactly the same amount of time (43.3% of pass snaps) in each role -- with a career-low 10.3% out wide. Gesicki has spent just 19.5% of his career snaps inline -- the traditional TE spot -- 58.9% in the slot and 21.1% out wide. Considering the current state of the New England WR corps (JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyquan Thornton, DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne), there's room for both TEs to be relevant. We'll look for clues on how the targets will be divvied. For now, don't consider Gesicki more than a low-TE2 in fantasy football drafts. And there's no reason to downgrade Henry's fantasy outlook. He has already been going in mid-TE3 range of best ball drafts. His career-long penchant for end-zone targets makes him well worth mixing in at that level.
The Broncos have agreed to a two-year, $7.5 million deal with RB Samaje Perine. This contract also includes an additional $1 million in potential incentives. Perine makes a lot of sense for the Broncos given the uncertain recovery timeline for RB Javonte Williams, who tore his ACL in Week 4 of 2022 vs. the Raiders. Even if Williams is able to recover in time to play a majority of the 2023 season, Perine stands to shoulder a decent amount of the rushing workload in a Sean Payton-led offense that historically uses a committee approach at RB. The Broncos have invested heavily in their offensive line this offseason as well, inking large contracts with T Mike McGlinchey and G Ben Powers so far. How much this move impacts fantasy will depend on the health of Williams, but this move is far from insignificant, especially if the Broncos don't spend any more on the RB position this offseason.
The Panthers have reached a deal with former Bengals S Vonn Bell, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Carolina still has S Xavier Woods, who signed for three years as a free agent last offseason. The team lists Jeremy Chinn as a safety as well, but he moves around the formation. According to Pro Football Focus, Chinn actually played more snaps at slot CB than anywhere else last season. So expect the Panthers to have room for all three players in their primary defensive alignments. Cincinnati, meanwhile, must replace both safeties. Dax Hill -- a late first-round pick last April -- should fill one spot. We'll see about the other. Hill gets a boost in the dynasty rankings with these departures.
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