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Minnesota Vikings Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Fantasy Football News 2023

Most Recent Fantasy Football News & Updates

Vikings WR Justin Jefferson drew 12 targets in Monday night's loss to the Eagles -- 4 more than his nearest teammate -- but caught just 6 of them for 48 yards. Jefferson had no gain of more than 11 yards, on a night where Eagles CB Darius Slay locked him up. WR Adam Thielen added 4-52 receiving on 7 targets, while WR K.J. Osborn drew just 2 looks.

RB Dalvin Cook amassed just 17 yards on 6 carries as the Vikings got whipped by the Eagles on Monday night. Cook was matched in rushing yards by WR Jalen Reagor's lone carry and beaten by QB Kirk Cousins' 2 rushes for 20 yards. Cook added 4-19 receiving on 6 targets, on a night where Minnesota could get nothing going. RB Alexander Mattison contributed 8 yards on 2 carries and 3 catches for 6 yards on 5 targets.

Vikings WR Justin Jefferson torched the Packers for 184 yards and 2 TDs on 9 catches in HC Kevin O'Connell's debut. Jefferson was clearly the focal point of the offense, garnering a 34% target share and lining up all over the field. Per ESPN, Jefferson took 41 snaps on the outside, 12 in the slot, 1 in the backfield and 1 inline. He racked up 93 yards from the outside and 91 from the slot. He also went in motion on 7 snaps. "I definitely like the motioning and just seeing the whole field," Jefferson said. "I'm pretty sure I'm going to do it a lot more." Jefferson will be battling for the WR lead in fantasy points all season.

The Vikings are acquiring WR Jalen Reagor from the Eagles. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that Minnesota is giving a 7th-round pick in 2023 (acquired from Houston in a separate trade this week) and a conditional 4th-rounder in 2024. That part will probably be determined by Reagor's performance in at least the coming season. The former 1st-round pick busted his way out of Philadelphia. He interestingly now becomes teammates with Justin Jefferson, whom Minnesota selected just after. It's tough to see Reagor climbing higher than 4th on the Vikings' WR depth chart without injury to someone in the top 3. So don't expect fantasy relevance this season.

Vikings insider Chris Tomasson hears that the team is "open to trading" RB Alexander Mattison. He's entering the final year of his rookie deal, and no progress has been made on a contract extension. Of course, "open to trading" is much different from "likely to trade." We'll see if another team makes a legitimate offer for Mattison. A move out of Minnesota would be good news for his 2022 fantasy value. And it'd leave RBs Kene Nwangwu and rookie Ty Chandler behind Dalvin Cook on the depth chart.

Vikings QB Kirk Cousins returned to practice on Wednesday. He ended up missing the minimum 5 days with COVID. His fantasy stock is unaffected.

Vikings QB Kirk Cousins tested positive for COVID and will be away from the team for at least 5 days. We'll see exactly when he gets back on the field, but this shouldn't impact his 2022 fantasy value.

ESPN's Kevin Seifert writes that Vikings WR K.J. Osborn "is having a breakout training camp in his own right." That came within an article focused on Adam Thielen's productive role in complement to WR Justin Jefferson's quick rise. We won't overrate 1 reporter's choice of adjectives, but it's clear that Minnesota's #3 wideout is having a good training camp after last year's 50-655-7 receiving line and WR39 finish in PPR. Osborn remains an easy value at his WR64 Underdog ADP.

NJ.com's Chris Franklin has Quez Watkins and Zach Pascal as the Eagles' 3rd and 4th WRs right now, behind the obvious lead duo of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. That leaves 3rd-year WR Jalen Reagor fighting Greg Ward, Britain Covey and Deon Cain for what's expected to be the final 2 spots at the position. Reagor should certainly hold an edge at that level, but this standing doesn't bode well for his chances of finding fantasy football relevance.

Rams HC Sean McVay talked Monday about the fill-in WR plans while Van Jefferson is out for knee surgery. One player he brought up was Brandon Powell. "He's one of those guys, a great competitor, good football player," McVay said, per Rams Wire's Cameron DaSilva. "Seen really positive things from him from the slot." Powell's primary usage so far has come as a return man, across 3 franchises over the past 4 years. He got onto the field for just 3 offensive snaps with the Rams last season, so odds appear to be against him finding a significant role there this year. But we'll see how things go for both Jefferson's knee and those behind him on the depth chart.

12:15pm EDT 7/30/22

Arif Hasan of The Athletic writes that Vikings WR K.J. Osborn has appeared to lock down the team’s #3 WR role. Osborn, who enjoyed a mini breakout last year (50-655-7), is running ahead of guys like Bisi Johnson, Ihmir Smith-Marsette and Albert Wilson. It’s not a surprise, but it’s nice to get confirmation with Minnesota breaking in a new coaching staff. With the Vikings expected to feature more 3-WR looks, Osborn could enter the spot-start mix in deep leagues.

"I think he's gonna finally thrive, really thrive, in a system and a coach that actually respects him." Those were the recent words from ex-Vikings LB Ben Leber, who now works the sideline for team radio broadcasts. Leber added: "Mike Zimmer did not like Kirk Cousins. And I think that showed in the way that Kirk behaved and the way that he carried himself. The team was never given to him." It's quite possible that this is entirely true ... and that the change doesn't impact Cousins' fantasy production. He ranked 5th among QBs in passing-TD rate and yards per attempt over the past 3 years, under Zimmer. (We talked further about Cousins and our expectations for the 2022 Vikings offense in Tuesday's podcast.) If it's true that Zimmer negatively impacted Cousins' day-to-day, then the switch certainly can't hurt his effectiveness.

Vikings WR Justin Jefferson said he's "so excited" about new HC Kevin O'Connell's offense. "Our offensive style, it's not a run-first offense anymore," Jefferson said. "Just us being able to put different people in different positions and distribute the ball, really." We actually wouldn't describe last year's Vikings as "run first" considering they ranked 11th in pass attempts. But they finished 18th in situation-neutral pass rate, so there's room for at least a moderate climb in passing volume this season. Jefferson is a locked-in top 3 fantasy WR.

Saints DE Marcus Davenport is enduring "a particularly rough offseason health-wise," according to Katherine Terrell of The Athletic. The 5th-year edge player has had 2 surgeries for his injured right shoulder and 3 on his left pinky. The finger injury dates back to college, with the most recent setback being an infection developing after he broke a plate previously inserted into the finger. Davenport says the digit is down to a "nub." The combo of operations have kept Davenport out of workouts this offseason, and it's not yet clear whether he'll start training camp on time. "Training camp would be the goal," HC Dennis Allen said recently. "We've just got to wait and see where he's at." Davenport is in the final year of his rookie contract and coming off a career-high 9 sacks in just 11 games. If he can get all the way back far enough ahead of Week 1, there's plenty of upside. But Davenport also has yet to play more than 13 games in a season. So we'll be tempering expectations.

Lions TE T.J. Hockenson expects to be used more creatively this season in new OC Ben Johnson's scheme. Johnson was Hockenson's position coach the past 2 years. "Ben has seen me do routes that most guys or coordinators wouldn't think that a tight end could do," Hockenson said. "Splitting me out, running a comeback, splitting me out and running things that really only wide receivers do. He's seen me run it and he's seen me run it well. Just being able to have that in his head – we're already seeing it now (with me) being split out and doing some things and showing what we got." QB Jared Goff likes what he's seen with Hockenson's usage so far this offseason. "T.J. is a unique player and somebody that we need to take advantage of his full skill set," Goff said. "No one knows him better than Ben, so having him in that (OC) spot to make those decisions and draw things up is helpful. But he's doing a great job creatively with T.J." Hockenson is a safe pick in mid-range TE1 territory and might still have untapped upside beyond that.

Vikings beat writer Chad Graff writes that RB Dalvin Cook might see more pass-game involvement in 2022. Cook “lined up in bunch wide receiver sets” at minicamp, though Graff admits it might just be some “tinkering” from a new staff. “I don’t want to just sit up here and tell y’all everything,” Cook said. “We’ve got Green Bay Week 1, so we’re gonna wait and see.” The veteran RB saw ~3.8 targets per game last season. Current projections have him at 41 catches (in 14 games).

Eagles GM Howie Roseman commented on 3rd-year WR Jalen Reagor on Sunday. “Jalen Reagor is a Philadelphia Eagle and he's going to be here,” Roseman said. “He's worked tremendously hard to get in shape and come into this off-season program, and now he has an opportunity. We don't anticipate anything changing.” Positive words are great, but the reality is that Reagor will open the season no higher than 4th on the depth chart. The 23-year-old remains off the redraft radar.

The Vikings selected RB Ty Chandler in Round 5 of the NFL Draft. A 5th-year senior, Chandler transferred from Tennessee to North Carolina last year. “Ty Chandler came to Carolina with loads of potential and we thought he'd have a tremendous year," HC Mack Brown said. "That's exactly what he did. He grew into the offense with his combination of speed and quickness, and was extremely productive for us. Ty was also great in the locker room as an experienced presence and went on to be voted captain by his teammates.” Chandler does bring top-end, 4.38 speed — but he’s on the smallish side at 204 pounds. He also turns 24 prior to Week 1. He’ll likely start out as a practice squad guy with the Vikings likely to stick with Alexander Mattison and Kene Nwangwu behind Dalvin Cook.

The Vikings grabbed LB Brian Asamoah early in Round 3 of the NFL Draft. Asamoah is smallish at 6'0, 226 pounds, though that's closer to the norm by current NFL standards. He tested well leading up to the draft (74th percentile speed score) after solid college production. Asamoah is likely at least a year away from the opportunity for real playing time in Minnesota, though, with Eric Kendricks and free-agent addition Jordan Hicks in the way.

The Vikings selected CB Andrew Booth in the 2nd round of the NFL Draft. Booth might have slid in the draft for injury concerns, but his most recent issue was just a sports hernia. His college numbers don’t point to huge IDP upside in the NFL: 68 total tackles, 5 INTs and 9 passes defensed across 3 seasons. Booth goes to a Minnesota secondary that presents immediate opportunity to compete for a starting gig.

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