Fantasy Football News

After a four-game slide where it appeared that Troy Franklin had lost his status as Denver's No. 2 WR, a hamstring injury suffered by Pat Bryant opened the door for Franklin to reassert himself as an integral part of Denver's passing attack. And he took advantage of the opportunity. Franklin caught all 6 of his targets for 85 yards and 1 TD in Denver's 34-26 win over the Green Bay Packers.

The Broncos are trading WR Jerry Jeudy to the Browns for fifth- and sixth-round picks in this year's draft, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. It's clearly a cost-cutting move for Denver, which avoids the nearly $13 million cap hit of the final season on Jeudy's contract. The move should allow second-year WR Marvin Mims to hit the starting lineup, though he'll have to compete with returning WR Tim Patrick. Jeudy arrives to a Cleveland corps that already sported WRs Amari Cooper and Elijah Moore. Right now we'd bet on Jeudy garnering more targets than Moore, who earned just 16.7% target share in his first year with the Browns. But it's certainly not an exciting landing spot for Jeudy's upside. That's magnified by QB Deshaun Watson's lackluster play in 2023 before his season-ending shoulder injury. Jeudy's fine to stack with Watson on best ball rosters at their respective prices: WR61 in Underdog Fantasy ADP for Jeudy; QB23 for Watson. Just don't expect either to be a championship winner. That said, Watson sports a nice crew of pass-catchers now, with the aforementioned wideouts and TE David Njoku. Cleveland second-year WR Cedric Tillman, meanwhile, looks blocked from relevance for at least one more year. He's not a must-hold in dynasty.

Broncos WR Courtland Sutton (concussion) is out for Sunday's game vs. the Chargers. WRs Jerry Jeudy (illness) and Marvin Mims (hamstring) are listed as questionable. Jeudy didn't practice on Friday but should be fine by Sunday. Mims' availability looks much shakier after being added to the injury report on Thursday and then missing practice on Friday. We'll look for updates on those guys on Sunday morning.

Returning from a hamstring injury, Broncos WR Jerry Jeudy caught 3 balls for 25 yards in Week 2. His 85.7% route rate was fine, but it produced only 5 targets (a 15.6% team share). Courtland Sutton led the team in targets (7) and catches (5). Escaping this one without a setback, Jeudy should creep closer to 100% for Sunday’s showdown in Miami.

Broncos WR Courtland Sutton has "consistently been quarterback Russell Wilson’s top target in training camp," The Athletic's Nick Kosmider writes. "He is fully healthy and has demonstrated more explosiveness than in any training camp since 2020, when he was dominant in practices leading up to his ACL injury." Kosmider adds that HC Sean Payton believes that Sutton can "thrive as an outside receiver in his system." Jerry Jeudy was Denver's best WR by basically any metric last season. But it's worth noting that the target split between Jeudy and Sutton was relatively close -- 69 to 61 in favor of Jeudy in their nine healthy games together. Jeudy sits well ahead of Sutton in our 2023 fantasy football rankings. But Sutton could certainly prove to be a value at his WR40 ADP.

NFL Network's James Palmer had "multiple people" in the Broncos organization tell him that Tim Patrick is "the best football player in that WR room." That WR room also includes Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, and second-round rookie Marvin Mims. QB Russell Wilson felt most comfortable throwing to Patrick last offseason, per Palmer. And the belief (hope?) is that Patrick's August torn ACL played a big part in Wilson's ugly 2022 season. Patrick is on track to be ready for Week 1, which is good news for Wilson. But it's tough to see Patrick emerging as a reliable fantasy option barring an injury to Jeudy or Sutton. Patrick is at least worth considering near the end of best-ball drafts.

The Broncos signed WR Marquez Callaway to a one-year deal. He spent his first two NFL seasons under new Broncos HC Sean Payton in New Orleans, tallying 21-213-0 and 46-698-6 receiving lines. Callaway joins Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, Tim Patrick, and K.J. Hamler in Denver's WR room. Jeudy and Sutton have been bandied about as trade candidates (although Payton recently shot those rumors down), while Patrick (ACL) and Hamler (pectoral) are rehabbing major injuries. There's a chance that opportunity opens up for Callaway in Denver, although we'd still consider him no more than a last-round flier in best-ball drafts for now.

Broncos WR Courtland Sutton (hamstring) practiced fully on Friday and doesn't carry an injury tag for Week 17 vs. the Chiefs. WR Jerry Jeudy (ankle) was a limited participant all week and is listed as questionable. An absence from Jeudy would create an interesting opportunity for Sutton to step up in a neutral matchup vs. the Chiefs. However, Jeudy is the wideout we prefer for fantasy purposes. Jeudy has received a whopping 27 targets over the last 3 games and stands to be a high-end WR2 option if he suits up. Sutton did fairly well last week after missing a pair of games with this same hamstring issue. He's a WR3/flex option on Sunday. WR Kendall Hinton (hamstring) is listed as questionable after a limited week of practice.

Broncos WR Jerry Jeudy caught 6 balls for 117 yards in Sunday's loss to the Rams, leading the team in both categories and targets (10). WR Courtland Sutton returned from his hamstring injury to post a 5-64 receiving line on 7 targets. TE Greg Dulcich grabbed the team's only TD among 4 catches for 39 on 8 targets. Denver closes out the fantasy football season (in most leagues) at Kansas City. Denver tallied 263 yards and 4 TDs passing in the Week 14 meeting with the Chiefs, who have been a slightly positive scoring matchup for WRs but strongly positive for QBs.

Broncos WR Courtland Sutton (hamstring) practiced in a limited fashion on both Wednesday and Thursday this week. Sutton is seemingly on track to return from his hamstring injury for Sunday's game against the Rams. He led the Broncos with 7.6 targets per game across 7 outings with a healthy QB Russell Wilson and healthy WR Jerry Jeudy earlier this season. But Sutton still ranked just 41st among WRs in fantasy points per game in that span.

Broncos WRs Courtland Sutton and Kendall Hinton remained out on Thursday with their hamstring injuries. They're both looking unlikely to play vs. the Cardinals this weekend, which would leave WR Jerry Jeudy and TE Greg Dulcich as the clear top-2 options in the passing game.

Broncos HC Nathaniel Hackett labeled WR Courtland Sutton "day to day" with the hamstring injury he suffered in the loss to Baltimore. It sounds like Sutton avoided a significant injury, but we'd still consider him iffy for this weekend's game vs. the Chiefs. We'll watch his practice participation throughout the week.

Broncos WR Courtland Sutton was knocked out of Sunday's game vs. the Ravens with a hamstring injury. We should get an update on the severity on Monday.

Broncos WR Courtland Sutton (illness) is active for today’s game vs. the Ravens. He was added to the injury report and did not practice on Friday, adding some downside to his Week 13 fantasy profile.

Broncos WR Courtland Sutton (illness) is expected to play vs. the Ravens on Sunday, according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. Sutton was added to the injury report and did not practice on Friday due to an illness, but it's unlikely to be a limiting factor tomorrow.

Broncos WR Courtland Sutton (illness) is listed as questionable for this weekend’s game vs. the Ravens. He was added to the injury report and did not practice on Friday. Guys are usually able to play through illnesses, but you’ll need to check Shark Bites around 11:30 am ET on Sunday to make sure Sutton is active.

Broncos QB Russell Wilson made it through his return from the hamstring injury in Sunday morning's victory over the Jaguars. He threw for 252 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT on 18-of-30 passing, adding 17 yards on the ground. Wilson targeted WR Jerry Jeudy most (7 times), connecting for a 6-63-1 receiving line. TE Greg Dulcich led the team with 87 receiving yards on 4 catches, finishing 2nd in targets (5). WR Courtland Sutton drew just 4 looks and caught only 1 for 13 yards. Denver likely welcomes a Week 9 bye and then gets 3 straight soft pass defenses: Titans, Raiders, Panthers.

Broncos HC Nathaniel Hackett said Friday morning that QB Russell Wilson (hamstring) will start Sunday's game vs. the Jaguars, barring a setback between now and then. Wilson, of course, had been struggling even before this hamstring injury. He's just a QB2 in Week 8 fantasy lineups, but we'd still consider him a tangible upgrade over QB Brett Rypien.

Broncos QB Russell Wilson has a partially torn hamstring, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports. That tends to be a multi-week injury, per Rapoport, so "there was virtually no chance" Denver was letting Wilson play vs. the Jets today. The Broncos play the Jaguars in London next week and then get a Week 9 bye, so it seems likeliest that Week 10 is the next time we see Wilson. We'll see how QB Brett Rypien fares today.