NFL

As things currently stand, incumbent second-year RB Bhayshul Tuten and free agent signee RB Chris Rodriguez are set to duke it out for the backfield committee’s lead role. Rodriguez, 5'11/224, is built to handle a hefty workload, though the coaching staff willingly deployed Tuten, 5'9/209, in scoring position last year. Fellow second-year RB LeQuint Allen likely has the edge for the primary receiving role. Should one player win the starting role outright this summer, they should produce in the RB2/FLEX range come Week 1.

This is mostly just a housekeeping item for dynasty managers, but re-draft managers can still file it away for a potential rainy day in Dallas. Things could change via the 2026 NFL Draft, but these two are set to duke it out for now. Milton flubbed his second-half opportunity in Week 18 last year, perhaps prompting the Cowboys to search for a more reliable No. 2 option. The team certainly has a type. Both Howell and Milton possess very strong arms, which should allow the Cowboys to continue attacking downfield if starting QB Dak Prescott were to miss time.

Just over a month ago, The Athletic’s Jon Machota reported Ezeiruaku had undergone surgery on his injured hip. The expectation then was that he would be out until training camp. Today’s update is encouraging. The Cowboys spent the No. 44 overall pick on Ezeiruaku in last year’s draft. He banked 36 quarterback pressures, two sacks, 29 solo tackles and 11 TFLs as a rookie.

EJ’s father, Emmitt, played for the Cowboys from 1990 to 2002. He is a Hall of Famer and the NFL’s all-time leading rusher. Across his five college seasons, three at Stanford and two at Texas A&M, EJ rushed 202 times for 934 yards and nine touchdowns and caught 67-of-77 targets for 417 yards and one touchdown. His ticket to the NFL is likely as an undrafted free agent. Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer called him “an incredible short-yardage runner, powerful.” To Smith’s credit, he forced 66 missed tackles on 269 regular season touches in his college career and averaged 0.27 missed tackles forced per carry in 2025. He might have a chance to secure an NFL roster spot as a backup bruiser back somewhere. The Cowboys’ backfield is fairly crowded at this point, though.

The Commanders’ D/ST unit finished 29th in total scoring last year, while tying for the third-most yards allowed per play at 6.0. This year, the coaches hope to wield “waves of players that [can] apply pressure” and schematic disguises to cause hesitation in quarterbacks and create takeaways. The front office revamped the defense’s front-seven, highlighted by EDGE Odafe Oweh’s four-year, $100 million contract, and added slot DB Amik Robertson in free agency. The rest of the secondary contains question marks. If Quinn can effectively implement new DC Daronte Jones’ blitzing concepts, derived from his time studying under Vikings DC Brian Flores, the unit should improve its play. Unfortunately, they play in a division loaded with high-end offenses. If the secondary cannot uphold its end of the bargain, the pass defense could remain a unit to target for fantasy purposes.

The Titans scheduled their first voluntary session on April 7, which will allow Saleh and new OC Brian Daboll to officially begin working with Ward, who is “on track,” though Saleh said he is “not going to put a timetable” on Ward’s participation levels, as he works through his rehab program. Ward spent the earlier portion of the offseason working on his base and footwork continues to be an area of emphasis. He was cleared to resume throwing in mid March and a recent report indicates that the team is unconcerned by Ward’s “different” throwing motion.

In other words, like last year, expect Stafford to not be given all of the reps in training camp or (likely any of them) in preseason. This is mentioned as Barshop notes that the Rams have yet to address backup quarterback. Kirk Cousins, who was mentioned as a potential backup option, signed with the Raiders late last week. McVay said at the meetings that Jimmy Garoppolo’s return is “less likely than likely.” As things currently stand, Stetson Bennett would be getting a lot of training camp reps with the 1s. We expect there’ll be a different answer than that when it’s actually August, but that’s where things stand now.

Vikings owner Mark Wilf, who spoke at the Owner’s Meetings this week, “spoke in decidedly neutral terms when asked about Brzezinski’s future” per Seifert. It appears the Vikings will not get the easy solution here and instead will have to actually work to find a new general manager after the draft.

The context isn’t entirely crystal clear from the article as the question wasn’t included, but it alludes to the idea that Likely is going to put up bigger numbers. Giants beat writers seem in lockstep on the idea that New York will use multiple tight ends often in 2026 — something that makes plenty of sense when you look at their wideout room — and especially if Malik Nabers is sidelined early in the year, it would make sense to see Likely have some big games. He’s clearly at least in the low-end TE1 tier, and we can see an argument for higher given how little we saw of him as a featured option behind Mark Andrews.

Jets coach Aaron Glenn said he looks at Ohio State LB Arvell Reese the way he looks at Texans EDGE Danielle Hunter. “I look at [Reese] the same way. Man, it’s a combination of the traits and this combination of the football character again. Is that player coachable enough to be able to do the things that you want him to do to be successful?” Glenn asked rhetorically. The headline of this piece is “Jets leaning towards LB Arvell Reese with second overall pick,” but we wouldn’t say it quite hits that level of dedication. Still, it makes plenty of sense for the Jets to wind up at that conclusion. Cimini also noted that Texas Tech EDGE David Bailey and Ohio State LB Sonny Styles figure to draw consideration at No. 2 overall.