NFL Player News

Birmingham scored two rushing touchdowns in the preseason, but averaged just 3.5 yards a carry on 15 attempts. Mike Goodson severely outproduced him.

Bell’s Week 4 outing was heartbreaking. His near-68-yard touchdown on the Dolphins’ third drive will live with him, and fantasy managers alike, for a while. Malik Willis rolled right out of the pocket, facing pressure and lobbed a wobbly pass to Bell downfield. The rookie wide receiver caught it, took off downfield, stumbled through a leg grab and ran into the end zone. Unfortunately, the officials determined Bell had stepped out of bounds, along the right sideline, during the scramble drill. Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley did not challenge it. Upon replay, one can make the case that his pinky toe’s shadow grazed the white line, but it was an awfully close call. Aside from that, Willis sent him a wobbly, incomplete overthrow beyond the sticks on the Dolphins’ first drive and later tried to force a fadeaway jumper to him 25 yards downfield. The pass was contested and fell incomplete. The talent is there. Despite the rough outing, Bell warrants FLEX consideration against the Saints in Week 5.

Nix’s play — including missing easy intermediate throws in the first half — left Broncos offensive coordinator Davis Webb without answers, a common theme so far this season. His lone touchdown came on a garbage time score to Jaylen Waddle. Nix was in check-down mode throughout the game against the Niners, finishing with a 4.9 aDOT. He was 5 percent under his expected completion rate, targeting his running backs 12 times. Until Webb and Sean Payton figure out the offense, Nix will be a superflex-only fantasy option without much of a weekly ceiling. He gets the Chargers in Week 5.

After seeing 14 carries in Week 1 against the Rams, Black now has 17 rushing attempts over his past three games as the Niners’ No. 2 back behind Christian McCaffrey. Black should be rostered in most leagues as one of the best contingency options in the game. As long as CMC is healthy, Black should remain on benches.

Samuel was again a critically important part of the San Francisco offense. He scored his touchdown — his third of the year — on a well-designed red zone target from Brock Purdy. Looking far quicker and more fleet afoot than he did last year in Washington, Samuel has been a consistent flex option in 12-team leagues through Week 4. That should continue in Week 5, though the matchup is much tougher against the Seahawks secondary.

Silver said he spoke to Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Chris Jones, among others, in the locker room, and the group was “all for” signing Hill when he is ready to play. Per Silver, Hill is believed to be targeting a November return. Rashee Rice injured his hamstring today, and Tyquan Thornton suffered what is likely to be a season-ending ankle injury.

Washington remains one of the Dolphins’ primary returners despite his increased receiving involvement. His day began with a muffed punt that he successfully recovered in the end zone for a touchback. Things improved from there. Washington delivered multiple double-digit gains, functioning effectively as a weapon behind the line of scrimmage and in the flats. He also turned in a 17-yarder via a corner route on play action. Rookie WR Caleb Douglas (ankle) may return for next week’s game against the Saints. If he remains sidelined, Washington should be FLEX-viable, though his ceiling is questionable.

Waddle was invisible for much of the game until a late red zone touchdown with the Broncos in up-tempo catch-up mode. It was his first touchdown reception as a Bronco. Waddle, who now has three down games in his first four contests as the Broncos’ nominal WR1, will probably struggle until Denver OC Davis Webb figures out how to maximize his personnel, including the struggling Bo Nix. Against the 49ers Waddle was targeted on a meager 16 percent of his routes. Hopefully that rate will rise in Week 5 against the Chargers.

Willis’ biggest plays of the day are the ones that didn’t count. Willis rolled out of the pocket, escaping pressure, on the Dolphins’ third drive and hit Chris Bell downfield for what could have been a 68-yard touchdown. Unfortunately, the officials determined that the tiniest edge of Bell’s right cleat grazed the sideline pre-catch, during the scramble drill, negating the play altogether. Heartbreaking. Willis also had a 10-yard scramble called back due to holding on the Dolphins’ fifth drive. He attempted a running fadeaway pass 25 yards downfield to Bell on 3rd-and-8 on the Dolphins’ ninth drive, but the catch was contested and ultimately fell incomplete. He is a QB2 against the Bengals next week.

Kelce was held in check throughout the entirety of this one and has been targeted just six times in his last two games. Were it not for an 11-yard score in last week’s win over the Dolphins, we would be looking at back-to-back disappointing fantasy weeks for the future Hall of Famer. Kelce and the Chiefs are now heading into their bye week. He could see an increase in targets with Rashee Rice (hamstring) and Tyquan Thornton (ankle) both at risk of missing multiple weeks, but Kelce now has three games on his 2026 ledger with five or fewer targets.

Mims also lost a fumble in the loss. Mims has been virtually invisible in the Broncos offense through four games, though that could change if Pat Bryant’s injury proves to be the long-term variety. Even in that case Mims would be nothing more than an ultra deep league option.