NFL Player News

As expected. The Bills granted the Browns permission to speak to O’Neil early Monday, and Cleveland announced the hiring this evening. O’Neil has one year of previous defensive coordinator experience -- 2005 at Towson University. He spent one year with the Bills after being on the Jets staff for four seasons with new Browns coach Mike Pettine. O’Neil actually played for Pettine’s father in high school. Pettine will call defensive plays in 2014, while O’Neil gets a feel for the job. He will likely see an expanded role the following season.

White averaged just over two yards per carry on his first eight attempts before breaking loose for a 33-yard gain entering the final two minutes of the fourth quarter. He would find the end zone two plays later to salvage an otherwise underwhelming fantasy outing while operating in a three-way timeshare with Austin Ekeler and Jeremy McNichols. Although White’s fantasy value is clearly higher in the absence of Jacory Croskey-Merritt, his performance in Week 8 goes down as his first fantasy-viable start through the first eight weeks of the 2026 season. Fantasy managers are likely better off exploring alternatives ahead of a poor matchup against the Rams in Week 9.

Daniels started the game going 4-of-10 passing in the first quarter, which included an interception that was called back due to penalty, two false start penalties in the red zone, and a missed field goal, causing the Commanders to quickly fall into a 10-point deficit. They would clean things up from there as they rattled off 27 unanswered points to improve to 2-4-1 as they chase the division-leading Giants. A 53-yard completion to Treylon Burks and 30-yard completions to Antonio Williams and Stefon Diggs gave the offense explosive plays in key situations during the final three frames to boost Daniels’ counting stats despite poor efficiency. The win was the first victory in a Daniels start since 5 October of the 2025 season as the Commanders saved their season, at least for the moment. They get a difficult matchup against the Rams in Week 9, where Daniels will remain a middling QB2.

Goedert also committed a drop that was intercepted in the down performance, although the play in question was overturned through penalty. The veteran tight end continues to be limited by an ineffective offense with Tanner McKee under center in what has quickly become a lost season after the team’s sixth consecutive loss. Fantasy managers are likely better off looking for viable alternatives ahead of a Week 9 divisional clash with the Giants.

Lemon led the team in receiving for the second consecutive game without both DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks, although the returns were nothing to write home about in Week 8. Largely confined to a short area role, Lemon’s nine targets were mostly the product of the offense’s inability to attack downfield and carry weak per-target upside, a trend likely to continue for as long as Tanner McKee remains under center. That leaves fantasy managers in a precarious position heading into a Week 9 showdown against the Giants, where better options likely exist.

Barkley showed clear limitations as he played through hamstring and back injuries, routinely spotted on the sideline riding the stationary bike and getting stretched out by trainers as he rotated with Elijah Mitchel. The Philadelphia offense remained largely ineffective as they gained only 268 yards of total offense, while Barkley’s longest carry of the game went for only five yards against a solid Washington run defense. Fantasy managers will want to consider their alternatives when the Eagles face the Giants in Week 9.

The Eagles scored the first 10 points of the game as they looked to be in control early. Things quickly went south following numerous mental mistakes, penalties, and poor execution, eventually leading to the Commanders scoring 27 straight to send Philadelphia to their sixth consecutive loss. The Eagles continue to have no downfield ability while playing through mounting injuries, with their longest play of the game coming on the final play from scrimmage on a meaningless down. That leaves very little room for error with things like penalties, drops, and sacks, all of which were present in Week 8. McKee and the Eagles limp into another divisional matchup in Week 9 against the Giants, where McKee will carry negligible fantasy value.

According to Zrebiec, Fagnano “was hobbled by game’s end, after he took a low and penalized hit” from Bills DL Ed Oliver. Fagnano said he and the team will have to wait and “see” how he is feeling in the coming days, noting that “you’re always going to have bumps and bruises” after a football game. Lamar Jackson (thumb) is already headed to injured reserve and Tyler Huntley will undergo an MRI tomorrow to assess a potential turf toe injury. Zrebiec rightly writes that the Ravens “will almost certainly have to bring in at least one quarterback, if not two,” this week. He lists Anthony Richardson and Tua Tagovailoa as potential trade targets. At this point, it is unclear who will start for the Ravens on Thursday night.

Tomorrow’s MRI should clarify whether Huntley will miss time. In the meantime, Lamar Jackson will be placed on injured reserve with what could be a season-ending thumb injury. This leaves rookie Joe Fagnano as the team’s potential starter for the Ravens’ Week 9 Thursday Night Football game against the Jaguars, though Fagnano reportedly got a little banged up today, too. Stay tuned.

This is the first time this season that Steichen has left open the possibility of replacing Daniel Jones as the team’s official starter. Anthony Richardson replaced him in-game today, with just under 12 minutes remaining. It seems as though Richardson, or even fellow backup Riley Leonard, could end up playing next week against the Cowboys’ fantasy-friendly defense.

Fittingly, Nix’s longest completion of the day was a dump-off to Jonah Coleman that the rookie turned into a 51-yard gain. Nix has two completions of 50+ yards this year. Both have gone to running backs on throws near or behind the line of scrimmage. On the other hand, when Nix did push the ball downfield versus Kansas City, he was largely effective. He completed 4-of-6 throws farther than nine yards downfield. It was a small step in the right direction after weeks of middling production on intermediate and downfield shots. Nix will look to build on this performance versus a beatable Carolina defense in Week 9. He will sit somewhere near the top of the QB2 ranks.