NFL Player News

The Raiders extended an original-round tender to Mayowa, who entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Idaho. The low tender means the Raiders will not get any compensation if they decline to match an offer sheet. The Cowboys are desperate for help on the defensive line after striking out thus far in free agency. Mayowa has two sacks in 30 career games.

Godwin tallied his best game of the season, catching all but one of his targets for 108 yards. He scored the Bucs’ first touchdown of the day on a five-yard pass from Baker Mayfield in the first quarter. Mayfield found him as a consistent target throughout the day and hit big on a 59-yard catch-and-run on the Bucs’ final drive in the fourth quarter. Godwin spent most of this season recovering from an injured fibula but is now at full speed and has WR3 utility for those still playing fantasy games in Week 18.

McMillan saw surprisingly high usage in Week 17, leading the Bucs with nine targets on the day. He tallied a career-high 114 receiving yards on a career-high seven receptions. Though he saw just 35 snaps, fourth among Bucs wide receivers, McMillan was available frequently at the sticks. He totaled three catches for 39 yards on the first drive of the game and was a sizeable part of the gameplan throughout the day. The Bucs offense is a mess of inefficiency and inconsistency, making McMillan a boom-or-bust option in Week 18 against the Panthers.

Hooper saw some extra run this week with the Pats missing multiple starting receivers. He got on the board early with a two-yard score on New England’s opening drive. The Pats didn’t need him much after that. Hooper is a good backup tight end, but not someone fantasy managers need to worry about for Week 18.

Brown’s third 100-yard rushing effort of the season included his first multi-score day on the ground. Rather amazingly, Brown entered the proceedings with just four rushing touchdowns, though he had supplemented them with four aerial strikes. He also lost another score to Samaje Perine, but this was an exclamation point on a monster stretch run and fantasy playoff performance from the early-season disappointment. Brown will remain in the low-end RB1 mix heading into 2026.

Evans had his second-straight game of 31 yards and a touchdown, scoring on the last Bucs drive of the game. He nearly had a toe-tap touchdown in the third quarter, but was pushed out of bounds on the catch. Evans committed a rare offensive pass interference in the fourth quarter, but later drew his usual defensive pass interference prior to his touchdown catch late in the fourth quarter. According to Bucs public relations, Evans is the 10th player in NFL history with 13,000+ receiving yards and 100+ touchdown receptions. The 32-year-old remains 666 yards away from keeping his 1,000-yard streak alive. Evans is a fantasy WR2 in a matchup for the division against the Panthers for those still playing fantasy games in Week 18.

Barner went nine games without a touchdown before scoring each of the past two weeks. Today’s was a 17-yard catch-and-run off play-action in the red zone. Now catching 3-4 passes every week, Barner is an important real-life contributor who could become a bigger fantasy factor during the 2026 season.

Henry wasn’t asked to do much in this game with the Pats only throwing 25 passes in total. He made the most of his limited reps with a 13-yard touchdown just before halftime and a 23-yard screen pass from Josh Dobbs on the latter’s first throw of the day. Henry is now up to seven touchdowns on the year. He will sit on the TE1/2 border for Week 18 versus Miami.

Announced as playing through illness mere hours before kickoff, McMillan proceeded to have his worst game of the season. It must be noted, however, that McMillan has now caught more than two passes just once in his past five games. It’s quite possible he’s slamming into the rookie wall as he plays through various injuries. McMillan will undoubtedly post a better Week 18 box score, as the Panthers will be trying to make the playoffs vs. Tampa Bay’s pass-funnel defense.

White only saw four touches for 17 total yards on the day, but he most notably saw a sizeable chunk of backfield snaps against the Dolphins. He saw 32 snaps to Bucky Irving’s 36 snaps in a pass-favorable game script. Sean Tucker notably had just four snaps, rushing two times for eight yards and failing to catch his only target of the day. Irving is the lead back for the Bucs while White is the passing-down back and Tucker is the short-yardage, goal-line back. It continues to be a frustrating split for fantasy purposes and Irving is the best bet out of the backfield for Week 18 against the Panthers.

Bernard has dealt with an ankle injury for much of the season, and this calf injury appears to be on the same side. Shaq Thompson will take his place in the lineup and has actually been the superior player of the two while Bernard has been banged up.