NFL Player News

The former Panthers third-round pick most recently appeared in four games for the UFL’s Birmingham Stallions. He is unlikely to take regular season snaps for the Vikings at any point, ranking fourth on the depth chart.

Freiermuth ran a pass route on 22 of the Steelers’ 36 drop backs, leading all tight ends and seeing a small bump in playing time with Darnell Washington sidelined with a concussion he sustained in the first quarter. Jonnu Smith, meanwhile, ran just 13 routes and saw one target. Freiermuth, who doesn’t have more than three receptions in the game since Week 6, could have some deep-league fantasy relevance in Week 15 against the Dolphins if Washington enters the league’s concussion protocol and misses a game or two.

McDuffie departed in the first quarter after landing hard while defending a deep pass to Texans alpha wide receiver Nico Collins. He would remain on the field before being helped off by trainers, who would check the knee for stability. McDuffie spent the remainder of the first quarter testing his knee on the sideline before being ruled out near the half.

That’s a highly disappointing yardage total considering Dike’s catches and targets, but the looks matched a season high. The score was also his second in three weeks. The Titans have followed through on their pledge to get Dike more involved down the stretch. It has been difficult for it to translate to real fantasy value because of Cam Ward’s ongoing struggles, but Dike is still looking like someone who could be an eventual fantasy WR3. That will not include for Week 15 against the 49ers. Fantasy managers simply have too many other higher-ceiling options with the playoffs beginning.

Austin got loose on the sideline in the third quarter for one of Aaron Rodgers’ five completions of more than 20 yards, a rarity headed into Week 14. With 26 catches on 44 targets, Austin isn’t fantasy relevant for now. Austin has just four games with more than three receptions in 2025. He can be left on waiver wires ahead of Week 15.

Ayomanor’s first quarter score came after a play fake helped him a get a step on the DB in man coverage. It was a great start, but unfortunately his only action on a day where the Titans surprisingly road paved Cleveland on the ground. Ayomanor now has only four grabs for 30 yards over the past three weeks, which is especially disappointing since it has coincided with Calvin Ridley’s season-ending absence. Ayomanor still has end-of-bench dynasty league appeal, but he is miles from 12-team league relevance as we begin the fantasy playoffs, which we might not have guessed during his relatively hot start to the season.

Kmet got loose on a Caleb Williams scramble drill in the third quarter. Williams bought time and threw a back-shoulder pass to Kmet, who reeled in the throw with a fantastic grab for a gain of 26 yards. He nearly flipped the matchup on Chicago’s final offensive play of the night. Williams scrambled to his left and had Kmet open in the end zone on fourth down. He threw a duck well short of Kmet that was snagged by Green Bay for a game-losing pick. Kmet is splitting reps with Colston Loveland and the rookie has shown far more juice this year. Kmet will remain off the fantasy radar for Week 15 versus the Browns.

Brissett was bruised and battered by the end of this one. He took three sacks and absorbed endless big hits against a hyper-aggressive Rams front seven that seemingly pressures Brissett on every drop back. He somehow got through the game and delivered for fantasy managers, targeting Michael Wilson 16 times and fueling another enormous fantasy outing for the wideout (142 yards and two TDs). Brissett connected with Wilson for a first quarter score, then again in the fourth quarter with the game out of hand. Brissett missed Trey McBride for a wide-open touchdown in the fourth quarter — his only truly errant throw on the day. Things will get tougher in Week 15 against Houston’s elite defense but Brissett should remain in lineups based on pure pass volume that has come to define the post-Kyler Arizona offense.

Loveland split reps with Cole Kmet. The Bears ran plenty of 12-personnel, meaning there were enough tight end routes for both players to take the field for more than half of Caleb Williams’ dropbacks, though only by a small margin. Loveland logged a 58 percent route rate. He made the most of his opportunities by coming up with a one-yard score via a play-action toss at the goal line. Loveland is still stuck in a committee on a team that wants to play run-first football, making him more of an exciting TE2 than a true TE1 heading into Week 15.

The Rams did whatever they wanted on the ground against the low-effort Cardinals defense. Williams averaged 6.5 yards per carry and Blake Corum went for 128 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries in an easy win for LA. Williams showed no ill effects from the ankle injury that cost him some practice time last week. He ran 19 routes to 12 routes for Corum. Williams’ weekly workload is firmly capped as long as Corum is healthy; he doesn’t have more than 14 carries in a game since early November. Williams will be a somewhat touchdown-reliant RB2 play in Week 15 against Detroit.