NFL Player News

It’s possible the Vikings will need to bring in a new kicker this week as Reichard missed multiple kicks against the Colts and was clearly in pain after he followed through for much of the night. The Vikings are also placing snapper of snaps longer than normal snaps Andrew DePaola on injured reserve with a hand injury.

45 snaps, one target. Helm has somehow grown less relevant than his 4/28 Week 1 showing would have even suggested. He can be dropped in most leagues at this point.

This was not the game many expected against a beleaguered Colts defense. Two of Metcalf’s three catches were on screens behind the line of scrimmage, and he was only targeted 10 yards down the field once. Aaron Rodgers is not having much success throwing the ball deep down the field, which means Metcalf is likely going to be a touchdown-dependent WR3 in fantasy next week against the Bucs.

Brown took a surprising backseat to Samaje Perine in the Bengals’ win over the Dolphins. He still led out-snapped Perine 38-to-33, but a red zone fumble hurt his fantasy production while splitting backfield touches 50/50. Brown previously dominated all sorts of touches for the Bengals backfield, so this is a new development. Game script certainly played a factor but Brown’s ceiling as an RB1 may be considerably lessened if Perine’s usage sticks. He is a fantasy RB2 with a Week 7 matchup against the Ravens on the horizon after a Week 6 bye.

Is this doing anything for anybody? Ridley had a 23-yarder to open the game and vanished thereafter. He has not cracked more than two catches or three targets all year and does not need to be in fantasy consideration in the vast, vast majority of leagues.

Maye had all day to operate in the pocket against a Raiders front seven that entered Week 5 with the league’s ninth highest pressure rate and fourth highest quick pressure rate. He attacked the Vegas secondary downfield from start to finish, hitting Kyle Williams and Pop Douglas for long touchdowns, and Williams for another long gain that put the Pats inside the five yard line. Maye’s rushing score came on a green scramble in the third quarter. Fully emerged from his early-season struggles, Maye is once again carving up opposing coverage units and causing fits with his scrambling ability. Maye, with eight total touchdowns over his past two outings, should be locked into lineups next week against a middling Jets secondary.

Michael Pittman (foot) was ruled out earlier in the week, and then Roman Wilson dislocated his finger during the game, so there wasn’t a lot of competition for Bernard and DK Metcalf. The rookie from Alabama played the same number of snaps as Metcalf and ran a route on 35 of the team’s 38 dropbacks. This isn’t an explosive passing attack, but Bernard looks like the WR2 in Pittsburgh now and is more of an intermediate and short-area target than DK Metcalf, which could lead to decent fantasy value over the next few weeks.

Well, at least last week was good. He did have a 40-plus yarder pulled off the board because of a holding penalty. Next week offers a more welcoming Colts defense and Tate should have a path to low-end WR3 numbers there.

Unbelievably, that’s the most efficient Robinson has looked all season. He remains ticketed as the undercard to Carnell Tate and should only be viewed as a FLEX option. A matchup against the Colts next weekend at least is a lot more interesting of a spot than one against Houston’s defense.

Warren got the Steelers on the board with an 80-yard catch-and-run, where he simply beat the Colts defenders down the sideline. He also ripped off a 50-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. The Steelers only had one other play go for longer than 17 yards on the day. Since Rico Dowdle has been out with a toe injury, Warren has emerged as a true RB1 in fantasy football. Even when Dowdle returns, you have to think that the Steelers have seen enough that they need to give Warren the lion’s share of the work.

Mayer and the rest of the Vegas pass catchers took a backseat to Brock Bowers, who had a team-leading ten targets for 110 yards and a touchdown before the Raiders pulled their starters in the fourth quarter of this blowout loss. Mayer was fresh off an 82-yard outing (on ten targets) against Kansas City. He should remain on waivers ahead of Week 6’s game against the Bills.