NFL Player News

Blackshear drew the start with Chuba Hubbard out for the final two weeks of the season. He out-carried Mike Boone 8-2, though Boone was the only back to see a target. On the receiving end of a blowout, Carolina had no chance to establish a ground game, dooming Blackshear in his first start of the year. Blackshear will be a desperation RB4 when the Panthers travel to Atlanta for their 2024 finale next week.

Daniels adds that third-round rookie TE Eli Raridon “looks the part,” but he believes Henry is “by far the team’s best tight end and once again will be a security blanket” for QB Drake Maye. Henry posted a 6/768/7 receiving line in 2025 and a 66/674/ receiving line in 2024. A similar stat line this year would be unsurprising.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid and QB Patrick Mahomes believe last season’s run game failed to make defenses respect their play-action run fakes. With Walker now on board, the Chiefs believe both the run game and play-action game will improve. The staff has catered to Walker by installing more plays from under center, which Walker prefers to shotgun. “One way Walker can help transform the offense,” per Taylor, “is by becoming a true dual-threat player.” Reid believes Walker’s “receiving skills and ability to make defenders miss” will allow Reid to incorporate “one of his favorite passing concepts: the variety of plays where a play-action fake to the running back is executed before a short screen pass is thrown back to the same running back.” Walker should be expected to handle a high-end, dual-threat workload. He is a locked-in RB1 with immense upside.

According to Price, a league source indicated Henderson “avoided a serious right ankle injury when he slipped on the turf at practice earlier in the week.” Henderson is still trying to unseat RB Rhamondre Stevenson as the team’s starter and will likely continue competing for the gig in-season. Henderson, 23, possesses intriguing, explosive dual-threat traits. Drafting him may require patience early on, but the payoff could be worth it.

The Steelers’ front office spent a third-round pick on Johnson in the 2025 NFL Draft. He has drastically underperformed since then, and could probably do with a change of scenery. DeFabo also thinks that RB/WR Eli Heidenreich “is a good candidate for the practice squad.”

Schefter notes that Porter remains on the physically unable to perform list with a back injury, yet adds that “backs are often confused with contract-itis.” He stopped short of saying that Porter is on the trade block, but reminded Pat McAfee Show viewers that the NFL’s cut-down deadline is this weekend, and that “a lot of trades” occur around this time of year. Stay tuned.

Gonzalez employs the same agent as Seahawks CB Devon Witherspoon, who recently reset the positional market at $33 million per year. According to Schefter, the Patriots have never come close to that number. The Patriots exercised Gonzalez’s fifth-year option in April, so Gonzalez has two seasons remaining on his contract. Schefter believes that if the two sides fail to agree on a new deal early in the year, it “opens up a whole range of options” next offseason, like a potential trade.

Blackmon, 27, broke up two passes and intercepted two more last season, while also totaling 59 tackles, one quarterback pressure and one sack last season. He adds depth to the Browns’ secondary and could start, if need be.

McFadden notes that Robinson had more outside runs than any other player last season. He believes new Falcons OC Tommy Rees and new OL coach Bill Callahan are focused on diversifying the run game tactics by adding a north-south approach. He thinks Falcons running backs “should benefit from a penetrating approach oriented around getting them into second-level space quickly.” McFadden also checked in with Robinson, who said Rees is implementing new screen game concepts, derived from his time with the Browns. Last year in Cleveland, Rees’ offense racked up 413 yards via the screen game, ranking second in the NFL. Adding more ways to get Robinson the ball in space only solidifies his status as the overall RB2 in fantasy drafts this year.

Wyatt notes that Tate “had been quiet in recent practices, and he still doesn’t have a catch in two preseason games.” Today’s standout showing comes at the right time. The end of the preseason is fast approaching and the first-round rookie will be asked to contribute right away this season, especially with WR Wan’Dale Robinson currently undergoing evaluation for a concussion. The Titans’ offense is still a work in progress, so producing as a WR3 could be Tate’s ceiling for quite some time. Still, today’s report is nice to read.

Sanchez has played for the Colts since entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2017. He averaged 48.8 yards per punt last season, marking the second-longest average of his career.