NFL Player News

If there is one thing that stands out about Georgia offensive lineman, it’s their athleticism. Fairchild (6’5/325) is another one added to that list. He is quick off the ball, and is an elite pass blocker. He posted an 87.0 PFF pass blocking grade in 2024, allowing just one sack all season. As a pass blocker, Fairchild shows elite footwork and has good balance. However, Fairchild has subpar vision. Meaning, he isn’t quick enough to shift from one opponent to the next. His only allowed sack was against Texas. On that play, Fairchild was beat off the B-gap right away. As a run blocker, Fairchild is quick off the ball. But, he tends to lose balance when he’s beaten by guys who are quicker than him, almost as if he’s in a panic mode. He does well as a run blocker on the inside. But, he does struggle to shed off guys consistently. He does this very well in his game against UMass. Overall, Fairchild has the potential to be a developmental project who eventually becomes a starter in the NFL.

The full quote from Johnson was: “There may be a case that we need to protect him from himself a little bit so he can help us down the road.” It doesn’t sound like he’s especially likely to be ready to go against the Packers in Week 16. And the idea of a shut down possibly being in play should have Odunze-reliant managers (assuming they survived last week’s bagel) making other plans for the remainder of the fantasy playoffs.

The Bills will also be without DT Jordan Phillips. Prater suffered a quad injury in the Bills’ Week 15 win over the Patriots and will miss at least one game with the injury. He was already filling in this season for Tyler Bass (hip/groin), which means the Bills will be in search of their third kicker heading into this weekend’s game against the Browns. The Bills don’t currently have a kicker on their practice squad, so they’ll have to try out a handful of guys this week.

Burden’s availability for Saturday night’s game against the Packers seems to be in some question by this update. We’ll start getting practice reports for that game on Tuesday. It wouldn’t be surprising if Burden wasn’t ready for a short week after leaving Week 15’s game in the third quarter and not returning, but the practice report will give us more of an idea of where he’s at.

Edmunds was placed on injured reserve after suffering a groin injury in Week 12. With his 21-day window now opened, the Bears can activate him to the 53-man roster at any time. Edmunds has totaled 89 tackles, four interceptions, and one sack for the Bears this season and should be back in time to boost their defense by the playoffs.

Seattle will host the Rams in a pivotal NFC West clash that will put the winner in the driver’s seat for homefield. Cross hurt his hamstring on Jason Myers’ game-winning field goal. Based on this update, he almost undoubtedly will not be listed as a participant on Monday’s estimated practice report. Josh Jones is the healthy depth option at tackle for Seattle.

“We’ll have to see what the strength looks like for him -- the movement, the strength -- over these next couple days,” he said. The star left tackle left Washington’s win over the Giants in Week 15. Tunsil has had his best season in years per PFF, with an 84.7 overall offensive grade while cutting his penalties from 19 last year to eight in 2025. The Commanders, 4-10, have not lived up to their part of the bargain with Tunsil, and with nothing to play for, don’t have a reason to push him out there in Week 16 if he’s not healthy.

He called it both a “week-to-week” and “day-to-day” situation. Darrisaw was active for Week 14, but missed Week 13 and Week 15 while spending very little time at practice. With the Vikings officially eliminated, it doesn’t make much sense for him to gut this out. We expect Minnesota to shut him down unless his health improves.

“He should be back for the playoffs,” writes NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. Not that Tuten was threatening much playing time in the near term anyway for Travis Etienne, but this does set the Jaguars lead back with a Chase Brown-level of workload for the final three games of the regular season (and two games of fantasy playoffs for most leagues) against Denver, Indianapolis, and Tennessee. Tuten finishes the regular season with a 78/284/4 rushing line and added 10/79/2 through the air. He’s still the likely incumbent for this backfield in 2026 unless this season has convinced Jaguars decision makers that they actually need Etienne more than they believed six months ago.

According to Rapoport, Daniels’ elbow injury was re-evaluated today, and he was not cleared to play. Given this, and the fact that the Commanders will face the Cowboys on a short week in Week 17, the team has decided to shut him down for the season and ride with Marcus Mariota the rest of the way. In the way everything seemed to go right for Daniels in 2024, the exact opposite could be said of his 2025 season. Daniels didn’t get to work much with his no. 1 receiver in training camp due to a contract dispute, and his on-field play took a noticeable step back when healthy. The real story, however, is injuries. Daniels appeared in only seven games for the Commanders this season due to a knee sprain he suffered in Week 2, a hamstring injury he sustained in Week 7, and a dislocated elbow he suffered in Week 9. He was knocked out of Week 14’s game against the Vikings when he attempted to return from his elbow injury, and is now officially out for the season. There was always fear that Daniels’ slender frame would leave him susceptible to injuries at the pro level, and he didn’t beat the allegations this season. Hopefully, a fully healthy offseason, coupled with revamped tools in the passing game, will yield better results for the 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year.

When asked why Burrow will remain the starter, Taylor, whose Bengals sit at 4-10, said, “Because we want to win.” Big if true. Burrow didn’t look too interested in winning during parts of Sunday’s shutout loss at home to the Ravens, but fantasy managers hoping the Bengals show some fight for at least two more weeks will be happy to hear this news. Burrow and the Bengals draw the Dolphins in Week 16.