NFL Player News

Worthy continues to gut out multiple injuries after playing through a dislocated shoulder and ankle injury for the previous three games, this time finding the end zone early in the first quarter to put the Chiefs on the board. It will be interesting to see how the team handles the return of Rashee Rice in Week 7 considering the state of the pass-catching corps at present. Worthy sees a slight bump down to WR4 range with the return of Rice.

All the hallmarks of 2024 Mahomes were here: the overthrown open deep shots, the tendency to take major sacks, and the Chiefs offense as a whole feeling constipated and unable to get out of their own way. Early PFF charted the Chiefs with allowing eight pressures, and one of the important late sacks showed two ancillary blockers both trying to pick up the same linebacker on a blitz, leaving an easy path for Ja’Quan McMillian to pick up the sack. Mahomes threw a pick-six in this game that was taken off the board by an illegal contact penalty, but then drifted out of the pocket later in that drive, near the red zone, and threw one that counted in a game the Chiefs lost by three points. Is it troubling to see this out of the bye? A bit. Are we moving Mahomes off the QB1 line against the Colts? Probably not.

Flowers also rushed once for five yards. On the Ravens’ fourth drive, Flowers caught a pass on a short out route before turning upfield and getting into a foot race with Browns defensive backs. The latter group ultimately won, bringing Flowers down, after 45 yards, at the Browns’ three-yard line. A couple plays later, Flowers helped power RB Derrick Henry into the end zone with a shove from behind. After that, Flowers was held out of the box score until the fourth quarter, when QB Lamar Jackson began looking his way under pressure. Flowers should be more consistently involved against a lackluster Jets defense in Week 12.

It was the rare touchdown-less performance for Nacua, who tied Davante Adams for the team lead in targets and saw a couple late game rushing attempts as the Rams drained the clock. Nacua continues to lose out on easy touchdown opportunities as Adams dominates as Matthew Stafford’s go-to guy inside the five yard line. Nacua hasn’t had a truly big game in more than a month, but will be a top-5 fantasy option in Week 12 against a beatable Buce secondary.

Purdy returned to an efficient Kyle Shanahan offense, getting on a roll early and completing 73-percent of his passes on the day. His first completion was to Jauan Jennings for 25 yards, finishing the same drive dropping a pass right into the George Kittle’s hands for a first quarter touchdown. He had two near-interceptions, both in the second quarter and dropped by Cardinals defensive backs. Outside of those throws, Purdy took the simple looks and leaned on Kittle, Jennings, and Christian McCaffrey on the day. At full health, Purdy is a low-end QB1 for Week 12 against the Panthers.

The Browns’ defensive line was a problem for Jackson. Browns EDGE Myles Garrett racked up four sacks and five TFLs, and DT Mike Hall Jr. got a hand on a third-quarter pass attempt that sent the football high in the sky, which LB Carson Schwesinger successfully came down with for Jackson’s second interception. Jackson’s first interception occurred on the Ravens’ third drive, when RB Keaton Mitchell made like a volleyball setter while attempting to catch an easy pass, instead sending the football upward and back to Browns LB Devin Bush, who returned the ball 23 yards for a pick-six. Aside from that, the Browns’ defense simply bottled Jackson up as a rusher. The Ravens’ quarterback has a bounce-back game against the Jets’ defense next week, which should return him to the elite QB1 tier.

Making his 2025 debut after some nice Giants fill-in work the past few seasons, Hodgins led the team in yards and receptions with Darius Slayton (hamstring) on the shelf. Even if Slayton returns for Week 12 against the Lions, Hodgins is going to be needed for looks, just not enough to truly put him on the WR4 radar in this ultimately limited offense.

Not exactly a ceiling outing, but Johnson has now caught at least five passes in five straight games, and seven of his past eight. He’s furnishing a nice enough floor that fantasy managers can at some point hope for some ceiling. Perhaps that will come in Week 12 against the Lions as long as Jaxson Dart (concussion) returns.

Musgrave’s “missed connection” frankly probably should have been a lost fumble, but the review command center predictably decided he didn’t “complete the process.” Stuck on four catches for 22 yards over the past two weeks, Musgrave so far isn’t stepping up during Tucker Kraft’s absence. With tight end deep if not necessarily productive this year, Musgrave isn’t really forcing his way into the top 24. That includes for Week 12 against the Vikings.

The Cardinals offense had a rough go of it against the 49ers. The team could not survive 11 first-half penalties, including 17 total penalties for the game. Brissett threw an interception downfield in the two minute drill in the first half and threw a sideline interception in the third quarter. He found Michael Wilson often for a whopping 15 completions while he found Trey McBride and Greg Dortch for garbage time scores in the fourth quarter. Between the penalties and interceptions, it was a rough day for Brissett and offensive coordinator Drew Petzing. Fantasy managers still feast from Brissett’s record-setting 47 completions and 452 passing yards, most by a Cardinals quarterback since 2008. Brissett is a fantasy QB2 heading into Week 12 against the Jaguars.

It was the same old Big Game Blues for Darnold, who has been an EPA machine this season coming into a huge Week 11 clash with the division rival Rams. Darnold made a handful of baffling throws in this one, collapsing under pressure as he did in the final two games of the 2024 season in Minnesota. As usual, Darnold peppered Jaxon Smith-Njigba with targets (12) and checked down relentlessly to TE A.J. Barner 911 targets). It was the drive-killing mistakes that cost Seattle the game despite the Seahawks’ defense playing well against Matthew Stafford’s offense. Darnold will look to bounce back in Week 12 against a poor Titans defense.