NFL Player News

The former first-round pick had big tools, but has been pushed from right tackle to left guard this year after the Saints drafted Kelvin Banks. Penning’s career-best PFF pass block grade in a season is 60.8, and his 50.4 PFF grade at guard this year in 358 snaps is on pace to be a career-worst figure. He’s a stopgap for a team that just lost Joe Alt for the season, and it’s unclear if they plan to try him at tackle or if they’ll leave him inside at this time.

It was Smith-Njigba’s seventh game this season with more than 100 receiving yards. He was targeted on 26 percent of his pass routes and had one of the best catches of the NFL season — a one-handed stab near the sideline on an off-target throw from Sam Darnold. JSN’s domination of air yards and targets in the balanced Seattle offense makes him the safest player in fantasy. He’ll be an elite option against the Titans in Week 12.

Kyren Williams once again led the Rams backfield with 12 rushes for 91 yards and a touchdown. Williams also ran far more routes than Corum, who was targeted once on three routes against Seattle. Corum coming into this game had seen 38 rushing attempts over the past three games. Corum isn’t a viable fantasy option unless Williams misses time down the stretch. He should be rostered in most fantasy leagues though.

Adams gritted it out after suffering an oblique injury in Week 10 against the 49ers and tied for the team lead with eight targets. His lone catch came on a first half one-yard touchdown. It was his tenth touchdown grab of the season, working as the Rams’ primary weapon inside the five yard line. Adams also had a brutal over-the-middle drop on a perfectly thrown ball from Matthew Stafford in the second half. Adams’ touchdown-based upside makes him a weekly top-12 fantasy option. He’ll have plenty of fantasy appeal in Week 12 against a fading Tampa defense.

Career highs in catches, targets, and yards are following Bryant’s somewhat expanded role since Week 5. He’s played at least 30 snaps in every game since then, and the Chiefs let him get free for a 48-yarder that momentarily landed Bryant in concussion protocol before he returned later in the game. Heading into the bye, we don’t think Bryant is necessarily a good bet to explode on to the scene in the fantasy playoffs, but he’s building a case that it’s in the range of outcomes. He’s banished Marvin Mims (15 snaps in return from a concussion) to an ancillary gadget role.

Kupp’s long-awaited revenge game against his former mates didn’t lead to much, as Jaxon Smith-Njigba continued dominating looks (12 targets) in the Seattle passing attack and AJ Barner came out of nowhere to see 11 targets against LA. It’s possible Kupp was slowed by the hamstring and wrist injuries that kept him sidelined for parts of practice last week. Kupp, who doesn’t have more than three catches in a game since Week 5, is little more than a flex option in deep fantasy formats going forward. He gets the Bucs in Week 12.

Engram only played 25 snaps to Adam Trautman’s 41. At this point it has to be said that Engram simply is only going to find TE1 usage if the Broncos are actually forced into a passing script. No team has done that since the Giants in Week 7, and even then he only returned 5/42 on eight targets. The real joker were the offseason blurbs we wrote about the joker along the way.

Rapoport notes that London “could miss some time,” but we’ll learn more about that on Monday after the star receiver undergoes further tests. The Falcons could be without their top receiver and quarterback if London and Penix (knee) can’t suit up for Week 12 against the Saints, which could set the stage for both Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier to see significant work.

If the Cardinals want to have successful plays with Dortch, they need to reduce the offensive penalties that happen when using him. Twice the Cardinals ran a direct snap play to him and twice the play was called back for a penalty. He hit paydirt with a garbage time touchdown in the fourth quarter. Dortch is primarily used in motion and in space; his strength is creating yards after the catch. If Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emari Demercado remain out in Week 12, expect Dortch to be on the fantasy WR4/5 bordeline. Otherwise, he should be off fantasy radars.

Jeudy entered the game with a 43.8 percent season-long catch rate and somehow managed to lower it tick with a 42.9 percent catch rate against the Ravens. He showed up late with a 10-yard gain on 3rd-and-10 to keep the Browns’ final, futile drive alive, but it was not enough to salvage his dreary outing. Jeudy remains a zero-floor FLEX in Week 12 against the Raiders.

Barner headed into Week 11 had never had more than seven targets or seven receptions in a game. His profile was immaculate against the Rams: Barner ran a route on 40 of the Seahawks’ 49 drop backs and was second on the team in targets, drawing a target on 27.5 percent of his routes, a (very) strong rate for a tight end. He showed no ill effects from the calf injury he dealt with last week. Elijah Arroyo, meanwhile, ran 16 routes and caught one of his three targets. If Barner has seized the TE1 role in the Seattle offense, he could be an intriguing addition to fantasy rosters in Week 12 and beyond.