NFL Player News

Bucs beat writers described Wednesday’s session as a walk-through, meaning Irving wasn’t practicing in full while battling shoulder and foot issues that have plagued him since mid-September. With continued practice participation on Thursday and Friday, Irving could make his return to game action this week against Buffalo. The Bucs could also wait another week to make sure Irving is back to full health before re-installing him as the team’s starting back.

Hampton was his usual plodding self in this one, with a long rush of four yards in another depressing outing for the LA offense. Kimani Vidal, meanwhile had seven rushes for 21 yards and got much of his work in the first quarter. Keaton Mitchell had just two carries and did not catch his lone target. Hampton led the backfield in routes and targets on the day. His diminishing role and his lack of efficiency has made Hampton nothing more than a touchdown-dependent desperation flex option this year. The Chargers have a bye in Week 7.

Herbert’s hellish season continued unabated on Sunday against a Kansas City defense that swamped the beleaguered Bolts quarterback on seemingly every drop back. After throwing exactly one touchdown in each of his first five outings, Herbert didn’t have any against the Chiefs. He had a negative EPA per drop back and was 10 percent below his expected pass rate in the loss. Ladd McConkey was ruled out with a head injury in the first half, further complicating OC Mike McDaniel’s efforts to stop the bleeding for the LA offense. The team’s wideout injuries and the predictability of the offense means Herbert should be dropped in most one-QB fantasy formats ahead of the Chargers’ Week 7 bye week.

Hurs tied his season highs in catches and yards today. He also drew a defensive pass interference call that netted Tampa Bay 22 yards. Emeka Egbuka would score on the very next play. Hurst is looking like a solid field-stretcher, but the Bucs’ offense isn’t set up to support more than one fantasy-relevant pass-catcher. With Emeka Egbuka decisively taking that role, Hurst is buried in the WR6 ranks going forward.

Taylor is now up to 7/57 in two games since returning from his thumb injury. First-round rookie Kenyon Sadiq, who missed most of Week 5 with a concussion, is 3/15 during the same timespan. This Jets tight end targets battle figures to oscillate back and forth, but Taylor is the preferred option for the time being. It’s still not resulting in more than desperation TE2 value.

Irving was bottled up on nearly every attempt, with the Steelers’ defensive front simply winning the battle in the trenches far too often. On the bright side, Irving out-carried Kenneth Gainwell 19-2 and saw three targets to Gainwell’s one. The role was there. The production was not. That role was also bolstered by the absence of Sean Tucker, who missed today’s game with a quad injury. Irving will remain in the RB2 mix for Week 7 versus the Panthers, but Tampa Bay’s grizzly offensive environment will prevent him from cracking the RB1 ranks.

Although there was an injury-shortened appearance mixed in, Sadiq now has just three catches for 15 yards over his past three games. This, as Mason Taylor has caught nine balls for 57 yards over the past two weeks. Sadiq’s big-play ability is going to come back into play sooner rather than later, but he is unsurprisingly maxing out as a zero-floor TE2 in fantasy for the time being.