NFL Player News

It’s quite the change in tune from last night when Shanahan said he thought Pearsall would “be alright.” Speaking on Monday, Shanahan said the combination of injuries for Pearsall complicates things, but also said they “shouldn’t rule him out [for Week 16].” This is already shaping up to be something to watch for when the team releases its first injury report on Thursday.

McCaffrey scored a touchdown on the first drive of the game and had six touches, which seemed to set the tone for a massive workload. However, he also picked up a thigh injury on that drive and didn’t return again until the third quarter. The 49ers seemed to give him a few extra breaks in the second half, but McCaffrey didn’t look any less explosive. He was also half a yard away from catching a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, but he was ruled down short of the end zone, and then Brock Purdy threw a touchdown pass to Kyle Juszczyk on the next play. The 49ers have a bye next week, so we doubt McCaffrey’s thigh injury will be an issue when we see them next in Week 9.

It should be noted that the Texans defense is giving up points to wideouts by the bushel this year, but in J.J. McCarthy’s first start, Fields was heavily involved. This bested his career-best yardage total by 31 yards and he has a career-high 47-yard catch-and-run. Fields doesn’t necessarily need to be added in most fantasy leagues at this point but he’s definitely making inroads towards WR4 status.

Judkins took full advantage of a Titans defense that has struggled to stop the run in recent weeks. He broke tackles on a couple of his longest runs and made decisive cuts in the open field on well-designed rushing attempts. It was Judkins’ second career 100-yard day and his second and third touchdowns of the season. Dylan Sampson, in his first action of the 2026 season, saw six carries for 45 yards and ran 19 routes to 13 routes for Judkins. As long as game script remains neutral or positive, Judkins should be a viable flex play in Week 8 against the Steelers.

The Dolphins took an early lead and never looked back, allowing them to lean on their ground game for the better part of four quarters. Gordon, in turn, set new career highs in rushes and yards. In four starts sans De’Von Achane, Gordon has 69 carries for 332 yards and four touchdowns. He has finished as a top-20 fantasy option at his position in all four starts. Gordon’s role on one of the most run-heavy offenses in the league is too good to ignore. He will be in the RB2 mix when the Dolphins take on the Patriots next week.

He toasted Derek Stingley Jr. a few times and found a 42-yarder early on in the proceedings. Nabers didn’t come close to scoring, but that was mostly a result of Houston’s bad run defense being an easy mark. He’ll retain WR1 status once he’s back from New York’s Week 8 bye.

Muse, who was a seventh-round pick in 2022 for the Vikings, came into today with one career catch for 22 yards, so his touchdown was among the most surprising of the day in the NFL. He ran just six routes on the day, so nobody should read anything into this, but it’s a nice moment for Muse.

He became New York’s short-yardage tush-push option with J.J. McCarthy starting, managing a touchdown in the first half and a fourth-down conversion in the second half. That makes him more of a thorn in McCarthy’s side than anything else for fantasy purposes.

The touchdown is nice to see, and Pitts finished tied for second on the team in both catches and targets. However, preliminary snap counts say he played on 37 of the team’s 67 snaps and ran a route on 20 of their 37 dropbacks. Charlie Woerner ran a route on 11 dropbacks and Austin Hooper ran a route on 10 dropbacks, so the Falcons continue to get tons of tight ends on the field. That makes Pitts more of a high-end TE2 option because he does have good touchdown equity.

It seemed like Branch would be in for a bigger role in Week 7 with Olamide Zaccheaus out with a shoulder injury. However, Branch ran a route on just 18 of 37 dropbacks and was only targeted twice. It doesn’t seem like he’s anywhere close to playing a large enough role for fantasy value and doesn’t need to be held through the bye weeks in redraft leagues.