NFL Player News

Waller had seen his role in the offense diminish since Quinn Ewers took over as quarterback. The 33-year-old tight end had 66 yards and two touchdowns in his last game with Tua Tagovailoa, but had just 40 yards in a dream matchup against the Bengals in Ewers’ first start. Last week, Greg Dulcich usurped Waller completely. With Waller’s season now over, Dulcich has the role all to himself in Week 18. Waller finished with 283 yards and six touchdowns in three starts, proving he still has TE1 upside in his range of weekly outcomes even if it comes with a heaping serving of “left Week X’s game and did not return.” Waller, 34 at the start of next season, will be a free agent this offseason.

Gainwell was once again inefficient with his limited opportunities. He operated as the team’s lead back, however, when Bucky Irving exited with a lower body injury. If Irving misses any time, Gainwell would profile as a top-24 PPR option, even if he loses touches to Sean Tucker. Tampa’s offense could be without Baker Mayfield (thumb) for a while. That would dampen the prospects of everyone in the offense.

Watkins saw increased opportunity with Mike Evans (rib) exiting in the second quarter. He caught a pair of long targets from Purdy despite KhaDarel Hodge and Jacob Cowing beating the 24-year-old in snaps. Watkins could certainly be on the fantasy radar if Evans misses an extended period of time.

Tucker had a bigger impact in real life than he did in fantasy. On the plus side, he helped set up a field goal and a touchdown, first by finding the soft spot in the Saints’ zone coverage in the two-minute drill. Later, his 15-yard gain on a deep crossing route helped set up the Raiders. He also committed a holding penalty, which erased a short gain for RB Ashton Jeanty. Tucker is a WR4/FLEX against the Chiefs next week.

Samuel’s box score will looks strange to most, but that’s what happens when Kyle Shanahan tries out a hook-and-ladder play in the first quarter. Mike Evans caught a pass from Brock Purdy, lateraling the ball to Samuel, who sprinted 80 yards downfield for the score. Despite Evans (rib) leaving the game early, Samuel technically finishes with zero targets, though he did carry the ball twice for 14 rushing yards. With his final stat-line, he sets the record for most receiving yards without a reception in NFL history. Samuel will benefit if Evans misses time and would be in the high-end WR3 range for Week 4 against the Broncos.

Mayfield is right-handed, so this injury could be consequential. The Buccaneers’ quarterback slammed his thumb into a Vikings defender this afternoon and remained down for a while after the play. UDFA rookie QB Jalon Daniels is next up on the depth chart and would be the presumptive starter next week against the Packers if Mayfield cannot play.

He caught one of Trevor Lawrence’s three touchdown throws on the day. Cameron has begun to eat into Brian Thomas Jr.'s snap share. Against the Patriots Cameron logged ten routes to 16 routes for Thomas while Parker Washington and Jakobi Meyers each ran 31 routes. If the Jaguars part ways with Thomas in the coming weeks, Cameron would likely step into a bigger role in the potent Jags passing attack.

Kittle saw a season-high seven targets in the 49ers’ win, becoming the team’s No. 1 pass-catcher after Mike Evans (rib) left the game. He caught a 10-yard touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter and later sealed the win with a 20-yard score with under two minutes left. Kittle seems to be all the way back from his Achilles tear, leading all 49ers offensive skill players in snaps, only trailing Brock Purdy and the offensive line. With Evans’ status in the air, Kittle is the team’s top receiver and is squarely in the fantasy TE1 conversation for Week 4 against the Broncos.

That makes it back-to-back games of 100-plus yards for Lamb. Lamb didn’t officially find the end zone on this one, but he did come up with a catch on a two-point reception in the third quarter to cut the Ravens’ lead to 24-21. He came up with a few big plays in the fourth quarter, with his biggest being a 49-yard reception on a drive that ended with a KaVontae Turpin rushing touchdown to briefly give the Cowboys the lead. Despite being out-targeted 11 to 8 by George Pickens in this one, Lamb has looked like the unquestioned WR1 for the Cowboys through the first three weeks. He’s totaled 15 receptions for 265 yards and two touchdowns over the last two weeks and is a high-end WR1 in next week’s game against the Texans.

The Cowboys drew up a lot of carries for Williams early in this one. The 26-year-old back totaled seven carries for 45 yards on his team’s first two possessions, and punched in a two-yard score late in the fourth quarter to put the Cowboys up 10-0. Williams would mostly be bottled up by the Ravens after his score, but he did break free for a 22-yard run in the third quarter that helped set up a Brandon Aubrey field goal — which was blocked. This is undoubtedly the best game of the season for Williams, who hadn’t gone for more than 41 yards in either of his first two games. That said, he still struggled at times to get going on the ground, as seven of his carries went for two or fewer yards. His volume remains reliable enough to keep him in the RB2 conversation for next week’s game against the Texans.