NFL Player News

Cooper would have the chance to assume No. 2 wide receiver duties right out of the gate if the Commanders were to draft him. The front office was interested in signing WR Romeo Doubs before he signed with the Patriots and would have pursued Colts WR Alec Pierce had he not re-signed with Indianapolis. 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk’s status remains in flux. Cooper played very little in his 2022 freshman season, but contributed meaningfully in 2023 and 2024 in a perimeter-heavy role. He then kicked inside in 2025, manning Indiana’s starting slot role. His versatility would likely allow him to line up opposite WR Terry McLaurin in two-wide receiver sets.

Benson has been inundated with buzz this offseason. He caught two balls for 26 yards on four targets in Las Vegas’ first preseason game and reportedly has a strong connection with Fernando Mendoza. Outside of Brock Bowers and Ashton Jeanty it’s been hard to recommend any Raiders skill position player in fantasy circles this year; perhaps the sixth-round pick can step into a real target role given the lack of competition around him.

Severity is unknown at this point and the injury didn’t happen at the practice, so we’ll await further team comment before getting too worried. The Packers definitely can’t afford to have Van Ness down with Micah Parsons already on pace to miss the first month of the season.

Washington has been Lawrence’s “favorite target, and he always seems to be open” DiRocco notes. The Jaguars main pass catchers are pretty close in ADP, with Washington leading the way at WR31 and Brian Thomas Jr. at WR33. This would seem to be an argument to trust Washington as a true WR2/WR3 option — and everything we’ve gotten on Washington this offseason from beat writers has been overwhelmingly positive.

It certainly can’t hurt his case for head coaching work should the Bears offense continue to play well above the league average. Randle El’s offensive playcalling produced 235 yards and 24 points in the second half.

Frankly, a pretty good update considering how quickly Mariota exited the field on Friday. The Commanders will likely pick up another quarterback to help navigate the final two weeks of the preseason. Mariota will be the backup for the season opener if healthy.

The good news is that Allen worked with the starters in the slot. The bad news is that he worked well into the second half in the first preseason game while leading the team in targets. He’s clearly the highest-upside stash receiver of the group, but playing deep into the first preseason game isn’t a great sign for his chances of early playing time.

Johnson had 12 carries for 59 yards and three catches for 10 yards against the Rams. While we’ve seen a little camp buzz about Johnson, The Athletic’s Jesse Newell presents this as a step forward for Johnson who “has been running with the fourth-string offense most of training camp.” He’s still probably the best back to have rostered in the event of a Kenneth Walker injury, but this isn’t such an important role that the backup necessarily needs to be rostered in standard redraft leagues.

We’d normally skip right past this, but it’s a notable quote given the open competition for the starting quarterback job. It would seem to imply that Watson is in the lead. “It was so cool to watch him play. I get all of the frustration by fans, himself (with the past), but for him to come back and work like he did is an unbelievable credit to him,” Monken said. It sounds like Monken will continue the competition through the second week of the preseason, but there’s already a lean here.

We blurbed about Cooper playing deep into the preseason game on Friday — never a great sign — and this backs that up. Williams, an outstanding return man in his rookie season, enters the deep sleeper conversation at wideout.

Klubnik played two series with the starters in the first preseason game before giving way to Bailey Zappe and Brady Cook, going 5-of-7 for 56 yards. “He has some moxie to him,” Jets coach Aaron Glenn said. “He’s very confident, he’s confident in his arm, confident in his ability to elude and make plays with his feet. His ability to be able to come out and operate with the first group the way he did, I thought, was outstanding.” Given how Jets quarterbacking has gone over the past few years and Geno Smith’s age, Klubnik will likely find himself in a starting lineup at some point this season if he can stay healthy.