NFL

This news came from The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly, who wrote, “Kenny Pickett has an ankle injury that may limit him early in the week.” Whatever injury he’s dealing with, it wasn’t enough to force him to miss any time against the Bengals in Week 12. Any potential load management shouldn’t stop Pickett from suiting up in Week 13 when the Steelers play host to the Cardinals. Even in a week that includes six teams on bye, Pickett will be hard to trust outside of 2QB/superflex leagues.

Taylor played through the entire second half of Sunday’s win over the Buccaneers with the injury and finished the day with 91 yards and two touchdowns. Despite gutting it out in Week 12, his Week 13 status appears to be in jeopardy. We don’t know if his status being “in doubt” carries more weight beyond Week 13, but it sounds like this is an injury that could result in a multi-week absence. Fantasy managers who opted to hold Zack Moss despite his diminished roles would reap the benefits of Taylor’s absence if he were to miss any time. Moss was among the league leaders in rushing yards before Taylor returned and has two 100-yard rushing performances on his ledger this season.

Tepper took 14 minutes to speak to the media on Tuesday, a day after he dismissed head coach Frank Reich following a 1-11 start to the season. In addition to reiterating the team’s confidence in Young, Tepper also did his best to debunk any rumors of Reich and company preferring C.J. Stroud over Young, saying the decision to select Young was “unanimous” among the staff and front office. The Panthers don’t have much of a choice outside of embracing Young in 2024. They gave up a king’s ransom this offseason to acquire the No.1 overall pick from the Bears before the draft and are now left without a first-round pick heading into 2024. They are still on pace to have a handful of top-100 draft picks if things continue in the direction they’ve been headed, which will give them multiple opportunities to build around Young in next year’s draft.

Leonard was shockingly released by the Colts after dealing with various injuries this season. The three-time All Pro linebacker would be a significant addition to an already-stout Dallas front seven and an Eagles defense that ranks as Pro Football Focus’ fifth best pass rush. Leonard, 28, had 65 tackles in nine starts before being released by the Colts this month.

Osborn has yet to make good on the increase in opportunity gifted him by the absence of alpha wide receiver Justin Jefferson. His only useful fantasy outing since Jefferson’s injury was a 99-yard effort on eight receptions against the Packers back in Week 8. Suffice to say, any remaining fantasy value for Osborn will evaporate with the likely return of Jefferson in Week 14.

Addison was the top target for Joshua Dobbs but was highly inefficient with his opportunities. Most notably, Addison failed to keep his feet inbounds on a would-be deep completion on a double move down the sideline late in the game, seemingly losing track of where he was on the field and catching the ball out of bounds. Fantasy managers are hoping the offense becomes more efficient when the team returns from their Week 13 bye with Justin Jefferson likely to return to action.

Hockenson and the rest of the Minnesota offense struggled to get anything going against the Bears on Monday Night Football before the veteran tight end found the end zone on a crossing route to the middle of the end zone to give the Vikings their first lead of the game with just under six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. It looked like the Vikings were going to hold on for an ugly win after recovering a Justin Fields fumble on the subsequent drive, but a quick three-and-out gave the ball back to the Bears and allowed them to set up a game-winning field goal with 10 seconds remaining. Either way, Hockenson continues to return elite fantasy value at a barren position with Joshua Dobbs under center, a welcome sight for fantasy managers that invested hefty capital in the veteran tight end.

The final stat line leaves a lot to be desired for fantasy managers that invested a pick in the top six rounds in the first-time starter, but at least he maintained control of the backfield over Ty Chandler. Mattison’s 12 running back opportunities doubled Chandler’s six, and the 5.2 yards per carry mark came against the defense allowing the fewest yards per carry this season. Mattison and the Vikings head to their Week 13 bye before traveling to Las Vegas to take on the Raiders their next time out.

Dobbs committed four turnovers before leading a go-ahead touchdown drive with just under six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to put the Vikings up 10-9. They recovered the second of two Justin Fields fumbles on the subsequent possession but went three-and-out following the turnover. Dobbs watched from the sideline as Fields marched the field to set up a game-winning field goal with 10 seconds remaining. The four turnovers marked a career-high for the veteran journeyman, not exactly the record he set out to accomplish in Week 12. The Vikings fall to 6-6 with the loss and head to their bye clinging to the seventh and final playoff spot out of the NFC. Dobbs will be back in action in Week 14 when the Vikings travel to Las Vegas to take on the Raiders.

Kmet notched four receptions on the opening drive and appeared primed for a massive fantasy outing before giving way to wide receiver DJ Moore the rest of the way, who put up 11 receptions on 13 targets for the Bears. Kmet remains a solid fantasy option in PPR and tight end premium formats for his consistent usage, likely requiring a touchdown to return usable weeks in half-PPR.