There are just two more Mondays left until the NFL season starts after today, so hopefully that puts a bit of a pep in your step coming out of the weekend. We have a lot to cover to get you up to speed after the weekend, so let's skip the pleasantries and get right down to everything you need to know from around the NFL and the Fantasy Football Today crew to get your week started right.
As always, feel free to shoot me an email at Chris.Towers@CBSInteractive.com with the subject line "AskFFT" and your question might be featured in the Fantasy Football Today newsletter throughout this week.
Here are some stories from the FFT team you may have missed:
- Dave Richard's 'Don't Wanna Draft' list
- Veterans have upside, too!
- Tiers 4.0: QB | RB | WR | TE
- Non-PPR pick-by-pick guide
- Undercover mock
- Every AFC team's Fantasy pecking order
- Every NFC team's Fantasy pecking order
Here's what else we've got on tap today:
- 🤼Position battle updates
- ⬆Rankings risers and fallers⬇
- 🗣Notable quotes
- 📰Camp notes
🤼Position battle updates
- Rams: Malcolm Brown got the first carries in the team's scrimmage Saturday, followed by Darrell Henderson — who left with a leg injury, the severity of which is not yet known. Rookie Cam Akers got some first-team reps only after Henderson left, and he got stripped by Aaron Donald on one carry. Akers has plenty of upside in an offense that has produced plenty of running back value, but it sounds like he's very much the No. 3 back right now, with just a few weeks left to prove he's worth a bigger role. You're probably going to have to wait at least a few weeks before you'll be able to use Akers. Brown should get plenty of work early on, and is a good target in the 10th-round range, especially if you go Zero-RB.
- Bills: Zack Moss could have a bigger-than-expected role beginning in Week 1 thanks to his between-the-tackles running and ability to hang on to the ball. Devin Singletary had fumble issues last season, and they've continued in camp, apparently. This could be close to a split, making Moss a potential value — though I'll just caution that this is hardly an ideal situation for two Fantasy viable running backs, given Josh Allen's rushing prowess. Because he's such a good scrambler and goal-line option, Allen takes away some prime opportunities for his running backs to produce. If this is truly a timeshare, it might be a situation where both are just fringe-y flex options, which doesn't help anyone.
- Broncos: Coach Vic Fangio told reporters Thursday he doesn't think a starter designation is necessary with Melvin Gordon and Phillip Lindsay, and apparently their usage in camp reflects that. Gordon suffered a rib injury in Thursday's practice that isn't expected to keep him out long, but he and Lindsay have also spent time on the field together, and both have spent plenty of time working in the passing game. The question now is, is this offense good enough to support two viable Fantasy running backs? I have my doubts about Drew Lock's abilities. At the very least, Melvin Gordon's ADP (39.6) needs to fall, while Lindsay's (106.6) shouldn't be much behind it at this point.
⬆Rankings risers and fallers⬇
On Monday's episode of Fantasy Football Today, Adam Aizer, Jamey Eisenberg and Dave Richard discussed their biggest risers and fallers so far in training camp, which you can listen to below. My thoughts on whether those rankings moves are deserved follow:
Risers
Phillip Lindsay (106.6)
- Why is he rising? He's in more of a timeshare with Melvin Gordon than we thought.
- Does he deserve it? Yup. Lindsay is still going to be a presence in this offense, and might even have more of a passing-game role than we've seen before.
Jonathan Taylor (57.8)
- Why is he rising? He's drawing rave reviews in camp.
- Does he deserve it? If you're looking for new information, "Jonathan Taylor is good at football" doesn't exactly qualify. Of course he's looked good; that doesn't mean Marlon Mack has disappeared.
Bryce Love (163.9 ADP)
- Why is he rising? He's gone from the back end of a crowded RB depth chart to taking No. 1 snaps with Adrian Peterson sitting out.
- Does he deserve it? The only question is whether he's risen enough. Love is still outside of the top-100 for all three of our experts, and that makes sense — for now. I wouldn't be surprised if he was a seventh round pick by the end of camp — and I'm taking him in the ninth right now.
Preston Williams (141.1)
- Why is he rising? He's healthy after recovering from an ACL tear.
- Does he deserve it? Absolutely. Williams was on pace for 64 receptions, 956 yards and six touchdowns through eight games as a rookie, which would have been just ahead of Terry McLaurin and DK Metcalf in PPR points. He's worth drafting as a WR4.
Damien Harris (161.3)
- Why is he rising? He has impressed in camp with Sony Michel (foot) and Lamar Miller (knee) on the PUP list.
- Does he deserve it? There's no guarantee Harris will remain the top option if Michel or Miller gets healthy, but he obviously deserves to rise right now. I'm not sure he's worth a top-100 pick, but that's where Dave Richard has him in PPR.
Chris Herndon (157.6)
- Why is he rising? He's impressing in camp.
- Does he deserve it? Herndon's talent has never been in doubt, but he was suspended to start last season and then barely saw the field due to injuries. However, he easily has top-10 tight end potential and appears to be the No. 2 option in the passing game for Sam Darnold.
Fallers
J.K. Dobbins (89.4)
- Why is he falling? It's not clear he's even the No. 2 running back right now.
- Does he deserve it? Maybe it's worth asking why we expected him to just be handed the No. 2 job right away? Gus Edwards hasn't exactly done anything to lose that role. Dobbins has league-winning upside as a potential Mark Ingram replacement, but maybe it's time he moved more to the Round 8 range than Round 6-7 like he's been so far.
Kerryon Johnson (104.8)
- Why is he falling? Concerns he may be losing the competition to D'Andre Swift.
- Does he deserve it? In fairness, while there certainly is a competition going on in Detroit, it's not likely to be a No. 1 and No. 2 situation — more like a 1a. and 1b., at least to start. Johnson has drawn praise for his passing game work, and he seems like a fine option if he remains outside of the top 100.
Melvin Gordon (39.6)
- Why is he falling? See: Lindsay, Phillip
- Does he deserve it? Yep. He has struggled to get acclimated to the thin air in Denver and is splitting work pretty evenly with Lindsay. We've got more on this battle in the "Training camp updates" segment further down.
T.Y. Hilton (60.7)
- Why is he falling? He was dealing with a hamstring injury to start camp.
- Does he deserve it? Honestly, I'm not sure it does. Hilton seems to be well past the injury at this point, and remains the top option in this passing game. Rivers may be diminished at this point, but he has to be an upgrade on Jacoby Brissett. Hilton outside of the first five rounds seems like a good value to me.
Miles Sanders (17.7)
- Why is he falling? He's currently injured.
- Does he deserve it? I'll let you know when we get a diagnosis with more details than "Week to week — lower leg." By all accounts, he'll be ready for the start of the season, so this could just make him a great value.
Rob Gronkowski (73.0)
- Why is he falling? He may not even be the top tight end for the Buccaneers.
- Does he deserve it? The "Gronk might be the No. 3 TE" talk was speculation, though coach Bruce Arians did acknowledge that Gronkowski's conditioning isn't where it needs to be. Gronkowski is being way (way, way, way, way) overdrafted right now — in my opinion, anything inside of the top 100 is a reach right now.
🎙Notable quotes
"Making a play on a guy like that in space makes it even harder. "He made a quick move. It's smart because it was a two-minute situation and he got all the yards and he didn't have to get out of bounds. He's one of the better players in this league and will be one of the better players in this league at making people miss." — Chiefs linebacker Anthony Hitchens, on trying to make a stop on the rookie in the open field.
- Edwards-Helaire is drawing plenty of praise early on in camp, and it doesn't seem like he's really had a bad day yet. I haven't seen much on him in pass protection, which could cost him a few drives from time to time. However, he's been seeing plenty of work in the passing game anyways, which is a great sign. He has elite potential in this offense from Week 1.
"Saturday's QB winner is … Maybe the rest of the NFL? I can't imagine anyone walked away from practice thinking, 'We have a winner! This guy stepped up in a big way.'" — The Athletic's Kevin Fishbain, on the Bears QB competition
- This has been a common theme out of Bears camp. Neither Mitchell Trubisky nor Nick Foles has stood out. They haven't necessarily been bad, but neither is really turning heads. The hope was that Foles would either push Trubisky to be better or take on the starting role himself, but it doesn't appear like either is happening. The Bears offense probably can't be worse than it was last year, but it may not be much better, which would be a disappointment.
"If there were a best friend award for the first week-plus of camp workouts, it would go to Baker Mayfield and Austin Hooper. The new tight end has been Mayfield's most frequent target in any competitive passing drill, and Hooper is generally first in line for extra work with Mayfield when the special teams' drills take over the primary practice field." — The Athletic's Zac Jackson
- He also added that Hooper is "undoubtedly the most targeted player to this point." That's definitely worth noting, because Hooper has fallen outside of the top 100 in CBS Sports ADP, to TE12. The assumption is Hooper will see a significant decline in targets moving from the pass-happy Falcons to what is expected to be a more conservative Browns offense, but maybe it won't be as significant as expected. If Hooper gets close to 100 targets, he's going to be one of the six best tight ends in the game.
"We might like a concept front side, but if we have Courtland [Sutton] one-on-one on the next side, let's not screw around with it. Let's go attack that matchup because we like that. That's Pat's mindset." — Broncos tight end Jake Butt
- There was some thought that rookie Jerry Jeudy might be able to match or even surpass Sutton this season, but it doesn't seem like that's going to be the case. Sutton is probably the best player on this Broncos offense right now.
Camp notes
Dallas Goedert has a fractured thumb, but it's only expected to cost him a few weeks and should be good to go for Week 1. He's in the backup TE discussion. … The Raiders signed RB Theo Riddick. Riddick didn't play in 2019, but was a great pass catcher for the Lions for years. Just another sign that Josh Jacobs isn't going to see a big role in the passing game, though it's also worth noting there really isn't any competition for carries whatsoever. … Nick Chubb is out of the concussion protocol. … Ronald Jones dealt with drop issues Sunday, though I guess the good news is he wasn't alone. Jones is the lead back in Tampa Bay, but it remains to be seen how much of the passing game work he can take on. If he's strictly an early-downs back, the ceiling is capped — and the ceiling is what has so many excited about him. ... Brandon Aiyuk seems to have the inside track to start for the 49ers, and has been one of Jimmy Garoppolo's favorite targets so far in camp. He did suffer a hamstring injury over the weekend, so we'll need to keep an eye on that moving forward. ... Equanimeous St. Brown has drawn praise in camp, a good sign after the Packers opted not to make any significant additions to the receiving corps. Allen Lazard is my go-to mid-to-late-round Packers WR, but St. Brown should be on your radar in deeper leagues. ... Van Jefferson is starting to get work with the first team, including matching up against Jalen Ramsey on the outside in the team's scrimmage this weekend. Given that Josh Reynolds is the current No. 3 receiver, there could certainly be room for Jefferson to break into the starting lineup this season. ... Sammy Watkins (groin) returned to training camp. ... Ryan Fitzpatrick was away from Dolphins camp this weekend dealing with a personal issue, and it ... did not go well for Tua Tagovailoa. This is Fitzpatrick's job come Week 1 barring something completely unexpected.
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