NFL Player News

Taylor completed 21 of his 33 pass attempts for 291 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday's Week 1 contest against the Jaguars. He added four rushes for 40 yards.

Taylor got the Texans off to a hot start offensively, leading the team to 27 points in the first half. He accounted for two touchdowns through the air, which went for seven and eight yards, respectively. With a 20-point lead through two quarters, Houston played conservatively for much of the second half, limiting Taylor's ability to produce further. While this was a positive start to the campaign for Taylor, he is likely to face a more difficult task when he takes on the Browns in Week 2.

Herbert completed 31 of 47 passes for 337 yards and a touchdown to go along with an interception in Sunday's 20-16 win over Washington.

Herbert was noticeably comfortable in his first game under offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi's system, routinely sitting back in the pocket and finding open receivers. By the end of the first half, the second-year signal-caller had completed passes to seven different players and finished the game with at least a dozen completions over 15-plus yards. If not for a couple of bad drops by Mike Williams in the third quarter and an egregious one by Keenan Allen early in the first half, the 23-year-old likely could have had even better numbers, but an impressive yardage total will have to be a small consolation for fantasy managers. Herbert figures to be primed for another solid day in Week 2 against the Cowboys.

Lance completed his only pass attempt for a five-yard touchdown and rushed three times for two yards in Sunday's 41-33 win over the Lions.

Jimmy Garoppolo (314 yards and a touchdown) got the start as expected, and Lance also had a few plays drawn up for him as expected. The rookie couldn't get anything going on the ground, but his five-yard strike to Trent Sherfield on a zag route was right on target. Accuracy on short-to-medium throws is what Lance struggled with at times during the preseason, so this was a nice debut (albeit a brief one). The 49ers figure to continue getting the third overall pick into games in specific scenarios, but he won't have fantasy value so long as Garoppolo is starting and playing well. Even if the latter scenario continues to play out, it will be interesting to see if Lance will get more involved in certain packages as the season progresses.

Goff completed 38 of 57 pass attempts for 338 yards with three touchdowns and one interception during Sunday's 41-33 loss to San Francisco.

After going down 38-10 halfway through the third quarter, Goff approached his career high in pass attempts for a game but ultimately finished with a forgettable 5.9 yards per pass attempt. However, even though his final numbers don't account for his pick-six and generally make his actual performance seem better than it was, it's still encouraging to see Detroit find some form of success through the air. Goff was set up well in the backfield with two proficient pass-catching running backs in D'Andre Swift (eight catches for 65 yards on 11 targets) and Jamaal Williams (8/9/56) while tight end T.J. Hockenson (8/10/97) served as a reliable safety valve over the middle. Even if he's far from an elite quarterback in a real-world football sense, Goff could qualify as a serviceable fantasy option if Detroit's leaky defense continues to force him into pass-heavy game scripts. Next up is a Week 2 matchup on Monday night in Green Bay.

Garoppolo completed 17 of 25 pass attempts for 314 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's 41-33 win over the Lions.

Garoppolo's 2021 campaign got off to a horrid start when he fumbled away the first offensive snap of the game. The 29-year-old was unfazed by the faux pas, as he went on to complete his first nine passes of the game en route to a solid fantasy line. Most notably, Garoppolo went 2-for-2 and a touchdown on passes of 20-plus air yards, after going 1-for-11 with four interceptions on such throws over the course of the entire 2020 season. Perhaps the poor quarterback play we saw last year truly was due to the high-ankle sprain he tried playing through. Garoppolo is still not a high-end fantasy option, as his ceiling isn't particularly high and he will cede some stats to rookie Trey Lance (threw a passing touchdown) when he is brought in on special packages. The 49ers' quarterback duo will get a stiffer test on the road against the Eagles next Sunday.

Burrow completed 20 of 27 passes for 261 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday's 27-24 overtime win over Minnesota. He added two yards on one rushing attempt.

After failing to generate any points for most of the first half, Burrow tossed a pair of touchdowns in the final two minutes before halftime. He found Tee Higgins for a two-yard score with 1:51 remaining, then connected with rookie fifth-overall pick Ja'Marr Chase for a 50-yard touchdown just 1:16 later. Burrow was largely quiet besides that burst but did enough to lead his team to the overtime win after Minnesota overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit -- his 32-yard pass to C.J. Uzomah to convert 4th-and-1 in the final minute of overtime set up Cincinnati's game-winning field goal. Most importantly, the second-year quarterback looked healthy and comfortable in his return from season-ending knee surgery, though he did spend some time on the stationary bike, per Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer. Burrow and the Bengals will travel to Chicago in Week 2.

Lawrence completed 28 of 51 passes for 332 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions in the Jaguars' 37-21 loss to the Texans on Sunday. He also rushed once for minus-2 yards.

The first overall pick offered a bit of everything in his first taste of regular-season action, interspersing flashes of his undeniable talent with a trio of mistakes that cost the Jaguars. Lawrence was impressive distributing the ball, ultimately connecting with eight different pass catchers and finding DJ Chark, Marvin Jones and Chris Manhertz for his three scoring tosses. However, Lawrence also short-circuited Jacksonville drives at midfield, his own eight-yard line and the Texans' 23 with his trio of picks. He didn't get a chance to show off his impressive ground skills and benefited statistically from the Jaguars facing a sizable deficit for a large portion of the game, but he will look for a more balanced game script in a Week 2 home battle versus the Broncos.

Cousins completed 36 of 49 passes for 351 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday's 27-24 overtime loss to the Bengals.

Cousins connected with reliable target Adam Thielen for touchdowns of five and 24 yards, then helped erase a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter by setting up a Dalvin Cook rushing touchdown and Greg Joseph's game-tying 53-yard field goal as time expired. The veteran quarterback saw plenty of volume in a game that lasted nearly 70 minutes before Dalvin Cook's fumble set up the Bengals' game-winning field goal. Cousins will likely take to the air aplenty again in Week 2 against Arizona.

Hurts completed 27 of 35 passes for 264 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions in the Eagles' 32-6 win over the Falcons on Sunday. He also rushed seven times for 62 yards and recovered two fumbles, including one of his own.

Any lingering doubts about Hurts' ability to build on his relatively solid late-season starting audition in 2020 definitively were answered Sunday, with the second-year signal-caller looking every bit as good as his numbers imply. Hurts connected with seven different pass catchers and appeared increasingly comfortable as the game went on. The Oklahoma product got the Eagles' scoring started with a pretty 18-yard scoring lob to rookie DeVonta Smith, and he followed it up with a pair of touchdown tosses to Dallas Goedert and Jalen Reagor in the second and fourth quarters, respectively. With a stellar season opener under his belt, Hurts will head into a Week 2 home battle against the 49ers with no shortage of confidence.

Heinicke completed 11 of 15 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown after coming in for an injured Ryan Fitzpatrick (hip) in Sunday's 20-16 loss to the Chargers.

Fitzpatrick was injured after a hard tackle by the Chargers, forcing Heinicke to enter during the second quarter. It took until the third quarter for the 28-year-old to finally gain some rhythm, and while the majority of his production came on a fluky underthrown deep ball to Terry McLaurin that a Chargers defender simply misplayed, it was still a relatively controlled and effective performance from Heinicke. If Fitzpatrick misses time, expect to see the former Panthers backup starting games for Washington, especially after excelling in a similar situation in last season's playoff loss to Tampa Bay.