NFL Player News

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford had a rough outing his last time out against the Giants in 2013. He'll look to rebound at home come Week 1.

Stafford completed 25 of 42 passes for 222 yards, with no touchdowns and two interceptions. This time around, he'll have a few new weapons to target, most notably Golden Tate. Last season, Stafford averaged 290.6 yards per game. The Giants allowed 223.3 yards through the air in 2013, which ranked 10th best in the league.

Regardless of the matchup, Stafford was one of the most consistent signal callers in Fantasy last season, and that hasn't changed. Starting Stafford against New York is about as safe of a bet as it gets for Week 1.

The thought of starting most quarterbacks at home against the Oakland defense has been typcially intriguing.

But perhaps not Jets second-year quarterback Geno Smith. And perhaps not against the 2014 Raiders.

Smith did enjoy a quietly strong preseason. He completed 23 of 33 passes for 268 yards with one touchodwn and one pick. His 91.5 quarterback rating was encouraging. But several factors weigh against sticking him in lineups, even in deeper leagues.

One is that the Raiders have bolstered their defense with the acquisitions of pass-rushing ends Justin Tuck, LaMarr Woodley and Antonio Smith, who combined for 21 sacks last season, as well as promising outside linebacker and top draft pick Khalil Mack. These are not the same Raiders that allowed opposing quarterbacks to compile a league-high 102.4 quarterback rating in 2013.

Smith, who finished last season with 3,046 yards passing, but 12 touchdowns and 21 interceptions, might also be short on weapons. It's too early to determine if new wideout Eric Decker was merely the beneficiary of having Peyton Manning at quarterback or if he can thrive playing pitch-and-catch with Smith. Jeremy Kerley is starting on the other side and the Jets have no featured back. Rex Ryan has declared that he will switch off between Chris Johnson, Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell.

Perhaps Smith will emerge as a viable Fantasy starter this season. But he's too big a risk at this point to trust.

Raiders rookie and surprise starter Derek Carr could not have picked a more troubled cornerback corps to debut against Sunday.

The Jets are a mess in that area. Antonio Allen, who has moved from safety to corner, has just been cleared after sustaining a concussion. An ankle injury will almost certainly keep Dee Milliner sidelined. Dimitri Patterson went AWOL and was cut. And the Jets are so desperate they might start Browns castoff Leon McFadden, who was seemingly whistled for interference on every pass thrown his way in the preseason. The Jets ranked 22nd in the NFL in pass defense a year ago and could be worse in 2014.

That makes Carr an intriguing Fantasy start. Also encouraging is that the Raiders have added playmakers in the offseason that should give him several viable weapons. Running back Maurice Jones-Drew and wide receiver James Jones are legitimate threats, as are holdover wideouts Denarius Moore and Rod Streater.

Don't expect Carr to light it up for 300 yards and three touchdowns - such is too much to ask for in his introduction to the regular season in the NFL and he will be playing in front of a hostile crowd. But he is coming off a preseason finale in which he completed 11 of 13 passes for 143 yards and three touchdowns and he clearly outperformed expected starter Matt Schaub in exhibition play. There are certainly worse options against a Jets pass defense that appears destined for disaster early in the season.

One day after releasing quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson from the practice squad, the Patriots have re-signed him to the unit.

Bethel-Thompson Has hooked up with four different NFL teams since 2011, but has yet to take a snap in a game.

Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill has addressed a concerning issue about his struggles throwing deep with accuracy, particularly with speedster Mike Wallace as his primary receiver.

"I feel great," he told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "We had two deep balls, I think, to Mike (on Wednesday) in practice, hit on (Tuesday) on a double move deep in practice, so I feel great about our chemistry on the deep ball right now. I'm really trusting him, laying it out there, letting him use his speed to run out there and get it."

Tannehill developed enough of a rapport with Wallace to feed him a career-high 73 passes last season. But they could not connect deep often, as his career-low 12.7 YPC attests. Wallace caught five passes of 40 yards or longer.

The Patriots signed offensive lineman Chris Barker, tight end Allen Reisner and running back Marcus Thigpen to the practice squad and released quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson, safety Kanorris Davis and defensive back Dax Swanson from the squad.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said Wednesday he doesn't intend to have a quick hook with starting quarterback Matt Cassel. The veteran beat out rookie Teddy Bridgewater for the starting quarterback job this summer.

"We've gone seven, almost eight weeks now where we feel this is the way we want to go," Zimmer said, per 1500ESPN.com. "If we throw an interception the first play of the game, I'm not going to yank [Cassel]. I have to go on the OTAs and everything we've seen from there.

"I know the fans are excited about Teddy. I'm excited about Teddy. But we have to do what's best for the football team at this point, and what's best for the future -- and as you know, coaches' futures aren't necessarily very long. I'm always trying to think between the now and the future, and what's best for this organization as we go down the road."

Browns coach Mike Pettine said quarterback Brian Hoyer "knows it's not going to be a quick hook," but also knows "this is a production business," reports the Akron Beacon Journal. Hoyer won the starting job over rookie Johnny Manziel. He faces a tough Week 1 matchup at Pittsburgh.

Few starting quarterbacks in the NFL are weaker Fantasy options in Week 1 than Browns signal-caller Brian Hoyer. Let us list the reasons.

The Steelers have won 17 of their last 18 games against Cleveland and haven't lost at home to their AFC North rivals since 2003. They have held the Browns to just 44 points in their last six games in Pittsburgh.

In addition, Hoyer might not receive all the playing time behind center. Packages for run-oriented rookie Johnny Manziel could be implemented in an attempt to loosen up the Steelers defense.

Hoyer also did not look as sharp in the preseason as he did as an unbeaten starter in three games in 2013. His throws were often off-target and he failed to lead his receivers well enough to allow them to rack up yards after the catch. He did not throw a touchdown pass with the first team until the final exhibition game.

Lastly - and perhaps most importantly - Hoyer lacks a go-to receiver. The loss of Josh Gordon for the year to a drug suspension leaves Miles Austin and Andrew Hawkins as the top wideouts. Tight end Jordan Cameron had a miserable preseason.

Hoyer has potential as the Cleveland starter, but everything is weighing against him heading into the 2014 season. He is best left unplayed in all Fantasy leagues.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has his work cut out for him Week 1 against the Seahawks.

Rodgers entered the season as one of the top Fantasy options at quarterback, but will take on the best defense in the league. Last season, Seattle held Fantasy quarterbacks to just 10.89 points per game. That was the lowest rate in the league. The Seahawks DST ranked tops in the league in limiting points and yards last year. On top of that, the team forced the most turnovers.

While Seattle lost three members of the defensive line during the offseason, the club is still expected to have one of NFL’s best defenses. If Seattle struggles to get to Rodgers, that could open things up for the Packers offense.

Given the cost to acquire Rodgers, in a snake or auction draft, he’s probably going to start for most Fantasy teams despite his tough Week 1 matchup. While there are better quarterback options for this week, Rodgers still has a strong potential for dominance. He’s healthy and still has a bevy of weapons at his disposal. It might not be Rodgers best game of the season, but he’s shown that he can put up numbers against even the best defensive clubs.