NFL Player News

Knox secured all five targets for 89 yards and two touchdowns during the Bills' 47-17 win over the Patriots in an AFC wild-card matchup Saturday night.

The athletic tight end finished with team-leading receptions, receiving yardage and target totals on what was a stellar fantasy night overall. Knox recorded scoring grabs of eight and 11 yards in the first quarter to get the Bills' offense off to a fast start, and he subsequently contributed a 38-yard catch as well. Knox's field-stretching prowess could well play a key role again in a divisional-round matchup versus either the Chiefs or Bengals next weekend.

Waller caught seven passes for 76 yards on 12 targets against Cincinnati on Saturday.

The season is over for the Raiders in light of this 26-19 loss, but Waller played well for his own part and served as the main engine of the Raiders passing game. Waller is under contract for two more years but is majorly underpaid, so it will be interesting to see if he and the Raiders revisit the terms of his compensation, but Waller in any case projects for another big season in 2022.

Uzomah caught six passes for 64 yards and one touchdown on six targets against Las Vegas on Saturday.

Uzomah came through with big fantasy production even against a Raiders defense with an imposing edge rush, proving he can post numbers even when he might otherwise seem at risk of an increased blocking assignment. Uzomah is a big, athletic player in one of the league's most productive passing games, so he should continue to have games like this on occasion, particularly when one of Ja'Marr Chase or Tee Higgins sees a lag in his production. Higgins was unusually quiet in this one (one 10-yard catch on four targets), affording more room for Uzomah to draw targets.

Okwuegbunam finished the 2021 season with 33 catches for 330 yards and two touchdowns.

Okwuegbunam operated as the Broncos' No. 2 tight end in 2021, and he saw his role increase in his second year with the team. The 23-year-old played in 14 games this season, a big jump from the four games played in his rookie season. Though Noah Fant is the team's starter at the position, it's clear the team trusted Okwuegbunam to take a step forward based on his usage on 47 percent of Denver's offensive snaps this season. Both Okwuegbunam and Fant are still on their rookie contracts, so both tight ends will likely be with the team in 2022. The former has two more years on his deal, so it would not be surprising to see Okwuegbunam's role grow even more in 2022 with Fant set to become a free agent at the end of next season. The team may want to evaluate what it has in Okwuegbunam even further before determining if it will re-sign Fant in 2023. Nonetheless, the 6-foot-5, 258-pound Okwuegbunam would benefit from an upgrade at quarterback to give the entire passing game a boost for the upcoming season.

Hill is expected to need six -to-nine months of recovery following surgery to repair a Lisfranc injury in his left foot, Jeff Duncan of NOLA.com reports.

It's important to note the Saints have not officially announced a recovery timeline, but given the nature of previous Lisfranc injuries, the aforementioned timeframe is a fair guess. Hill will undergo two separate surgeries this offseason in order to repair the injury with the latter likely occurring sometime after the 2022 NFL Draft. The 31-year-old dual-threat quarterback did start the year behind Jameis Winston, but after the 2015 No. 1 overall pick tore his ACL in Week 8, Hill eventually took over as the starter. Provided the Saints bring back Winston, who is an unrestricted free agent this offseason, expect the duo to once again compete for the starting honors to begin the 2022 season.

Gray was not targeted in the regular-season finale against the Broncos.

Gray finished out his rookie season with the Chiefs having amassed seven catches for 36 yards and a touchdown on 10 targets. While it's nothing to write home about, the 2021 fifth-round pick did grade out pretty well as a blocker overall and stands a good chance of moving up a spot on the depth chart in 2022. Blake Bell's one-year deal expires following the season, and Gray seems to have performed well enough to potentially move into the top backup role next year. That could entail some additional snaps and perhaps some added looks in the passing game, though Travis Kelce is still the clear No. 1 tight end in the offense. The Chiefs may also elect to groom Gray as the heir to Kelce if they like what they've seen from him.

Woerner had five receptions for 52 yards across 17 games during the 2021 regular season.

Woerner took over backup duties behind George Kittle early in the season, but the slight shift up the depth chart did not result in more usage offensively. The 23-year-old did make three starts in place of Kittle, but he was primarily used as a blocker and recorded just four receptions over that three-game span. Woerner will still be under team control for 2022, and he will serve a similar backup role if kept on the 53-man roster.

Bell was not targeted on his 21 offensive snaps in the regular-season finale versus the Broncos.

The Belldozer compiled just nine total catches for 87 yards on 13 targets during the 2021 season and has just two seasons total with double-digit receptions. The veteran tight end still hasn't caught a touchdown pass in his career and enters the offseason set to become an unrestricted free agent following a one-year deal. With Noah Gray developing behind Travis Kelce, Bell may be ticketed for a spot elsewhere in 2022.

Yeboah caught two of three targets for 36 yards as a rookie in 2021.

The undrafted free agent out of Ole Miss spent most of the season on the Jets' practice squad but got some playing time down the stretch after injuries ravaged New York's tight end depth chart. Both of his catches came in Week 17. Yeboah will look to secure a spot on the 53-man roster in camp next season, but his chances of doing so will hinge on what the Jets do to address the tight end position in the offseason in addition to his own improvement.

Kroft caught 16 of 25 targets for 173 yards and a touchdown over nine appearances in 2021.

Kroft missed time due to a back injury and lung laceration, but he split top tight end duties with Ryan Griffin when healthy and actually ended up finishing with the second-highest receiving yardage total of his seven-year NFL career. Tight end is one of many positions the Jets will likely look to upgrade in the offseason, but it's unclear if bringing back Kroft -- who's an unrestricted free agent -- is part of the team's plan at the position.