Saints WR Tre'Quan Smith is out for Sunday's game against the Packers after hurting his hamstring in practice this week. With WR Michael Thomas also out, New Orleans is down to WRs Marquez Callaway, Deonte Harris, Lil'Jordan Humphrey and Chris Hogan. Callaway should dominate targets and is a nice Week 1 fantasy play.
Update: Smith has been placed on IR, so he's out for at least the season's first 3 weeks.
Saints WR Tre'Quan Smith isn't listed on the Week 1 injury report. He missed much of August with a leg injury but will be available for Sunday's opener vs. the Packers. Smith should join Marquez Callaway as New Orleans' top 2 WRs -- but we'd try not to use Smith in Week 1 fantasy lineups.
According to Jeff Risdon of Lions Wire, WR Kalif Raymond has "been the most consistent downfield weapon all summer in Detroit, seizing a starting WR spot and showing some playmaking ability." Detroit recently cut WR Breshad Perriman. Veteran WR Tyrell Williams looks like the top guy, but it also looks like a pretty open situation for garnering target share. Raymond has seen just 30 total targets since hitting the NFL in 2016 as an undrafted free agent. He's already on his 5th team. So odds are against him gaining fantasy relevance this season. But he might be in the only WR corps in the league where it's a possibility. We wouldn't draft Raymond in any but the deepest of fantasy football leagues. But we'll keep an eye on his role.
The Lions held QB Jared Goff and many other starters out of Friday night's preseason finale. Fourth-round rookie WR Amon-Ra St. Brown played, however, and continued to see just limited action. He spent just 7 snaps on the field, while the game's starters played 26. According to Pro Football Focus' Nathan Jahnke, St. Brown "hasn't played a single snap" in 2 WR sets through 3 preseason contests. There's certainly room for his role to grow through the season, but the rookie doesn't look like a player you should bother with in redraft fantasy football leagues.
Jets HC Robert Saleh told reporters Monday that LB Jarrad Davis will likely be out until sometime around the team's Week 6 bye with his ankle injury. Davis hurt the ankle in Saturday's preseason game, leaving the sideline on a cart. According to Connor Hughes of The Athletic, Saleh says rookie Jamien Sherwood will step into Davis' starting role. Davis had appeared to be on track for full or near-full playing time. If Sherwood can approximate that playing time, he could be an early-season steal in IDP leagues.
Chris Burke of The Athletic believes that Lions MLB Alex Anzalone "almost certainly" will be wearing the green-dot helmet and calling defensive plays come the regular season. "Anzalone could be out there for close to 100 percent of the snaps (health willing)," Burke adds. Anzalone has history with HC Dan Campbell and DC Aaron Glenn from their shared time in New Orleans. Injuries limited Anzalone's playing time there. The 2 (of 4) seasons in which he played all 16 games found Anzalone staying on the field for just 47.2% and 50.2% of snaps. It sounds like he's headed for a lot more with these Lions, which makes Anzalone an intriguing pick at the end of IDP fantasy football drafts.
Saints WR Tre'Quan Smith (leg) returned to practice on Tuesday. He ended up missing about 2 weeks. WR Marquez Callaway impressed in Smith's absence, but we're curious to see how things shake out between those 2 now over the next few weeks.
ESPN's Rich Cimini reports that LB Jarrad Davis has been calling the defensive plays in the huddle at practice lately. "Obviously, it could change," Cimini notes. But it this holds, then it would signal a near full-time role for Davis. We wouldn't bet on him playing more than C.J. Mosley -- who beats Davis significantly in both talent and salary -- but that looks like the Jets' lead duo at the position. And defenses across the league lean more on alignments with 2 or even 1 off-ball LB. Davis carries late-sleeper potential for your IDP draft.
Per beat writer Nick Underhill, Saints WR Tre’Quan Smith has been out of practice since Tuesday with an apparent leg injury. HC Sean Payton downplayed the injury, but Smith’s absence is a missed opportunity with Michael Thomas sidelined. In his absence, more reps have gone to guys like Deonte Harris, Marquez Callaway and Lil’Jordan Humphrey. Harris is likely to miss the first 2 games following a July DUI.
Lions rookie WR Amon-Ra St. Brown has seen "consistent work" rotating in with starters as a slot receiver so far in camp, according to Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic. The 4th-round pick has reportedly displayed strong route-running that has challenged any position trying to cover him and been 1 of the team's top rookies in early workouts. Baumgardner writes that St. Brown getting open underneath has "been a constant" and that he's "likely going to see a bunch of targets underneath this season, especially early." A shaky deep-passing game and lackluster WR depth chart overall can only help St. Brown in that pursuit. The rookie sits outside the top 70 WRs in ADP across FFPC draft formats right now, making him a low-risk bet late in drafts.
After skipping 2 weeks of voluntary OTAs, Bears WR Allen Robinson showed up for mandatory minicamp. On Wednesday, the veteran confirmed that he won’t be a training camp holdout. “That [contract negotiations] is not in my control,” Robinson said. “That is what it is. I’m comfortable with that. Obviously that [signing an extension] is a possibility. My main focus right now is to continue to get better.” The Bears have until July 15 to extend Robinson. The 27-year-old has rolled up 200-2,397-13 over the past 2 seasons.
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