New England Patriots Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Beat writer Doug Kyed writes that the Pats are “managing” RB Rhamondre Stevenson’s load in training camp. Second-year RB Kevin Harris saw some first-team reps on Monday. Harris is a deep sleeper to monitor, but keep in mind that New England hosted RB Zeke Elliott over the weekend.

Demario Douglas has been the only Patriots rookie WR to get work with the first-team offense in camp so far, according to The Boston Herald's Doug Kyed. “He’s a smart kid,” HC Bill Belichick said Friday. “He picks things up well, learns quickly, so all things that work in his favor, but we’ll see how it goes when things get more competitive next week.” WRs Tyquan Thornton and Kendrick Bourne are reportedly off to slow starts in camp, opening up more opportunity for Douglas. The sixth-round rookie is still much more of a dynasty stash than redraft target, but we'll continue to keep an eye on him.

Evan Lazar of the Patriots' official website writes that TE Hunter Henry has been QB Mac Jones' "favorite target" in camp so far. "The duo has shown great chemistry heading into year three," Lazar adds. MassLive's Mark Daniels agrees, calling Henry the Patriots' best player through one week of camp. Meanwhile, TE Mike Gesicki is off to a slow start, failing to catch a pass in competitive 7-on-7 or 11-on-11 drills. It's too early to make any sweeping conclusions about this TE corps -- or offense in general. But Henry is certainly out to an early lead on Gesicki.

Commanders RB Antonio Gibson said Wednesday that he anticipates being in the “JD [McKissic] role” this season, playing on third downs and the two-minute drill. McKissic averaged just 4.4 carries but 5.8 targets per game in Washington over the last three years. We're expecting Gibson to get more rushing work than that, but anything close to that level of usage in the passing game would be golden. Gibson is one of our 2023 Fantasy Football Sleepers.

Patriots WR Kayshon Boutte was “outplayed” in OTAs by fellow rookie WR Demario Douglas, per The Athletic’s Chad Graff. No surprise, then, that Graff doesn't expect the LSU product to make New England's 53-man roster. Douglas arrived 23 picks after Boutte, whose struggles we detailed around the NFL draft. We’ll see how the WR competition heats up when players put on pads. Both WRs remain miles from redraft relevance. And per our Dynasty Trade Value Chart, Boutte doesn’t move the needle at all in a perspective deal.

Bills WR Stefon Diggs took part in the team’s mandatory minicamp on Wednesday. His absence lasted only one day. This should be a non-issue moving forward, so continue drafting Diggs as a mid-tier WR1.

Bills WR Stefon Diggs' absence from this week's mandatory minicamp is not contract related, his agent told NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. QB Josh Allen shed some additional light on the situation this afternoon: "I know, internally, we’re working on some things not football related, but Stef, he’s my guy. Excuse my [language], I f---cking love him. He's a brother of mine. This does not work, what we're doing here, without him. We wish he was in here today and was out there on the field with us and that's not the case, but I've got his back no matter what. And again, I've got no doubt that we will figure out what's going on." Allen added that the situation is related to "teamwork" and "communication" and that part of the solution is "getting him the ball or getting more involved in the game plan." It sure sounds like Diggs wants more targets. He saw 154 of them last year, fifth-most among WRs. But he sunk from 11.0 per game over the first nine games of the season to 8.2 over the final nine (including playoffs). Diggs and the team figure to ultimately work this out. And if it leads to just a few more targets for Diggs this season, it'd certainly be good news for his fantasy value.

Bills HC Sean McDermott said Tuesday morning that WR Stefon Diggs was not attending the team's mandatory minicamp and that he was "very concerned" about the situation. Diggs' agent told ESPN's Adam Schefter about an hour later that Diggs would be there for the minicamp. The team has since said that Diggs was present on Monday and on Tuesday morning but left before the start of Tuesday's practice. We'll continue to keep you updated on the situation. For now, Diggs isn't moving in the 2023 WR Rankings.

Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson is preparing to take on a big workload this season. “Damien [Harriis] is out of here now, so I’m kind of the guy,” Stevenson said. “Just trying to make sure I’m ready for the end of the season this year... Taking care of my body, just trying to be proactive.” Stevenson averaged 12.4 carries and 4.1 catches per game last year -- and that spiked to 14.9 carries and 4.7 catches in nine healthy games with Harris out or limited. With only Pierre Strong, Kevin Harris, James Robinson, and Ty Montgomery behind him on the depth chart, Stevenson could dominate New England's backfield work this season. He sits aggressively high in our RB rankings.

Bills WR Stefon Diggs is not attending this week's OTAs. He also skipped April's minicamp. These are "voluntary" workouts -- and Diggs is an eight-year veteran. But it's a noteworthy no-show after Diggs got in QB Josh Allen's face near the end of the playoff loss to the Bengals. We'll see if Diggs shows up to next month's mandatory minicamp. For now, we're not moving him in the 2023 WR Rankings.

Per Ben Standig of The Athletic, Commanders HC Ron Rivera wants to get RB Antonio Gibson more touches in 2023. Rivera mentions how the fourth-year back meshes with what new OC Eric Bieniemy "wants to do with the offense" moving forward. Though Gibson is coming off a season that set career lows in carries (149), rushing yards (546), and rushing TDs (3), he did log a 46-353-2 line as a pass-catcher in 2022. It's possible Bieniemy sees Gibson as someone who could play a role similar to what Jerick McKinnon did for the Chiefs last year. Should that be the case, Gibson could be an absolute steal in PPR leagues as the receiving complement to teammate Brian Robinson. It'll be worth keeping an eye on this storyline as the offseason unfolds and we get into training camp.

The Patriots selected WR Kayshon Boutte with the 10th pick of Round 6 in the NFL Draft. It's a discouraging spot for Boutte, who opened his LSU career looking like a future star. A sophomore-year ankle injury derailed him and continued to impact Boutte through his final season. He followed that with disappointing testing at the Scouting Combine. We like the potential of a fully healthy Boutte -- check his dynasty value report -- but the draft fall suggests the league doesn't believe there's a ton of upside. Don't expect an exciting spot in our dynasty WR rankings.

The Raiders have agreed to a one-year, $2.75 million deal with TE Austin Hooper, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo. The deal has a max value of $3.5 million. That's obviously not enough to guarantee a top role at the position. But Hooper's a better bet for receptions than new teammate TE O.J. Howard. Even so, he has averaged just 2.4 catches per game over the past two years, with two different teams. Neither Hooper nor Howard is likely to make a big fantasy football impact this year.

The Falcons signed WR Mack Hollins to a 1-year, $2.5 million deal. Hollins set career highs in Vegas last year with 57 catches and 690 yards -- but that was good for just a WR46 PPR finish. Hollins ranked just 82nd among 96 qualifiers in Pro Football Focus' receiving grades. He has a chance to find significant playing time in an Atlanta WR corps led by Drake London and not much else. But it's awfully late to be expecting a fantasy breakout from Hollins, especially in what figures to be a run-heavy Falcons offense.

LSU WR Kayshon Boutte ran a decent 4.5-second 40-yard dash Saturday at the NFL Scouting combine. He didn't have a great day otherwise, though. His 108-inch broach jump rated just 32nd percentile for the position, according to Pro Football Focus' Marcus Mosher. And Boutte's 29-inch vertical rate an even worse second percentile. It was a rough day, but Boutte is still a productive early draft entrant who broke out as a freshman in the SEC. Look for a full breakdown as our Dynasty Fantasy Football Value series gets rolling.

Bills WR Stefon Diggs popped off for 7 catches for 114 yards against Miami. He tied Gabe Davis for the team lead in targets (9). The highlight here was a beautifully thrown Josh Allen deep ball for 52 yards — the duo’s 2nd longest gain of this season. Diggs will likely face the Bengals in the Divisional Round. It would be the first showdown between Buffalo and Cincinnati this season.

Commanders RB Antonio Gibson had surgery on Thursday to repair a fractured foot, HC Ron Rivera said. Gibson was on the injury report with a foot from Week 13 on, although it's unclear exactly when the fracture occurred. Rivera said the "hope" is that Gibson will be ready for the start of offseason workouts. We'll track his rehab.

Commanders RB Antonio Gibson (knee, foot) has been placed on IR, knocking him out for Sunday's finale vs. the Cowboys. Gibson had a few solid fantasy outings this season but was generally disappointing, finishing with 546 rushing yards and 3 TDs on 3.7 yards per carry and a 46-353-2 receiving line. He sits 30th among RBs in PPR points per game. Gibson turns 25 in June and is signed with Washington for 1 more season. He looks like no better than a RB3 in early 2023 fantasy drafts.

Commanders RB Antonio Gibson (knee, foot) didn't participate in practice on Wednesday. Fellow RB Brian Robinson (knee) also sat out. Hopefully, the pair can get back into action soon. Be sure to check back tomorrow regarding their health ahead of Week 18 vs. the Cowboys.

Titans HC Mike Vrabel named QB Joshua Dobbs his starter for this weekend's must-win game vs. the Jaguars. It was the only logical move after Dobbs looked like a functional NFL QB in Thursday night's loss to the Cowboys -- something that hasn't been said about QB Malik Willis this season. Of course, the Titans will ride RB Derrick Henry as far as he can take them this Sunday.