According to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, the Giants have had discussions about moving on from WR Darius Slayton. Raanan actually wrote that such discussions started last year — before New York overhauled its coaching staff and front office, of course. Slayton reportedly struggled with drops in offseason practices and routinely worked with backups. The 25-year-old is off the redraft radar.
The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia writes that the Bills’ coaching staff “remains firmly behind” RB Devin Singletary “as an important piece to the [backfield] puzzle.” Buscaglia expects Singletary to remain the “lead back by playing time” over late-Round 2 pick James Cook. The veteran likely cemented his role with a strong end to 2021, rushing 102 times for 430 yards and 8 scores over his final 6 games (playoffs included). However, Cook’s arrival does make Singletary a virtual lock to fall shy of his 40 catches from 2021. Current projections have him slated for only 25 catches.
Giants 4th-round S Dane Belton "got the majority of the reps with the first team" in Thursday's OTA session, according to Zack Rosenblatt of NJ.com. Belton reportedly played alongside safeties Xavier McKinney and Julian Love, as well as in place of 1 of them at times. Rosenblatt adds that Belton "will seriously push" Love for the starting job opposite McKinney (a former 2nd-round pick). Belton didn't post big numbers across 3 seasons at Iowa but did close his career with 5 INTs in 2021. McKinney's the only 1 we'd bet on in IDP drafts right now, but we'll see how the rest of this competition goes. The Giants released Logan Ryan after deploying him as a full-time player last season.
Fourth-round rookie TE Daniel Bellinger just might be the favorite to start for the the Giants this season. NJ.com's Zack Rosenblatt reports that Bellinger was "almost exclusively running with the first-team offense" at Thursday's OTA practice. "Ricky Seals-Jones and Jordan Akins are both healthy and were running with the backups," Rosenblatt added. Although it's tough to count on much from any rookie TE -- let alone a 4th-round pick -- this report highlights Bellinger's limited competition on the road to a lead job. He's not a bad shot to take as a 3rd TE in best-ball drafts right now, especially when stacked with QB Daniel Jones. We'll keep watching how the situation develops.
Ryan O'Halloran of The Denver Post says he has "flipped" to believing rookie TE Greg Dulcich will be ahead of Albert Okwuegbunam on the depth chart come Week 1. O'Halloran adds that "both players will have significant roles" but that praise from Broncos coaches since the draft factors into his expectation. This, of course, is just 1 beat writer's early opinion, well ahead of Dulcich's 1st training camp with the team. We're not altering fantasy outlooks at this point, but this is just 1 of multiple indications that a role competition is coming this summer.
The Vikings are “excited” to see how 2nd-year WR Ihmir Smith-Marsette develops, per beat writer Chad Graff. Note that Minnesota didn't draft a WR until Round 6 last month (MSU's Jalen Nailor). According to Graff, Smith-Marsette is “part of the reason” new GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah opted against adding an impact rookie WR. As things stand now, ISM will battle Bisi Johnson for the Vikings’ WR4 job.
Giants WR Wan'Dale Robinson lined up "almost exclusively" in the slot at rookie minicamp on Friday, according to NJ Advance Media's Zack Rosenblatt. That "will be his long-term role in this offense," Rosenblatt adds. Robinson played inside and out at Kentucky last year. But, at 5'8 and 178 pounds, he was always destined for the slot in the NFL. New HC Brian Daboll's Bills led the league in percentage of offensive snaps with 3+ WRs on the field last year (84.5%). So, if Robinson wins the starting slot job, he'll be on the field plenty. It also means that WR Kadarius Toney will be playing primarily on the outside after spending 59% of his snaps in the slot as a rookie last season.
The Giants added San Diego State TE Daniel Bellinger in the 4th round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Bellinger totaled just 68 catches for 771 yards and 5 TDs across 4 college seasons. He fared poorly in Pro Football Focus receiving grade and yards per route run last year. On the plus side, the 6'5, 247-pounder earned a 97th percentile Relative Athletic Score at the Combine, highlighted by a 4.63-second 40 time. That at least gives him the potential to be more productive in the pros than he was in college. Bellinger joins a wide-open Giants TE group alongside Ricky Seals-Jones and Jordan Akins.
The Broncos selected TE Greg Dulcich in Round 3 of the NFL Draft. An athletic, catch-first TE, Dulcich showed good post-catch ability while running routes at all levels of the field. The former walk-on combined for 68-1,242-10 over the past 2 seasons while playing under HC Chip Kelly. While a plus athlete, Dulcich is a bit undersized at 6’4, 243 pounds. In Denver, he'll immediately compete for snaps behind Albert Okwuegbunam.
The Giants selected Kentucky WR Wan’Dale Robinson with the 43rd overall pick of the 2022 NFL Draft. Robinson is a fun watch. He’s quick, elusive and explosive with the ball in his hands. And he has the acceleration and speed to win deep. Robinson is a raw route runner, though, at least in part because he’s relatively inexperienced at WR. He played RB in high school and spent about 50% of his snaps in the backfield as a freshman at Nebraska. Robinson played more WR than RB for the Huskers in 2020. But it wasn’t until he transferred to Kentucky this past year that he really broke out. Under OC Liam Coen, who worked under Sean McVay in Los Angeles from 2018 to 2020, Robinson finished 3rd in the country in receptions (104) and 11th in receiving yards (1,334). He ranked top 5 among 251 qualifying WRs in both yards per route run and Pro Football Focus receiving grade. Robinson played about two-thirds of his snaps in the slot but was actually slightly more effective in terms of yards per route run on the outside (3.82 vs. 3.45). The concern with Robinson is size. He’s just 5’8, 178 pounds and has the shortest arm length and wingspan of all WRs in the MockDraftable.com database. Robinson’s skill set overlaps a bit with WR Kadarius Toney, who might still be on thin ice with the new Giants regime. We’ll see how the situation shakes out.
The Giants selected EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux with the 5th pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Thibodeaux averaged a class-leading 1.18 tackles for loss per game over 3 seasons at Oregon, averaging more than 1 per game each year. He never cracked 10 sacks in a season but certainly sports that kind of upside. A 90th-percentile speed score in pre-draft testing supports that. We'll see whether Thibodeaux carries a LB or DE designation. There's an especially nice ceiling if your format combines all edge players into a single category.
The Lions have agreed to a 1-year, $2 million deal with QB Tim Boyle, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo. That's not necessarily primary backup money, so we'll see what else Detroit elects to do at the position this offseason.
The Bills on Sunday announced that they’ve re-signed WR Isaiah McKenzie on 2-year, $8 million deal. McKenzie caught just 20 passes last year and has yet to top 30 receptions in a season. But he carries upside well beyond that if he can wrest the primary slot job from Cole Beasley, a rumored cut candidate
The Commanders are expected to release S Landon Collins after attempts at restructuring his contract couldn't reach a deal, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Collins rebounded decently from a 2020 Achilles' tendon tear to play in 13 games last season, average 6.2 total tackles per game, grab a pair of INTs and tally 3 sacks. He spent time in safety and LB roles for a Washington defense that disappointed overall. Collins figures to get a shot at another starting job elsewhere this offseason.
Beat writer Joe Buscagila of The Athletic believes the Bills “should” spend a “Day 2 or early Day 3 pick” on a RB. Buscagila points out that the current Bills staff has typically favored a 1-2 punch. Zack Moss took a step back after a promising rookie year. Devin Singletary, meanwhile, impressed with career highs in yards, TDs and receptions. He enters the offseason as Buffalo's clear lead back -- just note that he enters the final year of his rookie deal. GM Brandon Beane also spoke this offseason about adding more speed to the offense, and such a move could come in the form of a new RB. “I’m always looking for speed,” Beane said in January. “You’d love to have a (run after catch) guy that you can get the ball to and he can turn a five-yard pass into a 60-yard touchdown. We talked about speed here. You can never have enough of that. So we’ll continue to look for various ways.”
Raiders TE Darren Waller (knee) is active for tonight’s game vs. the Chargers. It’ll be his first action since Week 12, adding risk to Waller’s fantasy profile. But there’s plenty of upside in the matchup vs. the #28 TE defense.
The Raiders expect TE Darren Waller (knee) to play in tonight's game against the Chargers, ESPN reports. He's officially questionable but should be available for fantasy football lineups.
Raiders TE Darren Waller (knee) is listed as questionable for Sunday night’s game vs. the Chargers. He got in 3 limited practices this week. Interim HC Rich Bisaccia said Monday that Waller was expected back for this must-win game, and he seems to still be on track.
Raiders TE Darren Waller (knee, back) was limited in Wednesday's practice. Interim HC Rich Bisaccia said Monday that Waller is expected back for Sunday night's game vs. the Chargers, but we'll keep an eye on his progress over the next few days.
Raiders interim HC Rich Bisaccia said Monday that TE Darren Waller is expected back for Sunday night's game vs. the Chargers. We haven't seen Waller since he suffered knee and back injuries in Week 12. He was placed on the COVID list on Wednesday and remains there as of Monday night. We'll see when Waller is cleared and then what he does in practice this week.
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