Las Vegas Raiders Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Seahawks HC Pete Carroll told 710 ESPN in Seattle on Wednesday that QB Geno Smith will start the preseason finale and that Drew Lock will play "a lot." Lock was reportedly on track to start the previous exhibition before coming down with COVID. Carroll added that Smith starting this contest doesn't necessarily mean he'll start the regular-season opener. But you'd think the coach would want to see Lock open at least 1 preseason contest with the 1st team before handing him the Week 1 reigns. We'll bet on Smith starting the opener. We also wouldn't bet on either guy starting every game this season. We'll see how these final 2 weeks play out.

It shouldn't surprise anyone that Seahawks HC Pete Carroll announced QB Geno Smith as his starter for Saturday's preseason opener at Pittsburgh. Smith has remained atop the depth chart throughout the offseason and training camp. But it also sounds like the competition is far from done. “We’ll see what happens,” Carroll said Thursday, according to Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times. “There’s a lot of things that can happen when we go out there. We’ve just got to wait and see and we’ll put it together. We’d love to see the guys execute, and they’ve done really well on the practice field. We’d love to see a carry-over. But at the quarterback position, there are opportunities and if there are opportunities how do they seize them? Do they come through and make the play, make the big throw in the red zone or if it’s third down or whatever it is. We just have to wait and see.” We're most interested to see if either QB can look good enough to ease any concerns over the fantasy football outlooks for WRs D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, and TE Noah Fant.

The Athletic's Tashan Reed believes that, among the Raiders' RBs, rookie Zamir White "is the closest to pushing [Josh] Jacobs for his role as the lead back." White looked good in his NFL debut in last week's Hall of Fame Game, running 11 times for 52 yards and catching 3 of 4 targets for 23 yards. "This guy just plays hard. He loves football," HC Josh McDaniels said. "You saw how he finishes runs. He’s a physical player. He’s a tough guy; he adds that element to our team." We'd still consider White a long shot to overtake Jacobs as Vegas' lead back this season. But White could earn a big enough role to dent Jacobs' fantasy value.

Seahawks HC Pete Caroll was back with the team after a bout with COVID, and he had a Friday update on the QB competition: "Geno [Smith] continues to be on top. He's ahead. He's been in the lead for all of the obvious reasons and he's holding on to it and doing a really good job of battling." Carroll did add that there's still a good bit of time left in the evaluation process. "We need reps, we need turns to see more situations to really find any reason to see a difference between the guys," he said, according to The Seattle Times. So we won't consider it decided yet, but it does seem we need to consider Smith the front-runner at this point. His primary advantage is having been with the Seahawks since 2019. For fantasy football purposes, the winner of this battle only matters in superflex, 2-QB and DFS formats.

Terry McCormick of Titan Insider reports that rookie WR Kyle Philips got some slot work in with the 1st team Tuesday. We'll see whether that can develop into a full-time role. The 5th-round pick has generated a little buzz among observers since spring and brings a strong college production profile. Neither Philips nor the role appears to carry high upside, but there's at least opportunity in an offense where the top 2 WRs are expected to be another rookie (Treylon Burks) and a vet coming off an ACL tear (Robert Woods). We talked Philips -- and the rest of the Tennessee offense -- on our recent AFC South preview podcast.

Raiders RB Zamir White has missed the start of training camp with an undisclosed injury. The rookie shouldn’t be out for long, though. Citing a source, Tashan Reed of The Athletic wrote today that White is expected to practice “within the next week.” We’ll keep tabs on his progress upon returning.

Seahawks QB Geno Smith opened training camp with the 1st-team offense, right where he was in the spring. “Geno is in the lead. He’s ahead and he ain’t looking back,” HC Pete Carroll said. “He’s going for it. Drew [Lock] is not going to take a back seat. Something is going to happen.” What's "going to happen" probably won't be pretty. We're still expecting both of these guys to make starts this season. It's a situation to avoid in fantasy drafts.

Dolphins RB Raheem Mostert (knee) said via Twitter on Monday that he's been medically cleared. It was surely in response to ESPN's Marcel Louis-Jacques' report earlier in the day that Mostert "might not be ready for Week 1." We'll keep an eye on Mostert's health -- and role in this offense -- over the next few weeks.

Dolphins RB Raheem Mostert (knee) "might not be ready for Week 1," according to ESPN's Marcel Louis-Jacques, because he's "still recovering from a late-season knee injury." That's news to us. Mostert had surgery in September to address a knee cartilage issue, but there had been no reports of a "late-season" injury. The 30-year-old has played in just 9 games over the past 2 seasons and is tough to like as more than a late-round flier in fantasy drafts. Dolphins RBs Chase Edmonds and Sony Michel are more attractive picks. We'll keep an eye on Mostert's status leading up to the opener.

Titans WR coach Rob Moore gave his assessment of Round 5 rookie WR Kyle Philips. "He's starting to understand some of the fundamentals he has to develop and how he's going to have to play in this league, in regards to being able to create separation and to be effective on a consistent basis. And those are things he is figuring out right now," Moore said. "But the kid has really good short area quickness and he has a lot of tools to build on.” QB Ryan Tannehill complimented Philips’ route running, quickness and agility. The UCLA product isn't going to overwhelm DBs at 5’11, 191 pounds, so his ability to grasp the nuances of route running will be key. Despite a thin WR corps, Philips must compete to secure a spot on the regular season roster.

Chargers HC Brandon Staley singled out WR Jalen Guyton for having a "fantastic" offseason. "This guy made a lot of big plays for us in the spring," Staley said. "He came in, physically, just in great shape. He's moving great. I thought that he was able to move around. He really did a nice job on special teams." That last sentence is notable. It's possible that Guyton's biggest contribution comes on special teams this season with Josh Palmer reportedly the favorite for the #3 WR job. But we're not counting Guyton out of that race just yet. He brings speed that Palmer, Keenan Allen and Mike Williams don't possess. It'll be a situation to monitor in training camp and preseason action.

Falcons HC Arthur Smith has been impressed by QB Desmond Ridder's football IQ. “He’s very intelligent,” Smith said of Ridder. “There are a lot of things that go into playing quarterback that we ask him to do. Behind the scenes, the things that he has done that have really impressed me are from the neck up. You’re betting on the physical things that you have seen at times to catch up, but he’s light years ahead of most young quarterbacks I have been with from the neck up. I will give him that compliment publicly.” QB Marcus Mariota will head to training camp as Atlanta's starter, but it sounds like Ridder is in position to push him for the Week 1 nod.

Dolphins RB Raheem Mostert indicated last week that the knee he injured in Week 1 of 2021 is almost back to full strength. "Rehab is going great! Close to 100%," he tweeted. Mostert has yet to practice with his new team since signing in March. It doesn't seem like great news from here that his left knee -- which had to have "chipped cartilage" repaired in the area of his meniscus -- isn't yet all the way back. But we never saw a publicized return timeline for the uncommon procedure. We'll see about Mostert's status (and role) come training camp. He'll compete with Chase Edmonds and Sony Michel for touches.

Let's start with HC Pete Carroll's full quote on the Geno Smith-Drew Lock competition after Thursday's practice (per Liz Matthews of Seahawks Wire: “Geno’s still ahead, you can tell that, but it’s not going to be too much for Drew to be caught up. By the time we get through camp he’ll be there. He’s really bright. It makes sense to him. He’s really sharp in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage and all of that. So it’s just time that he needs, and there’s nothing we can do but gain some more of that.” You could easily read that and come away with the headline that Smith is the leader in the race for the starting gig. It sure seems like Carroll is expecting (hoping?) Lock to catch up and potentially overtake him, though. Carroll added that "it's gonna be a real battle." It's not surprising that the incumbent stands ahead at this early stage. We'd still bet Lock between them as the Week 1 starter, though. And we also still wouldn't rule out the possibility of the team adding someone else, such as Baker Mayfield.

Seahawks OC Shane Waldron and HC Pete Carroll have both recently said that QB Geno Smith opens offseason workouts as the leader at QB. “Right now, Geno has done such a good job of carrying over (the offensive principles from 2021). He already had a head start over Drew right there,” Waldron told KJR radio this week. That seemed to echo Carroll's sentiment that Smith "automatically" starts ahead of Drew Lock. Waldron added, "We have a long way to go to see where this competition (goes).” For now, the fantasy football takeaway is that there's a competition to replace Russell Wilson in Seattle. It's not necessarily Lock's job.

Ben Arthur of The Tennessean believes rookie WR Kyle Philips “could have an immediate impact” with the Titans. A 5th-round pick, Philips isn’t a dynamic athlete, and he doesn’t bring ideal size. But he’s a quality route runner, as Arthur points out. The UCLA product could see day 1 slot snaps; just don’t expect much of a fantasy impact alongside Robert Woods, Treylon Burks and Derrick Henry.

The Athletic's Michael-Shawn Dugar projects Geno Smith as Seattle's starting QB in his post-draft depth chart, with Drew Lock as the #2. "But this will be an open competition that may not see a winner until the third and final preseason game," Dugar concedes. The Seahawks will have arguably the worst QB play in the NFL regardless of who's under center this season, barring a trade for someone like Baker Mayfield or Jimmy Garoppolo. Neither Smith nor Lock is worth a pick in early best-ball drafts.

Vic Tafur of The Athletic believes there’s a “good chance" RB Zamir White will start for Las Vegas in 2023. Josh Jacobs and Kenyan Drake enter contract years, although White joins the league with uninspiring draft capital (mid-Round 4 as the RB8). Vegas did trade up to land the Georgia product. He brings a nice speed/power combo to go along with a 6’0, 214-pound frame. Just don’t expect much of an impact in redraft leagues.

Falcons HC Arthur Smith left open the possibility that rookie QB Desmond Ridder gets some starts this season. “As with any position, the best guy is going to play,” Smith said. “With Marcus [Mariota] being the veteran, that’s the way it’ll go for now.” So Mariota will head to training camp atop the depth chart and should be considered the favorite to start Week 1. But it'd certainly make sense for the Falcons to get a good look at Ridder before deciding whether they want to dive back into the QB market in 2023. Ridder was the best player on Atlanta's board when they selected him 74th overall on Friday night. “There was never a time where Arthur Smith and I said we have to come out of this draft with a quarterback,” GM Terry Fontenot said. “He was the best player on the board at that time, and that’s why we took him.”

The Titans selected UCLA WR Kyle Philips in Round 5 of the 2022 NFL Draft. Philips led the Bruins in catches in each of the past 3 seasons, finishing 4th in school history with 163 career grabs. The 5’11, 189-pounder played almost exclusively in the slot. He’s shifty and explosive in tight quarters, but he has a small catch radius and isn’t going to offer much downfield. Phillips looks like a low-upside fantasy prospect – and this is a low-upside landing spot.