The Chargers ran Josh Palmer as their 3rd WR in Tuesday's opening practice of mandatory minicamp, according to Daniel Popper of The Athletic. That puts him ahead of Jalen Guyton, who spent 2021 beating the then-rookie in playing time. Guyton was also reportedly working as a punt-team gunner Tuesday for the 1st time since joining the team. That could be another signal of a lighter offensive role for Guyton. Palmer has stood well ahead of Guyton as the 3rd Chargers WR in ADP throughout draft season. He's a decent option at low-WR6 ADP -- and a good addition to Justin Herbert teams.
Chargers HC Brandon Staley revealed this week that S Derwin James had surgery on the labrum in his left shoulder in February, according to Daniel Popper of The Athletic. The injury originally occurred in the 1st half of Week 3, but James didn't miss any games until weeks 14 and 16 (then for a hamstring issue). The safety has been sitting out of team drills this spring, but Staley calls that "precautionary." James is reportedly back to full health and will be good to go for training camp.
Cowboys WRs Simi Fehoko and T.J. Vasher have gotten a "ton of work" with Dak Prescott this week, thanks to James Washington and Jalen Tolbert being sidelined, according to David Helman of the team website. Helman added that he saw Fehoko "make 2-3 nice snags." It's assumed that Washington and Tolbert will run ahead of Fehoko and Vasher when healthy, but Tolbert was a 3rd-round pick and Washington signed a small 1-year deal. We're betting on Tolbert and Washington being more relevant as well, but neither is guaranteed a starting role. We'll be watching to see how the WR corps sorts out behind CeeDee Lamb.
The Chargers return the same HC and OC from last season. Plus, 6 of last year's top 7 target-getters are back, with TE Gerald Everett replacing TE Jared Cook. “Everyone’s familiar with the terminology, so a lot less stress, at this time of the year anyway, because they’ve had a year to digest everything,” OC Joe Lombardi said. “Justin [Herbert]’s bandwidth is a lot wider for everything, so we can focus on some Football 202 type of stuff, rather than just getting in and out of the huddle. It’s real nice. First and foremost, it’s just familiarity with all of the play calls. Where last year at this time, it was just hearing the play, repeating it in the huddle and just kind of understanding what the play is — that was a lot of calories burnt last year. This year, he has that part down. He can focus on what the defense is doing a little bit more, get his timing down with the receivers and all of that.” The Chargers ranked top 6 in points, yards and yards per play last season and are a safe bet to be 1 of the top offenses in the league again in 2022.
Lions WR D.J. Chark said he’s not limited in offseason workouts. Chark, of course, is coming off a late September ankle fracture. "They’re always there to let me know like, if it’s bothering me I don’t have to push it as hard or things like that, cause they want me to be where I’m at my peak when the season starts," Chark, 25, said. "But no, I do everything that everybody else does. That’s just how I am. I wouldn’t feel good going home knowing that I didn’t do whatever because the other guys, and I feel like that’s how you earn your respect and your keep around here.” Chark signed a 1-year, $10 million deal back in March. He'll fill an intermediate/deep role in a suddenly-strong Detroit offense.
Ravens beat writer Jamison Hensley writes that J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards “likely won’t be available” for upcoming OTAs. Baltimore opens up OTA workouts on May 24, when both guys will be about 9 months removed from ACL tears. So we're not talking about a setback here; both guys are expected to return for training camp. Adding rookie RB Tyler Badie and veteran Mike Davis in recent days, Baltimore has the bodies to get through the spring. While the backfield looks messy now, we know this team wants to go run heavy — especially without Marquise Brown. In 3 seasons as Ravens OC, Greg Roman’s units have ranked 1st, 1st and 3rd in rush attempts.
Per Gilbert Manzano of the Los Angeles Daily News, Bolts WR Josh Palmer has “proved” he’s “destined to be a top playmaker for [Justin] Herbert in 2022.” We’d call that phrasing a bit aggressive. Still, Palmer came out of the draft as a winner, as L.A. opted against adding a WR. Following a 33-353-4 line as a rookie, the 22-year-old is an enticing late-round flier in deep formats.
Eagles GM Howie Roseman commented on 3rd-year WR Jalen Reagor on Sunday. “Jalen Reagor is a Philadelphia Eagle and he's going to be here,” Roseman said. “He's worked tremendously hard to get in shape and come into this off-season program, and now he has an opportunity. We don't anticipate anything changing.” Positive words are great, but the reality is that Reagor will open the season no higher than 4th on the depth chart. The 23-year-old remains off the redraft radar.
The Titans selected Michigan RB Hassan Haskins in the 4th round of the 2022 NFL Draft. At 6'2, 228 pounds, he certainly fits Tennessee's smash-mouth running game. Haskins started for the past 3 years at Michigan but didn't break out until this past season, when he took 270 carries for 1,327 yards and 20 TDs. Haskins packs plenty of power but has below average speed and elusiveness. He'll compete this year to be RB Derrick Henry's backup.
Ravens HC John Harbaugh said Monday RBs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards are "making progress" in their recoveries from last year's torn ACLs. It's the first real update of any kind that we've gotten on these guys since they tore their ACLs in late August and early September, respectively. Harbaugh added that Dobbins and Edwards will "likely" start training camp on the PUP list. But the timing of the knee injuries makes both guys good bets to be available come Week 1.
The Bengals agreed to a 1-year deal with TE Hayden Hurst. It's a solid landing spot for the former 1st-round pick. Hurst figures to step into C.J. Uzomah's role, which produced a 49-493-5 line in 16 games last season. Uzomah finished 19th among TEs in PPR points while seeing 12% of Bengals targets. Hurst will likely struggle to reach every-week TE1 status without injuries to Cincinnati's WR corps. But he should bring intriguing upside as a spot-start option in lineup-setting leagues and is a fine TE2 target in best ball.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that former Jaguars WR D.J. Chark is signing a 1-year deal with the Lions. The contract will pay $10 million guaranteed, with a max value of $12 million (per ESPN's Adam Schefter). Chark suffered a broken ankle in Week 4 of last season, which is almost certainly why he's landing only a "prove it" deal in his 1st crack at free agency. Detroit presents obvious opportunity in an offense that was light on WR talent last season. Amon-Ra St. Brown was the only Lions wideout to exceed 71 targets or reach 50 catches. We'd bet on St. Brown beating Chark in targets this season, but Chark adds a significant challenge to St. Brown on that front and lowers the fantasy ceiling for the 2nd-year WR. Getting Jared Goff as his QB, though, also limits the ceiling for downfield threat Chark.
TE Will Dissly is re-signing with the Seahawks for $24 million on a 3-year deal, according to multiple reports. It's particularly surprising money because Seattle just acquired Noah Fant in the Russell Wilson trade. The Seahawks have clearly liked Dissly's run-blocking, but the $8 million per year on his new contract suggests we shouldn't dismiss him as a passing-game piece. That said, Dissly averaged just 1.8 targets per game over the past 2 seasons. So perhaps Seattle is just wildly overpaying for a blocking TE.
The Bears have agreed to send EDGE Khalil Mack to the Chargers for 2nd- and 6th-round picks in the 2023 draft. Mack has 3 years left on the deal he signed with Chicago, which would run through his age-33 season. Mack missed 10 games last season with a foot injury that required surgery. He'll need to pass a physical for this trade to go through, so there should be no concern for the issue if it happens. The trade will reunite Mack with Chargers HC Brandon Staley, who served as LBs coach in Chicago before taking the DC post with the Rams in 2020. It will also position him opposite Joey Bosa in what will be 1 of the NFL's toughest pass rushes. Expect the Chargers' D to land high in our 2022 fantasy football rankings. Mack -- after posting 6 sacks in just 7 games last season -- should remain a good option in sack/pressure-friendly IDP leagues. As for Chicago, Trevis Gipson looks like the top incumbent candidate to replace Mack. Gipson got 9 starts in his 2nd season -- with Mack out -- and tallied 7 sacks.
Per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, WR DJ Chark is “moving well and running” on the left ankle he fractured in October. Fowler doesn’t believe the injury will impact Chark’s free agency status. Meanwhile, New Orleans and Philadelphia, among others, have been floated as potential destinations. Recall that Chark broke out just 2 years ago, posting 118-73-1,008-8 alongside Gardner Minshew and Nick Foles.
The Raiders have activated LB Denzel Perryman, LB Cory Littleton and CB Casey Hayward from the COVID list. Perryman is the only guy among the trio who carries IDP value. He'll belong in most lineups against what should be a run-heavy Colts offense.
Chargers S Derwin James carries no injury designation into Sunday's game against the Broncos and is expected to return to the starting lineup. James remained limited in practice this week, but the lack of a game status suggests we should expect full playing time. We'd roll with James in IDP lineups in most cases, chasing the upside over worrying about lingering risk with his hamstring issue.
Chargers HC Brandon Staley said Wednesday that he's "hopeful" S Derwin James can play Sunday against the Broncos, according to Jeff Miller of the Los Angeles Times. James did manage a limited practice Wednesday, something he didn't do until Friday last week. We'll watch for more on James' status heading into Sunday.
The Raiders on Monday added multiple defensive starters to the COVID list. LB Denzel Perryman and CB Casey Hayward were the biggest names. LB reserves Cory Littleton and K.J. Wright went onto the list as well, which already had CBs Brandon Facyson and Nate Hobbs on it. Hobbs has been on the list since Dec. 20 and Facyson since Dec. 22, so they should be back ahead of Sunday's game at Indianapolis. We'll see whether any of this week's additions can make it back. IDP managers should plan to be without Perryman, though. That absence would return Divine Deablo to the spotlight.
The Chargers on Monday added 7 more players to the COVID list. That group included S Nasir Adderley, starting CBs Chris Harris Jr. and Michael Davis, and S Alohi Gilman, who filled in for Derwin James in Sunday's loss to the Texans. We'll see about the status for all of them as the week progresses.
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