Titans WR Treylon Burks injured his wrist in Saturday night's preseason finale vs. the Cardinals. The team deemed him questionable to return, which suggests it's not a significant injury. We'll update Burks' status when we know more. It's just another bump in what's been a rocky offseason for the rookie. He won't be an early-season fantasy option but still possesses enough longer-team upside to stash on benches.
Update: Burks returned to the game, scoring a TD late in the 2nd quarter.
Titans WR Treylon Burks left Wednesday's practice early and then didn't participate Thursday. We haven't seen any report of a specific injury, and he was on an exercise bike during Thursday's practice, according to Kayla Anderson of WKRN-TV in Nashville. We'll watch for something official on this front. Burks carries plenty of risk (but still upside talent) in fantasy football drafts right now.
The hope for anyone drafting Cowboys RB Tony Pollard in a fantasy football league is that he opens the year with a significant increase in receiving work. It sounds like OC Kellen Moore wants that, too. “There is a ton of it on film. A lot of it is coming back to him,” Moore told ESPN's Todd Archer, referring to the receiving skills Pollard displayed in college. “I think he does have more than just that. He’s not going to run [just] the running back route tree, the quick game and just kind of the completion plays. He can stretch people vertically, and I think that will be a huge advantage for him to put people in conflict of how they want to handle him.” There is room for Pollard to factor into a passing game that lost Amari Cooper and Cedrick Wilson, and will at least see Michael Gallup (ACL) limited to open the year. Obviously, the ultimate ceiling for Pollard would include an Ezekiel Elliott injury. But he sits higher in our RB rankings than previous years because of the expected growth in his receiving role.
The Chargers on Monday activated LB Kenneth Murray from the PUP list. He opened training camp there after having surgery in April on the injured ankle that ended his 2021 season. The former 1st-round pick is no lock to reclaim a staring job this season after struggling through his 1st year under HC Brandon Staley. Kyle Van Noy and Drue Tranquill have looked like the top 2 non-edge LBs for the Chargers.
After some positive buzz at the start of training camp, Titans WR Treylon Burks is heading in the wrong direction again. He was buried in the pecking order in the preseason opener and didn't play particularly well. “Just being able to take the progress — some of the improvements that we saw in practice, and carry them over into the game. I don’t think that happened enough," HC Mike Vrabel said afterward. "Treylon will have to come out here and have a good week.” Burks then missed some reps in Wednesday's joint practice with the Bucs. It's looking like we won't be able to trust the rookie in fantasy lineups early in the season. There's still longer-term upside here, but Burks shouldn't be considered more than a WR4 at this point.
The Athletic's Daniel Popper believes RB Joshua Kelley has "taken the lead" in the battle for the #2 RB job after the preseason opener. Kelley started that game, finishing with 3 carries for 16 yards and 3 catches for 28 yards. "Kelley looks like a really confident player," Popper writes. "He was decisive and explosive in the run game, hitting holes with a north-south mentality." RB Larry Rountree rotated in with the starters, while RB Isaiah Spiller didn't hit the field until the 2nd quarter. We're still expecting Spiller to eventually emerge as the #2 RB, but that might not happen before the start of the season.
Cowboys RB Tony Pollard has been "privately tutored" on playing slot receiver by offensive quality control coach Kyle Valero this offseason. "Just details like route-running, getting in and out of breaks, why we’re running certain plays and what’s the meaning behind them,” Pollard said. “We’re getting into the depth of why we’re doing the things that we’re doing, so it will make more sense in the big picture. …It just shows the hard work that I’ve put in. In the offseason, during the season, it’s not going unnoticed. Guys are noticing the things that I can do with the ball to help the team, just knowing that I can contribute more and more to the team.” Pollard ranked 3rd in yards per route run last year among 51 qualifying RBs, and the Cowboys are dangerously thin at WR to open the season. So we're buying some slot usage for Pollard. That'll give him a chance to be a fantasy starter even behind a healthy Ezekiel Elliott.
Cowboys OC Kellen Moore confirmed his plans to increase RB Tony Pollard’s role in 2022. “He’s a guy that we want to get the ball to,” Moore said of the contract-year back. “He’s had a ton of success when he does get those opportunities. I think the running back role is one thing, certainly when Zeke and him can kind of tag-team that role, but then it’s another opportunity for him to expand that role and play in some different positions, out in space and some of the things that certainly he’s capable of doing. I think the more we expand those roles, the more opportunities he’ll be able to get out there and get touches.” Pollard, with an ADP at mid-Round 7, is one of our favorite RB3 targets.
Seahawks S Jamal Adams broke a finger on the 1st day of training camp. After getting multiple opinions, he'll return to practice with a "special cast" and a club on the hand, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. It's also "likely" that Adams will need surgery after the season. We'd bet on Adams not being hampered overall by the finger, though playing with a club necessarily makes intercepting passes more difficult. Adams will certainly remain draftable in IDP leagues but doesn't stand out as a target in our DB rankings.
The Cowboys used RB Tony Pollard in a multitude of ways on the 1st day of training camp and are "committed to making Pollard a viable weapon in the offense," insider Clarence Hill writes. "Pollard opened 11-on-11 drills with the first-team offense as slot receiver. He ended practice as the primary third-down back in the 2-minute drill with [Ezekiel] Elliott on the sidelines." Hill adds that he expects Dallas to use Elliott and Pollard on the field together this season. We hear that a lot this time of year, but it certainly makes sense in this situation considering how good Pollard is and the fact that the Cowboys lost WR Amari Cooper and will likely be without WR Michael Gallup early on. We know Pollard is at least an elite fantasy handcuff, but he's also capable of providing standalone value this season.
It was a tough spring for Titans WR Treylon Burks, who missed a bunch of time in OTAs and minicamp with asthma and/or conditioning issues. But ESPN's Dianna Russini hears that the rookie has turned things around recently. "Everything I've heard since [the spring] has been awesome," Russini said on The Athletic Football Show podcast. "I've heard he's in shape, I've heard he's lost weight, I've heard there's been so much growth already." We'll keep a close eye on Burks in training camp and preseason action, but it sounds like we can start to put these conditioning concerns to rest. The rookie still boasts plenty of fantasy upside -- and his ADP has sunk into the 9th round.
Titans rookie WR Treylon Burks missed a bunch of practice time this spring with conditioning issues that were supposedly related to asthma. But Burks college HC, Sam Pittman, said in a Wednesday radio appearance that he wasn't aware that Burks had asthma but that he did have conditioning problems while at Arkansas. "I’m assuming he didn’t go in there (to Titans minicamp) in great shape," Pittman said. "It was the same way when he was a sophomore — he wasn’t in good shape. It’s not that he quit, he just couldn’t do anymore. He just was out of shape." Burks can put all of this behind him if he's ready to go for the start of training camp. He'll be worth monitoring closely throughout August.
ESPN’s Lindsey Thiry considers Chargers RB Joshua Kelley to be on the roster bubble. He enters training camp as the 3rd or 4th RB behind Austin Ekeler, Isaiah Spiller and likely Larry Rountree. Kelley owns only 456 rushing yards through 2 seasons (3.2 per attempt). Even in deep formats, the 24-year-old isn’t a recommend late-round target.
Titans beat writer Joe Rexrode writes that WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine “continues to make strides as a playmaker.” Last year, Westbrook-Ikhine posted 38-476-4 after a non-existent rookie season. There’s not much in his profile to get excited about, but the 25-year-old does bring plus size at 6’3, 219 pounds. Potential opportunity is the biggest selling point here, as Robert Woods is coming off an ACL tear and Treylon Burks has struggled with his conditioning. Still, Westbrook-Ikhine is just a late-round flier in deep formats.
Titans WR Treylon Burks has missed the first 2 days of minicamp after also being sidelined for last week's OTAs. HC Mike Vrabel said Burks is "unavailable" but didn't give any other details. We're guessing this is the same asthma-related issue that cost Burks some reps in rookie minicamp. It's become a situation to monitor closely over the next few months.
Titans rookie TE Chig Okonkwo has been a standout in minicamp, catching 4 TDs over the last 2 days, according to Jim Wyatt of the team's official website. Okonkwo is undersized at just 6'3, 238 pounds but led all TEs at the Combine with a 4.52-second 40 time. He projects as a catch-first TE with some intriguing fantasy upside. Austin Hooper remains the favorite to lead Titans TEs in fantasy points this season, but Okonkwo is worth keeping an eye on this summer.
Titans WR coach Rob Moore revealed Tuesday that WR Treylon Burks has asthma. That explains why he missed some reps at rookie minicamp with breathing issues. The asthma didn't prevent him from putting up big numbers at Arkansas, though, and shouldn't be a real problem going forward. But we'll keep an eye on him.
Titans WR Treylon Burks has "no limitations" at OTAs, HC Mike Vrabel said. Burks reportedly had "breathing issues" that had him on and off the field at the team's rookie minicamp a couple of weeks ago. We'll keep an eye on that but won't consider it a concern for now. Burks has every opportunity to capture a major 2022 role.
Cowboys beat writer Jon Machota believes RB Tony Pollard is in for his most productive season yet. Machota points to the departures of Amari Cooper, Cedrick Wilson and Blake Jarwin as reason for a boosted workload. Last year, Pollard totaled 169 touches in 15 games. The contract-year back currently holds a reasonable ADP of 8.04.
The Titans added Maryland TE Chigoziem Okonkwo with the final pick of Round 4. Okonkwo missed the 2020 season after being diagnosed with myocarditis but rebounded to post a career-best 52-447-5 line last year. The 6'3, 238-pounder led all TEs at the Combine with a 4.52-second 40 time. Okonkwo has drawn comparisons to former Titan Jonnu Smith and looks like an intriguing dynasty sleeper.
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