Bills TE Dawson Knox sat out Saturday's preseason game with a finger injury. Beat writer Joe Buscaglia labeled him as "day to day.” Even at full health, Knox isn’t a priority target in fantasy drafts.
Bills RB Damien Harris returned to practice Wednesday after missing a little more than a week with a knee issue. He still has nearly a month to get ready for the regular-season opener but will need to battle Latavius Murray for the No. 2 job behind expected starter James Cook. Harris has moved down our 2023 fantasy football rankings since the beginning of training camp.
Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic says that Bills RB James Cook has "separated himself" from Damien Harris and Latavius Murray in training camp, furthering the notion that Cook is headed for the clear lead role. Buscaglia adds that Murray is pushing Harris for the No. 2 job with a good camp, while Harris has also dealt with injury. Buscaglia also throws in that RB Nyheim Hines was a "borderline favorite" to be the Bills' No. 2 before suffering his ACL tear. That's especially interesting because Hines garnered only six total carries and nine targets across nine games with the Bills last year after arriving from the Colts via trade. The Hines bit plus the Murray praise could signal an iffy outlook for Harris, who signed for less than $2 million on a one-year deal in free agency. Harris has already moved down our RB rankings since the start of training camp.
Bills RB Damien Harris left practice Monday with knee soreness and has yet to return, according to Matt Parrino of NewYorkUpstate.com. Latavius Murray has been filling in. We'll see how long the absence lasts and whether we get an official diagnosis. This doesn't sound like a serious issue, though, and hasn't affected Harris to date in our fantasy football RB rankings.
Bills TE Dalton Kincaid has drawn significant intrigue as a fantasy sleeper darling this offseason. The Athletic's Joe Buscaglia fueled the hype on Monday with a glowing report from camp. Buscaglia wrote that, "Almost every day, Kincaid is making himself available through excellent route running and movement skills for his size," adding that QB Josh Allen "has shown complete trust in Kincaid when on the field together." Rookie TEs immediately walking into high-end fantasy relevance is uncommon. However, the Bills' need for a reliable secondary option to WR Stefon Diggs in the passing game was made evident last season, and GM Brandon Beane said following the NFL Draft that they view the 25th overall pick as more of a WR than a TE. We'll see if this drumbeat stays steady for Kincaid, but it's tough to extract much value at a TE13 price tag in current ADP. He's not that far behind that position in our current TE rankings.
Bills QB Josh Allen hopped aboard the James Cook hype train in a SiriusXM interview on Wednesday. Cook is "going to take a large portion of the carries and in the pass game, he's going to be kind of a dual threat guy for us," Allen said. We've expected Cook to dominate pass-catching work all along. But a big revelation over the last couple of weeks is that Cook is in line to also lead the Bills in carries. A workload similar to what RB Devin Singletary got over the past four years -- 11.0 carries and 3.2 targets per game -- is within reach for Cook this year.
Commanders HC Ron Rivera noted how WR Curtis Samuel’s skill set fits the new offense. Washington is now under the direction of OC Eric Bieniemy. “I think it fits in very well,” Rivera said. “Go back and get an opportunity to look at the stuff that they did in Kansas City and look at how creative and inventive they have been over the years with the receivers that they've had. Everything from running the jet sweeps to going vertical to working underneath, and the coverages against the coverages. You know, it's about getting the ball into the hands as quick as possible in as much space as possible, allowing these guys to make plays.” Highlighting Samuel’s catch-and-run ability makes sense. But we’re likely talking about the No. 3 option for an offense with QB concerns. Samuel, 27, projects as a bench stash to begin the season.
The theme of the Bills' first week of training camp has been TE Dalton Kincaid "being fast-tracked into what indisputably feels like a prominent, instant-impact role for a rookie within Buffalo's dynamic offense," CBS Sports' Chris Trapasso writes. Kincaid has reportedly been a fixture with QB Josh Allen and the first-team offense. It's not a big surprise considering Buffalo spent the 25th overall pick of this spring's draft on Kincaid, a 23-year-old who should be more NFL-ready than most rookies. Kincaid undoubtedly landed in an exciting spot with this Bills offense and has TE1 upside this season. The issue is that his ADP is sitting between TE12 and TE14, depending on the source. It'll be tough to squeeze much value out of Kincaid at that price.
Browns WR Amari Cooper returned to the practice field for Friday's training-camp session. He ended up missing four days with what never sounded like a significant injury. We'll keep an eye on Cooper the rest of the summer, but consider his fantasy value unchanged.
Bills OC Ken Dorsey called RB James Cook a “three-down back” at practice on Thursday. The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia believes the Bills have “cleared the deck” for Cook to “take a major leap” in Year 2. Cook has consistently been the first RB up in team drills, ahead of Damien Harris. Don't be surprised if Cook's Underdog Fantasy ADP (RB31) rises quickly.
Bills reporter Mark Gaughan writes that the team “clearly believes” TE Dalton Kincaid “has the ability to pick up schemes quickly.” Gaughan believes the Bills will “force-feed him work this summer.” Kincaid started camp hot with a pair of TDs from Josh Allen in team drills. The rookie is currently coming off the board at TE13 on Underdog Fantasy.
Browns HC Kevin Stefanski confirmed on Monday that WR Amari Cooper's injury isn’t a long-term concern. Stefanski even said that Cooper might get back on the practice field today. We'll keep an eye on him, but consider Cooper's fantasy stock unaffected.
Browns WR Amari Cooper left Sunday's training camp practice with what GM Andrew Berry labeled a "minor tweak." Berry wouldn't say what Cooper injured but did say that it's not related to his offseason core-muscle surgery. This doesn't seem like a big deal, but we'll keep you updated on Cooper's status.
Browns WR Amari Cooper immediately became an impactful player in this offense following a trade from the Cowboys. He finished as the WR10 in PPR with 14.5 points per game in 2022. Digging into the numbers a bit, Cooper led the Browns in targets (133), target share (26.2%), air yards share (38.7%), and Weighted Opportunity Rating. Additionally, Cooper ranked 12th in PFF receiving grade, 12th in yards per route run (2.06), and 16th in receiving yards (1,160) among 34 WRs who saw 100+ targets last season. Granted, most of his production last year came with QB Jacoby Brissett under center. Cooper logged six top-12 weekly finishes in 2022, with only one coming in the six games that QB Deshaun Watson started from Week 13 on. Watson spent nearly two years away from the game of football due to off-field conduct and didn't play up to the previous level of performance he displayed as a member of the Texans. Should he improve, Cooper might be one of the best value picks in fantasy this season. The Browns' offense finished last year 22nd in pass rate, though they should improve upon that somewhat now that Watson has reacclimated himself to the NFL game after being away from the sport. If the Browns pass more and Cooper plays like his dominant self, he'll be a precious asset for fantasy managers. Take a peek at where Cooper appears in our current WR rankings.
Bills beat reporter Sal Capaccio projects RB James Cook to roughly match Devin Singletary’s 2022 workload. The former Bill tallied 177 carries; 38 catches. “He [Cook] is not the biggest guy. He’s 190 pounds…not many running backs are that slight,” Carpaccio said on the Outside the Gridiron podcast. “He can still run between the tackles but you don’t want to do that too much to him. You don’t want him taking a pounding. That’s why the Bills signed Damien Harris.” Per Capaccio, the Bills entered the offseason determined to improve their short-yardage offense – a sentiment confirmed by the signing of Harris. His arrival – and the presence of Josh Allen – brings uncertainty to Cook’s TD outlook. Head to Cook's player page, and you'll see he's projected for only 5 total scores.
Bills RB coach Kelly Skipper gave his assessment of 2nd-year RB James Cook. “Big jump (from first to second year),” Skipper said. “I see it in the classroom. You can see he’s taking control of the playbook. If I ask a question, he’s the first one to answer, where before, he was just really learning. He got that experience, and you saw how much better he got toward the end of the year.” We’ll see how Buffalo breaks down first-team reps at training camp between Cook and Damien Harris. Overall, look for this backfield to see a small uptick in volume. Per beat writer Ryan O’Halloran, the expectation is that the Bills will reduce Josh Allen’s rushing load. (Allen handled nearly 30% of Buffalo’s carries in 2022.) Visit our fantasy football RB rankings to see backfield expectations.
The Bills utilized 2-TE sets on only 38 snaps (3.7%) last season, per TruMedia. That number will rise following the addition of Round 1 TE Dalton Kincaid. As The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia writes, “[the Bills] made Kincaid a key to opening things up and being more unpredictable on offense.” Buscaglia also notes that Buffalo leaned into 2-TE sets a bit more down the stretch last season. Dawson Knox counts ~$6.5 million against Buffalo’s cap, so he’ll retain a role. We’ll watch for training camp clues on how frequently OC Ken Dorsey plans to utilize 12 personnel. (The Bills practice just down the road from Draft Sharks headquarters.) Kincaid’s ADP is currently TE13, with Knox at TE20. Check the TE rankings to see where both guys land.
Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic isn’t confident a full-time WR3 will emerge in Buffalo. WRs Khalil Shakir, Deonte Harty, and Trent Sherfield — plus TE Dalton Kincaid — are competing for snaps. “Don’t be surprised if this battle continues into the regular season and the team uses a hot-hand approach with all of them,” Buscaglia concludes. A Round 1 pick, Kincaid brings the most intrigue. The issue? Fantasy drafters are treating him as a fringe starter with a TE13 ADP (FFPC). Shakir made a few big plays last year, then watched the Bills sink $5.2 million guaranteed into Harty. Even Sherfield generated some buzz in OTAs. We’re ultimately talking about deep league fliers, although training camp could push one name into your best ball strategy.
Bills WR Khalil Shakir has had a strong offseason so far and "is going to push hard for prime snaps in the Bills’ three-receiver set," The Buffalo News' Mark Gaughan writes. Shakir played limited snaps as a rookie last year but flashed with 16.1 yards per catch on his 10 grabs. With Isaiah McKenzie gone, we consider Shakir the favorite for the No. 3 WR job heading into training camp, with Deonte Harty providing the primary competition.
Bills beat writer Matt Parrino came away impressed with RB James Cook at OTAs. “Cook looks bigger and quicker in his second OTAs after the Bills took him in the second round back in 2022,” Parrino wrote. “He’s the odds-on favorite to be the team’s starting running back and he looked the part on Tuesday." That last part is particularly interesting (and debatable). Cook brings more big-play ability than Damien Harris, who signed a low-cost one-year deal in March. But Harris projects as a bigger factor near the goal line. And we know about Josh Allen’s rushing in close. (He carried 15 times inside the 10 last year, scoring five times.) Cook’s receiving performance will be key, and there’s at least an opportunity there. New Texans RB Devin Singletary leaves behind 52 targets -- 20 more than Cook saw as a rookie.
Search
