Fantasy Football News

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (knee) underwent season-ending surgery for his PCL injury to his right knee, according to David Lombardi of The San Francisco Standard. In Pearsall's social-media post, the former first-rounder said he had never missed a game due to a football injury in his entire career at any level. The 49ers expect Pearsall to miss anywhere from six to 12 months, and he's already been ruled out for the entire 2025 season. The 25-year-old played in just 20 games (13 starts) in his first two years in the NFL due to injury, including only nine starts last year. He's recorded 67 catches on 99 targets for 928 yards and three touchdowns in his 20 regular-season games. It's unclear if Pearsall will be ready for the start of training camp and the regular season in 2027. Pearsall's redraft and dynasty/keeper value has hit rock bottom. In his absence in 2026, rookie second-round receiver De'Zhaun Stribling will have an opportunity to carve out a larger role alongside veterans Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel Sr., and Christian Kirk.

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers (quadriceps) returned to team drills at training camp practice on Thursday, according to Jonas Shaffer of The Baltimore Banner. The Ravens held Flowers out of team drills earlier this week due to a minor left-quad contusion, but he's back in team drills now. Even though he appears to be back to full health, the Ravens are expected to hold their top wideout out of the preseason opener this Saturday against the Philadelphia Eagles. The 25-year-old former 22nd overall pick from Boston College had a career-high 1,211 receiving yards and five touchdowns in 17 starts in 2025 for his second straight 1,000-yard campaign in his third year in the NFL. Flowers is without question Baltimore's WR1, and he could have an even higher target share in new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle's scheme in 2026. Especially in PPR leagues, Flowers has a high fantasy floor as a low-end WR1/high-end WR2 target in upcoming drafts.

New Orleans Saints rookie first-round wide receiver Jordyn Tyson (hamstring) suffered what is believed to be a minor hamstring injury in training camp practice on Thursday, according to Nick Underhill and Mike Triplett of NewOrleans.Football. It's not a serious injury for Tyson, but it's also not ideal as he looks to gear up for his first NFL season. The 22-year-old also had his reps managed during the offseason program due to a hamstring issue that occurred before the NFL Draft in April. The Arizona State alum had an injury-plagued collegiate career as well, so this is definitely not ideal news with the regular season around a month away. If healthy, Tyson is expected to carve out a role as the Saints' WR2 in his first NFL campaign behind Chris Olave in an up-tempo offense under head coach Kellen Moore, giving Tyson plenty of fantasy value in Year 1. But given his injury history and the fact that he lost valuable developmental reps this offseason, fantasy managers in redraft leagues should consider him more of an upside WR3/flex target than a strong WR2 choice in upcoming drafts.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (knee) will not play in the team's preseason opener on Saturday against the Los Angeles Rams, head coach Andy Reid told Matt McMullen of the team's official website. With Mahomes sitting, Justin Fields, Garrett Nussmeier, and Chris Oladokun will split up the game under center. Mahomes has been participating in all 11-on-11 work in training camp as he recovers from a torn ACL and LCL in his knee last December, but the Chiefs are in no rush to throw the 30-year-old veteran into a preseason game, especially the first one. Barring a setback with his knee, Mahomes looks to be on track to suit up for the Week 1 showdown against the division-rival Denver Broncos on Monday night on Sept. 14. It will be a pretty tough first matchup for the two-time MVP as he and the Chiefs look to bounce back from missing the postseason entirely in 2025. Mahomes and KC's offense are looking for more explosiveness, and coming off major knee surgery, Mahomes is better off drafted as a low-end QB1/high-end QB2 this year with some question marks about his mobility going forward.

ESPN's Mike Kaye writes that Carolina Panthers tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders "might need to battle to keep his job" in Carolina after the addition of veteran Darren Waller on a one-year deal on Wednesday. Sanders has struggled with ankle injuries over the last two seasons and had surgery for his most recent ankle injury last season. The Panthers kept Sanders, Mitchell Evans, Tommy Tremble, and James Mitchell on their 53-man roster in 2025, but with Waller now on board, a dynamic shift could be coming to the team's TE room. Evans and Tremble are traditional TEs, with Waller and Sanders primarily pass-catchers. The 34-year-old Waller will become the oldest non-specialist on the roster when he officially signs. Kaye observes that the Panthers entered Wednesday with just three non-specialists over 30 years old. Feleipe Franks is also held in high regard for his contributions on special teams, which could push Sanders off the roster at the end of the preseason.

Philadelphia Eagles rookie first-round wide receiver Makai Lemon (hamstring) is missing his seventh straight training camp practice on Thursday due to a hamstring injury, according to Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com. The good news is that Lemon was seen with a helmet on while catching passes from a JUGS machine on a side field on Thursday. Fellow wideout DeVonta Smith is also missing his seventh straight practice with a hamstring injury, and both pass-catchers are unlikely to play in the preseason opener on Saturday against the Baltimore Ravens. With Smith and Lemon sidelined, Dontayvion Wicks has cemented himself as the team's WR2 behind Smith and has displayed strong chemistry with quarterback Jalen Hurts as he heads into his first season with the Eagles after a trade sent Pro Bowler A.J. Brown to the New England Patriots. The 22-year-old Lemon should have a key role in the Eagles' new offense in 2026 after being taken in the first round, but Wicks' emergence and Lemon's hamstring injury have put a damper on his redraft fantasy stock. Lemon is now ranked as the No. 50 WR at RotoBaller and could get off to a slow start in the NFL.

NewOrleans.Football's Nick Underhill reports that New Orleans Saints second-year quarterback Tyler Shough is "cooking" during training camp practice on Thursday. Shough is apparently picking up where he left off this summer after an impressive rookie campaign in the Big Easy in which he threw for 2,384 yards, 10 touchdowns, and six interceptions in his first 11 games (nine starts) in the NFL. The 26-year-old second-rounder from the University of Louisville immediately connected with WR1 Chris Olave and benefited from head coach Kellen Moore's up-tempo offense to go 5-4 as a starter as a rookie. The Saints added running back Travis Etienne Jr. and rookie first-round receiver Jordyn Tyson to the offense, potentially helping Shough to a breakout in his sophomore season in the NFL. To do so, Shough will need to improve his deep passing game, but he has the rushing ability to be a strong QB2 for fantasy managers in 2026.

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua admitted on the "Impaulsive" podcast that he ran into a glass window pane at a party hosted by Fanatics founder Michael Rubin, according to Oliver G. of Rams Wire. Nacua said he got distracted while looking for teammate Davante Adams and didn't see the freshly cleaned glass pane in front of him. Podcast host Mike Majlak, who witnessed the aftermath in person, said that Nacua was "bleeding" from his face. Fortunately for Nacua and the Rams, his injury wasn't serious. The 25-year-old pass-catcher suffered a minor groin injury in Tuesday's training camp practice and could miss a couple of days, but that injury also is nothing serious and shouldn't prevent him from being ready for the Week 1 opener in Australia against the division-rival San Francisco 49ers. The former fifth-rounder from BYU has 4,191 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns (10 last year) in his first three NFL seasons to quickly become one of the best receivers in the game. Nacua is ranked as the WR2 at RotoBaller for 2026, behind only the Cincinnati Bengals' Ja'Marr Chase.

Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard (hamstring) is dealing with a hamstring injury in training camp and is considered week-to-week, head coach Dave Canales told Mike Kaye of The Charlotte Observer. Rico Dowdle is out of town in 2026, which set up Hubbard to lead Carolina's backfield. However, a hamstring injury could potentially threaten the 27-year-old's availability for the start of the 2026 regular season, which means that RB2 Jonathon Brooks, who has played in just three games in the NFL since entering the league in 2024 due to two torn ACLs, will become much more interesting as a breakout candidate in 2026. After his first 1,000-yard season with the Panthers in 2024, Hubbard rushed for only 511 yards and one touchdown on 134 carries last year while losing out on work to Dowdle, who was the much more efficient and explosive back. Hubbard still has time to get ready for Week 1 in September, but his hamstring injury will certainly make him a riskier RB3/flex option in upcoming fantasy football drafts.

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith (hamstring) looks set to miss another training camp practice on Thursday, but he was out early getting in some work on a side field, according to Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports. Smith is missing his seventh straight practice due to a hamstring injury that is not considered serious. The Eagles are just playing it really safe with their new WR1 early in camp. Smith will almost certainly sit out Saturday's preseason opener against the Baltimore Ravens. Going into his sixth season in the NFL with the Eagles, the 27-year-old will have the highest fantasy ceiling he's ever had now that he's not sharing targets with Pro Bowler A.J. Brown. Smith's slight 6-foot, 170-pound frame has always been worrisome from a durability standpoint, but he's stayed relatively healthy in his career to this point, and he's already produced three 1,000-yard seasons in five years. With more target volume in a new offense looking to put a disappointing season behind them, Smith has clear WR1 upside in fantasy football in 2026.

Buffalo Bills head coach Joe Brady said that the plan for Saturday's preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers is that if a player is healthy, they will play, according to Maddy Glab of the team's official website. Brady added that he wants quarterback Josh Allen to be competitive but mindful. If Allen actually does play this weekend, it will probably be only for a few offensive series at most. Backups Kyle Allen and Shane Buechele are fully expected to see most of the snaps against Carolina. Allen, a four-time Pro Bowler, is the consensus No. 1 overall fantasy QB again in 2026 despite failing to throw for 4,000 yards for the second straight season in 2025 in his eighth year in the NFL. He still managed to finish as the QB1 in fantasy last year by rushing for a league-high 579 yards and 14 touchdowns on 112 rushing attempts. In Brady's first year as Buffalo's head coach, Allen could return to the 4,000-yard passing mark after the addition of receiver DJ Moore, who should help the Bills succeed more down the field with explosive passing plays. The prospect of bigger chunk gains through the air only raises Allen's already high fantasy floor.

Without the benefit of training camp with the team following an in-season trade from the Jaguars, Philadelphia Eagles running back Tank Bigsby saw limited offensive work and ran for only 344 yards in 2025. While the raw production is far from staggering, his 5.9 yards per carry were hard to ignore, especially with three-time Pro Bowler Saquon Barkley averaging only 4.1 yards per attempt behind the same banged-up offensive line. In his first training camp with the team, Bigsby has been praised for his physicality, and there is a growing belief that he could see a significant uptick in between-the-tackles work this season in an attempt to keep the 29-year-old Barkley fresh. While no one is reasonably suggesting a 50/50 split, Bigsby could see enough volume in 2026 to hold standalone value in what has been one of the league's run-heaviest offenses since Nick Sirianni took over in 2021. Bigsby is RotoBaller's RB46, and even if he is unable to carve out a flex-worthy role, he remains one of fantasy's most valuable insurance backs.

Minnesota Vikings running back Jordan Mason has been lauded throughout training camp as an offensive standout, and on a Wednesday practice in which the running game was clicking, he was once again credited with the play of the day by team writer Rob Kleifield. Taking advantage of perfectly executed blocking against the second-team defense, he showed off some burst and ran untouched for a long score. The 230-pounder also displayed physicality and balance on a big gain against the starting defense. On a day when Mason and Aaron Jones Sr. were listed as co-starters on the Vikings' first unofficial depth chart, both players were credited by Kleifield with productive outings. Ever a standout pass-catcher, Jones is now 31 years old, and there is at least some expectation that the two backs could settle into clearly defined roles for 2026, with Mason the between-the-tackles bruiser and Jones as more of a passing-downs specialist, potentially providing fantasy managers with matchup-based clues on when to lean on either. Gaining steam throughout training camp, Mason has risen to RB36 by current ADP.

In a joint practice with the Jets on Wednesday, Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Cade Otton had one of his most productive days of the summer, cluing in onlookers to the role he can serve in this Zac Robinson offense. Buccaneers staff writer Brianna Dix praised Otton for the presence he brings to all three levels of the field and his ability to uncover through savvy route-running and strong spatial understanding. Otton has never boasted the highest ceiling for fantasy, and even with the team's receiving core struck by injury in 2025, he caught only one touchdown in 16 games, but he provides enough of a weekly floor to keep him in the streaming conversation, having caught exactly 59 passes in each of the past two seasons. Otton is RotoBaller's TE28 and profiles as a no-frills TE2 in deeper leagues or a player who will likely provide viability off the waiver wire as injuries and bye weeks start piling up.

The New Orleans Saints spent a 2026 fourth-round pick on wide receiver Bryce Lance, and while earlier in camp it was sixth-round rookie Barion Brown grabbing the majority of headlines with his work downfield, Lance is himself emerging as a vertical threat, coming down with another long touchdown catch on Wednesday. Earlier in the week, Lance connected with Spencer Rattler for a 50-yard touchdown, and on Wednesday he raised the difficulty by working through double coverage to come down with a 40-yarder in the end zone. Lance averaged a ludicrous 21.2 yards per catch in his final season at North Dakota State, and he's capable of providing a field-stretching presence that's likely to open things up for Chris Olave and Jordyn Tyson whenever they're on the field together in three-receiver sets. While the younger brother of former third overall pick Trey Lance is not a player to target in lineup leagues, his big-play ability makes him an intriguing dart-throw in best ball formats.

In what was his first competitive work against another team since taking over as the starting quarterback of the Miami Dolphins, Malik Willis showcased some of the highs and lows that fantasy managers will likely need to endure for the 2026 season. In a joint practice with the Commanders on Wednesday, Willis found success, as he has through much of camp, when targeting rookie Caleb Douglas, who was recently named a starter and praised before practice by head coach Jeff Hafley. Willis also threw an interception to Mike Sanristil that was returned for a touchdown. Those types of ups and downs are to be expected from a first-time starter on one of the more talent-depleted offenses in the league, but an area highlighted by team writer Travis Wingfield, and the reason Willis is worthy of a late-round selection in single-quarterback drafts, is his rushing upside. Wingfield notes that Willis broke contain several times and scrambled for what would have been lengthy gains in a real game scenario. Willis provides one of the highest rushing floors in the league, and if he can simply keep things on track offensively while avoiding costly mistakes, he has a chance to far surpass his current ADP of QB21.

Following a disappointing sophomore campaign in 2025, Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. could find renewed success as a field-stretcher in 2026. After experimenting with more of an in-traffic role last season, the team wants to make better use of his speed, which NFL reporter Cameron Wolfe described as his superpower. Thomas is expected to be featured in a similar X-role to the one that netted Brandin Cooks 80 receptions and 1,204 yards while working in this offense with the Rams in 2018, and Wolfe has been told that "it's night and day how he's looked in training camp this year compared to last year." Thomas is RotoBaller's WR34, and while his spike weeks will likely prove capable of single-handedly deciding a handful of fantasy matchups, in a crowded Jaguars receiver room, weekly consistency could still be hard to come by.

Veteran wide receiver Stefon Diggs signed with the Washington Commanders less than a week ago, but already he's making his presence felt as a vital piece of the offense being built around exciting young quarterback Jayden Daniels. During Wednesday's joint practice with the Dolphins, Diggs tormented Miami's defensive backs throughout the day, according to CBS Sports' Zachary Pereles, first looking uncoverable in his one-on-one work and then making plays throughout team sessions with savvy route-running and an innate feel for finding the soft spots against zone coverage. In a rotational role with the Patriots in 2025, Diggs reached 1,013 yards on an impressive 2.42 yards per route run, and after practice Daniels spoke of what he's already brought to the offense. "It's awesome, just his feel for space... He's a dawg. He goes out and makes plays. He brings energy, he's a leader, so I'm super happy to have Stefon in that room, not just for the offense but for the whole team in general." Following a long offseason without a team, Diggs fell to the late rounds of 2026 drafts, and with the market slow to adjust, the four-time Pro Bowler could prove to be one of the year's best values at his current ADP of WR48.

Los Angeles Chargers tight end Charlie Kolar was one of the first players the team added in free agency, and while his biggest strength has always come as a blocker, he has a chance to thrive in a Mike McDaniel offense projected to see a lot of multiple-tight-end sets. NFL Daily Podcast's Gregg Rosenthal visited Chargers camp on Wednesday and made note of Kolar's heavy usage, adding that the team's unique personnel allows McDaniel to run just about anything he can think of. Kolar was listed as a co-starter on the team's first unofficial depth chart, along with David Njoku and Oronde Gadsden, and it should come as no surprise if all three regularly find the field at the same time and contribute in the passing game, creating a fantasy floor for all, but a much murkier upside case. Kolar is not a player who needs to be drafted in 2026 lineup leagues, but could at least warrant a late-round dart throw in deeper best ball formats.

Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride's 126 receptions in 2025 were a single-season positional record, while his 252.9 half-PPR fantasy points were almost 90 more than the next closest tight end, but new head coach Mike LaFleur indicated on Wednesday a belief that the first-team All-Pro still has room for growth. "Here was your route tree since you've been here... What can we expand off it?" he recounted to the media. "I think he can have maybe a deeper intermediate route tree." Among 53 tight ends with at least 25 targets in 2025, McBride's 9.8 yards per reception ranked 34th, and while his underneath work allowed him to dominate in PPR leagues, the addition of more explosive plays could raise his ceiling even higher in 2026. The two-time Pro Bowler is RotoBaller's TE2 and a player who rarely escapes the second round of drafts.