Alright, everybody just keep calm. Don’t freak out. There’s no need to panic. But Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson is dealing with a foot injury. He’s still going to be a top QB target for fantasy football this season.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh told reporters on Thursday that Jackson wouldn’t be practicing but we can all rest easy, because his X-rays came back negative and there’s “no damage or anything.” So we’ve avoided a potentially big crisis right before the stretch run of fantasy football draft season. Harbaugh called the update a “big relief” and that the team’s “prayers were answered.” Prospective fantasy managers who drafted Jackson and Ravens offensive skill position players can also appreciate.
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Let’s get into the top news from this week coming out of training camp as we approach the final week of NFL preseason games on the dawn of the 2025 regular season.
Commanders deal Brian Robinson Jr. to 49ers
Washington was able to find a trade partner for Robinson, striking a deal with San Francisco for a sixth-round pick in 2026. The deal is pending a physical. The Commanders will now go into the season with Austin Ekeler, Chris Rodriguez and rookie already-fan-favorite Jacory “Bill” Croskey-Merritt as the top three backs on the depth chart.
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With Robinson sitting out of Week 2 of the preseason and Ekeler also not seeing any action, Rodriguez and JCM led the backfield. The duo combined for 17 carries and 108 yards, with a TD from Croskey-Merritt. Rodriguez ripped off a long 40-yard scamper to set up a Jayden Daniels TD.
Croskey-Merritt’s ADP has skyrocketed up to 120.3 over the past seven days. That should only rise depending on how Week 3 of the preseason goes and what the coaches are saying going into Week 1. Croskey-Merritt moved into the top 100 of Justin Boone’s top 300 rankings after the trade, and is his RB35.
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We did see head coach Dan Quinn mention Rodriguez at a presser as a possible goal-line option, which could give him some value. He is going undrafted at this point on Yahoo and Ekeler is still going behind Bill in drafts. JCM may be the best playmaker of the trio but he’s also the least experienced. Ekeler isn’t a bad late-round pick while Rodriguez would definitely be a name you should flag on waivers.
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As for Robinson on the Niners, he becomes a valuable backup to Christian McCaffrey. If you’re looking to draft CMC in the first round or early second, you can consider Robinson later on as an insurance policy given McCaffrey’s injury history. Robinson could also carve out a nice role as the change-of-pace back if Kyle Shanahan wants to keep McCaffrey fresh all season. Meanwhile, Isaac Guerendo’s fantasy value took a bit hit in the aftermath of the trade. He’s all the way down at RB64 on Boone’s rankings.
Chris Godwin off PUP List
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers activated WR Chris Godwin off the PUP List on Thursday as he continues to recover from multiple ankle procedures. Godwin is still expected to be out until October, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. This isn’t all that surprising news but it at least gives us more of a concrete timeline for Godwin’s return.
This is important when approaching Bucs’ pass catchers in your fantasy draft. Rookie WR Emeka Egbuka has been quite possibly the most hyped player of training camp and preseason. Many are pegging him the heir apparent to Tampa Bay’s passing attack at WR with veteran Mike Evans turning 32 on Thursday. Evans hasn’t had a season below 1,000 receiving yards in his 11-year career in the NFL. But if Egbuka can get a leg-up on the starting WR job with Godwin sidelined for the first month, there’s a chance he could eclipse Godwin upon return and take over the No. 1 wideout job from Evans.
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Is that going to happen? We’ll have to wait and see. But even at a 96.1 ADP over the past week, there’s a ton of value in drafting Egbuka as a mid-round value with a ton of upside. Godwin is also an interesting target late in drafts. You should be able to draft Godwin, stash him on IR and pick somebody up to replace his roster spot; something to consider in shallow leagues.
Starting QB battles that have been decided
Indianapolis Colts
We had a handful of starting QB battles going into training camp and the dust has settled there, revealing some not-so-surprising results. We’ll start with the biggest one in the Indianapolis Colts QB room. Daniel Jones beat out Anthony Richardson Sr. for the starting job in Indy out of camp. Richardson is still young and could easily end up starting games at some point this season. For now, this is a decent boost to Colts’ pass catchers like Josh Downs, Michael Pittman Jr. and rookie TE Tyler Warren. Even RB Jonathan Taylor should get more dump-offs. If/when Richardson gets into action, we would see a downgrade to the passing game unless the 23-year-old can improve.
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Cleveland Browns
We had another veteran win out in Cleveland with Joe Flacco being named starter over Kenny Pickett and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. Really, it looked like it was going to be between Flacco and Sanders, but some injuries to the Colorado product set him back a bit during camp/preseason. Sanders is going to play in the preseason finale, another opportunity to show he’s ready to step up should Flacco falter or go down. No one in the fantasy industry is really talking much about anyone on the Browns offense right now. Jerry Jeudy and David Njoku should soak up the bulk of the targets along with Cedric Tillman, while the backfield could be a three-headed monster of sorts with Jerome Ford and rookies Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson. We’d feel better about the pass catchers and offense overall if a more dynamic player in Sanders were starting.
New Orleans Saints?
The Saints are the last team on this list and while they haven’t announced the official starter, it appears Spencer Rattler has won the job. He’s set to start the preseason finale, which is usually an indicator of being the QB1. So as long as Rattler doesn’t lay an egg while rookie Tyler Shough shines, we’ll have the South Carolina product under center to start 2025. It’s tough to trust this offense, though we should note Kellen Moore’s ability as a play-caller. Alvin Kamara feels like a safe enough RB2 at his current ADP of 43.9 on Yahoo. Chris Olave, if he can stay healthy, should absorb a ton of targets, making him a decent option. Rashid Shaheed is getting sleeper hype again but we need to see if Rattler (or Shough) can get him the ball down the field effectively. Don’t go out of your way to draft anyone but Kamara here.
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Stafford Watch 2025: Rams QB back at practice
The injury that has been under a microscope all training camp has been Matthew Stafford’s back for the Rams. The veteran QB returned to practice on Monday and has been out there all week. It appears he’s good to go for 2025 and will start the season healthy enough to play. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t proceed with caution here.
One sack or big hit to the blind side on Stafford and that back might flare up. It might flare up simply from him playing the position week-to-week at this age. We don’t know for sure. So there’s still risk in using high-end draft capital on players like Puka Nacua (13.3 ADP) and Davante Adams (41.6). RB Kyren Williams shouldn’t be impacted much by who is under center simply because of touch volume.
Adams feels like the safer pick at ADP. With Nacua, you always have to worry about injuries, and without Stafford, this passing attack could look pretty bad with Jimmy Garoppolo out there. It also might be okay given how great a coach and offensive mind Sean McVay is.