Fantasy Sports

“It was like a walk in the park, it was like a sprained ankle,” Dobbins said of his recovery from a torn Achilles. “It was very easy, because I had the knee [injury] — the knee was pretty hard. The Achilles was, I would say, easy, just because that’s my mentality. It was pretty easy to me. I’ve had these injuries.” Excuse us for the skepticism. Dobbins, 25, will be nearly a year removed from his Achilles tear when the regular season starts, but running backs often take longer than a calendar year to get back to prior form after such a serious injury. Dobbins will compete for lead back duties with former Ravens teammate Gus Edwards and sixth round pick Kimani Vidal. There’s a chance Dobbins — who signed a one-year deal with LA this offseason — doesn’t make the final roster.

Video of McDaniel and Grier confirm that McDaniel had advocated for Washington for several rounds before Miami took the wideout with the 184th overall pick. Washington was wildly productive at Virginia, going for 111/1,384/9 in his first and only season there. He eclipsed 100 receiving yards in an astounding ten of his 12 games in 2023. A shifty YAC maven, Washington should slot in nicely as Miami’s WR3. Commanding targets will be difficult in a passing attack dominated by Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, however.

Jerry Jones’ favorite player reunites with the Cowboys after playing for the Patriots in 2023, functioning as New England’s lead back for the final month of the regular season. While Elliott’s yards per carry hit a career low (3.5) in 2023, his yards after contact per rush (2.54) remained respectable and in line with his career mark of 2.85. He’ll enter his ninth NFL season with a chance to lead the Dallas backfield, unless Rico Dowdle impresses coaches this summer after outplaying Tony Pollard last season. Elliott’s primary usage could come in the passing game.

The Vikings front office, in other words, did everything it could to move up and land Drake Maye. Instead, the stayed at pick 11 and took J.J. McCarthy. Minnesota’s aggressive offer undercuts the team’s insistence that McCarthy — who draft stock spiked in April — was their guy all along. “There were different points throughout the process where there were [offers],” said Elliott Wolf, New England’s director of scouting who has operated as the team’s de facto GM. “All along, we knew we were in a unique opportunity to get a quarterback that we liked.” The Patriots felt comfortable taking the somewhat unpolished Maye after offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt met with Maye and discussed the “outside zone scheme” he plans to run in New England. Maye’s questionable footwork, according to Fowler’s report, did not concern the Patriots.

The Jaguars, after signing Gabe Davis this offseason and drafting LSU WR Brian Thomas, part ways with Jones after two seasons. Jones was a central part of the team’s passing offense over those two years, catching 116 passes for 1,144 yards and seven touchdowns. Look for Jones — who had domestic battery charges against him dropped in March — to land with another wideout-needy team in the coming weeks. The Lions, for one, profile as a good fit.

Jacksonville draft K Cam Little out of Arkansas with the 212th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft. With Slye’s release, it looks like Little will compete with veteran Riley Patterson for kicking duties. Little converted nearly 83 percent of his field goals at Arkansas and never missed an extra point. Little was first-team All-SEC as a kickoff specialist. Slye, who made 85 percent of his kicks during three years with the Commanders, will likely find work elsewhere this summer.

There was plenty of pre-draft chatter that the hulking Wilson (6'6/231) could fit better as a tight end in the NFL. Roseman told reporters on Monday that Wilson “can run the full route tree” and that wideouts are usually moved to tight end when they lack “lower body flexibility to get in and out of breaks.” “We don’t see that with Johnny,” Roseman said. Wilson, whose best collegiate season (2022) ended with 897 receiving yards, could fit in as a distant WR3 option behind A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith in 2024. His targets will be limited in the balanced Eagles offense.

Gallup made his rounds during the legal tampering period but ultimately went without a contract through the NFL Draft. That is, until the Raiders signed him to a one-year “prove it” deal Monday. Considering the Raiders are thin at the position behind Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers, Gallup could push for starter’s snaps out of 11-personnel to start the season, assuming he can beat out Tre Tucker and Kristian Wilkerson. The one-year contract is worth up to $3 million.

With Kirk Cousins now in town, Pitts is looking at what may be his best season as a pro. After totaling 68-1,026-1 in his rookie season, Pitts has managed just 81 catches for 1,013 yards and five touchdowns over his last two years combined. While the production numbers are low, Pitts has fallen victim to poor target quality from the likes of Marcus Mariota, Desmond Ridder, and Taylor Heinicke over that span. That target quality is expected to improve with Cousins now in town, which could be setting Pitts him for a high-end TE1 campaign in 2024. Now under contract through the 2025 season, Pitts will earn just over $10.8 million in that final year of his deal.

Waddle has gone for 1,000-plus yards in each of his first three seasons with the Dolphins and has been an impressive producer for a guy who has spent two years playing opposite Tyreek Hill. Drafted with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Waddle’s 3,385 career yards rank third behind Ja’Marr Chase (3,717) and Amon-Ra St. Brown (3,602) as far as receivers taken in his class are concerned. He’ll earn $15.591 million on his fifth-year deal and should be in line for a long-term extension in the very near future.