Here are four situations to monitor as teams prepare for start of the season.
If you overreacted to Week 1 of the NFL preseason, you’re not alone.
People are excited that football is back, even more so if a few snaps from a preseason game confirmed their preconceived notions about a specific player. The results of these August games should still be taken with a healthy handful of salt.
Pecking order, snap counts and usage in these games should be used to inform our decisions—it shouldn’t dictate them. My colleague Matt De Lima sifted through the noise with a few takeaways from Week 1.
I’m here to refocus our attention on Week 2, where new storylines are quickly emerging, injuries are unfortunately popping up and joint practices are getting rather chippy. Here are four units, situations and player groupings I’m watching this weekend.
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Seahawks offense
Seattle is home to one of the few true quarterback competitions around the league. Drew Lock, who was slated to start Thursday night against the Bears, had an opportunity to gain on Geno Smith this week, but a positive COVID-19 test will keep him out of the game.
Smith started the Seahawks’ first preseason game and put up a nearly identical stat line to Lock: Smith was 10 of 15 for 101 yards, Lock went 11 of 15 for 102 yards. Lock, who came over in the Russell Wilson trade, tossed two touchdowns while Smith ran one in. Now, Smith will get another run with the first team after coach Pete Carroll reaffirmed the veteran is winning the competition.
Second-round rookie Kenneth Walker III will not be lining up in the backfield with Smith against Chicago as he’s out with what Carroll called “a little hernia thing.” He’s having a procedure and the team hopes he’s back for the start of the regular season.
Meanwhile, Rashaad Penny is back at practice after missing the preseason opener with a groin issue. Stock in both Penny and Smith, whatever it’s worth, is up this week. Keep an eye on how Smith plays Thursday night, though he’ll likely be without any of his top targets.
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Jets skill position players
New York fans definitely don’t love hearing how much better the offense was for fantasy purposes when anyone not named Zach Wilson was under center last season. But… that’s the truth, and that will be the case for at least the rest of the preseason, if not longer, after the Jets’ 2021 first-round quarterback underwent surgery on his knee following a meniscus tear and bone bruise he suffered last week.
So in comes Joe Flacco, who is verifiably not elite at this point of his career. Flacco did not play in Week 1—Mike White and Chris Streveler did. I’m curious to see how the crop of intriguing Jets skill position players looks without Wilson. La’Mical Perine led the backfield in the opener and saw more work than second-round rookie Breece Hall or second-year player Michal Carter.
The rest of the starters all played in some capacity: rookie Garrett Wilson caught two balls, Elijah Moore snagged a pass and Corey Davis and C.J. Uzomah each saw a target. This offense isn’t necessarily better without Zach Wilson, but it has already proven to be at least intriguing for fantasy purposes and now it has two rookies with significant draft capital coming in to work with the veteran signal caller until Wilson is back behind center.
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Commanders running back room
Antonio Gibson coughed up the ball in Week 1 while rookie Brian Robinson Jr. shined. There might be a situation brewing in Washington.
Offensive coordinator Scott Turner responded to a question about Gibson’s fumble Wednesday by saying, in part: “We can’t waste possessions, and obviously, if you fumble the ball, that’s a waste of a possession. That’s a ball carrier’s first job, to protect the ball. We can’t have that.”
Oof. Remember, Gibson had the most fumbles of any running back last season and the Commanders retained pass-catching specialist J.D. McKissic and spent a third-round pick on Robinson in April’s draft. Gibson rushed for 1,000 yards last season, but his starting job clearly isn’t rock solid. He worked with special teams in practice this week, which quickly became a joke on Twitter.
Coach Ron Rivera could just be trying to motivate his running back or this could be a sign of a role change. I’ll be following Gibson and Robinson’s work distribution this week against the Chiefs.
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Packers rookie wideouts
Will the real rookie WR1 in Green Bay please stand up? Fourth-round pick Romeo Doubs is certainly standing out in camp, and he put together a solid line in the preseason opener, catching passes from Jordan Love. Second-rounder Christian Watson returned to practice this week after being activated from the PUP list.
That Watson is back practicing is certainly a good sign for a potential Week 1 debut after he underwent knee surgery earlier this offseason. Doubs has been one of the training camp standouts so far with a huge hole to fill in Green Bay.
Aaron Rodgers has never been a particularly big fan of throwing to rookie receivers, but he may not have a choice this season with Davante Adams out of the picture. Amari Rodgers, a 2021 third-round pick, is also worth monitoring in the preseason as the fantasy football community collectively projects where Adams’ numerous vacated targets will be funneled.
After an offseason of posturing about Watson and now Doubs, the Packers’ starting receivers could simply end up being Allen Lazard, Sammy Watkins and Randall Cobb. Another strong preseason showing by Doubs can’t hurt his standing, though.
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