News

1. Oct 4
   Burden caught four of six targets for 63 yards and added an 11-yard rush in Sunday's 23-12 win over the Jets.

   Burden finished second on the team in receiving yards, trailing Rome Odunze by 31. Both of Chicago's touchdowns came on the ground, but Tyson Bagent looked capable under center and threw for 268 yards. If Caleb Williams (hamstring) doesn't return in Week 5 against the Packers, Burden will likely continue to catch passes from Bagent. Burden has topped 60 yards in three of four games to begin his sophomore season, but he has yet to exceed 63 receiving yards in a game after reaching the 100-yard mark twice during his rookie campaign.

   RotoWire via ESPN
2. Oct 4
   Fantasy football: Leading scorers through Sunday's early games

   Everything that happens in the NFL has additional context when viewed from a fantasy football perspective. From position battles to injuries and so much more, the news cycle will constantly affect player values in fantasy football. Our fantasy football buzz file, with contributions from our ESPN fantasy writers and our NFL Nation reporters, aims to provide fantasy managers with the intel they need as news breaks around the league. Oct. 4: Leading scorers through Sunday's early games CeeDee Lamb, WR, Dallas Cowboys – 41.3 Kyren Williams, RB, Los Angeles Rams – 36.7 Javonte Williams, RB, Dallas Cowboys – 31.3 Nico Collins, WR, Houston Texans – 30.8 Kyle Monangai, RB, Chicago Bears – 28.0 Puka Nacua, WR, Los Angeles Rams – 27.7 Tee Higgins, WR, Cincinnati Bengals – 26.7 Drake Maye, QB, New England Patriots – 26.16 Zay Flowers, WR, Baltimore Ravens – 25.8 Romeo Doubs, WR, New England Patriots – 23.8 Click here for a full list of all the week's scoring leaders. Oct. 2: What to expect from Eagles without DeVonta Smith By Matt Bowen With reports that a hamstring injury will keep Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith out of the lineup this Sunday in the home matchup against the Rams, let's discuss the fantasy implications for Philadelphia. If you're a Smith manager, you can pivot to Dontayvion Wicks or Makai Lemon as streaming options, as both are available in slightly more than 50% of ESPN leagues. You can also check out the last-minute pickups column for a handful of other viable options at wide receiver. Wicks scored 12 or more points in each of his first two games, catching a touchdown in Week 1. He has a big-play element to his game (19.9 YPC), so he will see more vertical opportunities Sunday against a Rams defense that will mix man and zone coverages. He can be played as a WR3/flex with more upside due to the third-level targets (seven targets of 15 or more air yards this season). Lemon has seen only nine targets on the season, catching seven of them for 38 yards. However, the rookie has run 28 routes per game and his role should expand versus L.A. Going back to Lemon's college tape at USC, he can manipulate coverage at the top of the route, plus he accelerates thorough the ball. Those are good traits to have in this league. He should be viewed as a lower-tier WR3 for this matchup. Expect the Eagles to be more run-heavy in this game without Smith, which should put Saquon Barkley at 15-20 carries. Meanwhile, Jalen Hurts — who was already outside of the top 10 QBs in our consensus ranks — will have an even lower ceiling heading into Sunday. Yes, Hurts can provide a boost to the lineup due to his running ability, as he averages 29 yards per game, but he has scored only one rushing touchdown on the season. Oct. 2: You should be paying attention to Aaron Rodgers By Adam Rank At least for one night in Cleveland, Aaron Rodgers turned back the clock. Was it the 299 passing yards? The three touchdowns? Or the fact that I really believed that his desperation heave in the waning seconds of the game was going to find its way into the mitts of a Steelers receiver who would carry it into the end zone for a walk-off touchdown? Sure, all of it. Look, I make no apologies for being the supporter of a team that was on the losing side of "Rodgers magic" way too many times. However, I'm not going to lie when I tell you I was seriously nervous on that final throw. I've seen it too many times. The point is, Rodgers was very impressive for the second consecutive week. Although, the interception at the end, we could have done without. Still, another huge performance which raises the question: What do we do with Rodgers moving forward? Patrick Mahomes and Bryce Young are on a bye next week. (Oh yeah, the bye weeks are getting ready to start!) A number of quarterbacks are missing this week and possibly next. But it goes a little bit beyond that. Like, what if some of the guys we believed in back in August continue to struggle? I'm looking at you, Justin H

   ESPN
3. Oct 2
   What to know before setting your lineup for Week 4: Mariota, Tuten in store for breakout week

   The NFL returns to London this week when the Washington Commanders and Indianapolis Colts square off at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Commanders and Colts are middle of the pack in terms of offensive scoring, but being "mid" is a welcome relief in Tottenham, a club that didn't score their first goals of the English Premier League season until Week 4 against Liverpool. And it didn't score at home until the following week before the international break. As we head into October, Tottenham is also still winless … wait a minute, this is supposed to be a fantasy football column. I will say this about Commanders QB Marcus Mariota, he finds a way to make Terry McLaurin more efficient. McLaurin has notched nine targets in back-to-back weeks, and he has a great matchup against the Colts, who have struggled against the pass this season. And isn't this what Sauce Gardner was supposed to prevent? McLaurin is a great WR2 start this week. On the other side, Josh Downs should have a good opportunity against the Commanders who have given up a league-leading six touchdown receptions to the position this season. I know it's tough to get up early for these games (though U.S. fans of the EPL are veterans at this), but you're going to want to see this show. And if you're a Tottenham supporter, you're going to want to see people actually scoring in your stadium. Let's look at some other notes you need to know heading into Week 4. Quarterback notes What are we doing with our Los Angeles Chargers? Sorry, don't mean "our" like a team we support. But "our" as in players we (mistakenly) drafted. Justin Herbert might still be a start for you because most of the good quarterbacks have already been streamed off waiver. Herbert has yet to top 250 passing yards in a game this season. He has gone four consecutive games with one or no touchdowns dating back to last season. I've made the decision to move on from Herbert and will start Mariota this week, which will probably mean that Herbert will have the week of his life against the Seattle Seahawks in what will be Mike Macdonald's first time facing his former head coach at Michigan. I just can't stand the thought of playing Herbert again. C.J. Stroud was another streaming option, considering the matchup against the Dallas Cowboys who just recently traded for Joey Porter Jr. The Cowboys have given up more than 27 points per game this season (25th). They have allowed a third-down conversion rate of 59%, which is the worst in the NFL. The matchup is there for Stroud, but there is just something about the Houston Texans' offense that doesn't sit right with me. The return of Nico Collins would help, but I'd rather stick with Mariota or Sam Darnold in desperate times. Kyler Murray is a top-10 quarterback this week for me, with or without Justin Jefferson. And you can almost reason that the Minnesota Vikings would be better served to just keep Jefferson on the bench because it's the Miami Dolphins. Still, Murray has a 70.6 Total QBR against AFC teams in his career, the second-highest Total QBR against AFC teams since he entered the league in 2019. I'll give you one guess who is first … and you're right, it's Patrick Mahomes. Running back notes The Dolphins' running back situation makes me sad. Ollie Gordon II was a top waiver-wire add this week, but I don't know how you can get him into your lineup. I'd start him over Isaiah Davis, Blake Corum and Woody Marks, for instance, but that's not exactly what you call a glowing recommendation. It's sort of like trying to pick out the best sushi roll at the gas station. Did the Pittsburgh Steelers expose the Cincinnati Bengals defense last week, or was that a one-week thing? I don't know, I'm kind of worried that the Bengals' defense (that looked great the first two weeks of the season) is regressing. Aaron Rodgers threw for three touchdowns and the Bengals also gave up 138 rushing yards. This feels as if we could have the Bhayshul Tuten breakout game a lot of fantasy ana

   ESPN
4. Sep 29
   Burden secured seven of 11 targets for 61 yards and a touchdown while rushing once for seven yards in the Bears' 27-7 win over the Eagles on Monday night.

   The second-year wideout led the Bears in receptions and targets in the impressive win with totals that also qualified as season highs, while checking in second only to Kalif Raymond in receiving yards. Burden also scored his first touchdown of the season on a nifty shovel pass that he took eight yards to the house while breaking multiple tackles near the goal line to cap off Chicago's opening possession. Burden's ability to click with fill-in signal-caller Case Keenum bodes well for the receiver's fantasy prospects, considering Caleb Williams (hamstring) is still projected to miss several more games. Burden will look to carry over the momentum into a Week 4 home matchup against the Jets on Sunday.

   RotoWire via ESPN
5. Sep 20
   Burden caught three of seven targets for 32 yards in Sunday's 9-3 loss to the Vikings.

   On a wet and windy day at Soldier Field, Burden led all Bears in targets, but that volume didn't result in much production. The second-year wideout has had a slow start to the season, posting an 8-95-0 line on 12 targets through two contests, and his outlook in the short term won't be improved if the hamstring injury that knocked Caleb Williams out of Sunday's contest proves to be serious. Burden could be catching passes from Tyson Bagent instead in a Week 3 home tilt against the Eagles.

   RotoWire via ESPN

Injury reports

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League history

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