News

1. 5h ago
   Coach Mike LaFleur said Monday that Love is dealing with an ankle issue that's not related to the high-ankle sprain he tended to in August, Dani Sureck of the Cardinals' official site reports.

   Love came out of preseason Week 1 with the previous ankle issue and missed the rest of exhibition season. Through four games to begin his career, the third overall pick in this year's draft has had an oscillating workload from week-to-week, with his 66 touches going for 259 yards from scrimmage and two total TDs. Love did cede the Cardinals' last four offensive snaps of Sunday's loss at the Giants to fellow RB Tyler Allgeier, which came after the former limped off the field after one of QB Jacoby Brissett's three interceptions, according to Darren Urban of the team's official site. Wednesday's practice report should provide a sense of where Love stands with the current health concern.

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2. 22h ago
   Week 4 winners and losers: Tetairoa McMillan, CeeDee Lamb dominate; Jaxon Smith-Njigba struggles

   Week 4 of the 2026 fantasy football season featured massive games by Tetairoa McMillan, CeeDee Lamb and Kyren Williams. On the flip side, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, D'Andre Swift and Trevor Lawrence had disappointing outings. Who were the big winners and losers around the league during the fourth week of the fantasy football season? Matt Bowen and Tristan H. Cockcroft offer their analysis. Jump to a topic: Ranking winners | Ranking losers  Biggest injuries and what's next Ranking fantasy winners of Week 4 1. Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Carolina Panthers With Jalen Coker out (quad), McMillian saw heavy volume in a very positive matchup versus the Lions' defense. McMillian produced a career-best 45.2 points, catching 14 of 16 targets for 192 yards and two touchdowns. Big-time numbers. The Panthers have a bye before returning in Week 6 to play the Eagles. If Coker is back in the mix, managers can play McMillian as a high-end WR2. — Bowen 2. CeeDee Lamb, WR, Dallas Cowboys What a day by the star wide receiver and — in fact — a career-best performance in terms of targets (21), catches (17) and fantasy points (41.3). The Texans' defense, which relies on zone coverage more than any team in the league, had no answers for Lamb's elite ability as he managed 14 catches for 161 yards in zone coverage and had the game-winning, 14-yard touchdown with 43 seconds remaining. He should continue to serve as a locked-in fantasy WR1 against the Buccaneers next week. — Cockcroft 3. Kyren Williams, RB, Los Angeles Rams Williams scored a season-high 36.7 points in Sunday's win over the Rams, rushing for 80 yards and two scores on 16 carries, plus he had 10 receptions for 67 yards. Sure, game flow contributed to Williams' usage as a receiver, but he has scored at least 21 points in two straight games. With a positive matchup versus the Bills up next, Williams should be played as an RB1. — Bowen 4. Javonte Williams, RB, Dallas Cowboys Williams dropped a season-high 31.3 points on the Texans' defense in Week 4, rushing for three touchdowns (on goal-to-goal carries), while producing 83 total yards on 24 touches. Williams has at least 18 points, and a rushing score, in three of four games this season. With his steady low red zone usage (11 goal-to-go carries on the season) in a high-scoring Dallas offense, Williams fit as a lower-tier RB1 for the Week 5 game versus Tampa Bay. — Bowen 5. Kenneth Walker III, RB, Kansas City Chiefs Walker continues to post elite RB1 numbers in Andy Reid's offense. Walker scored 30.9 points in Sunday's win over the Chiefs, rushing for 177 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries, while adding one reception for two yards. Walker is now scoring 27.5 PPG, and he has at least one touchdown in every game played. Walker should be viewed as a top-three running back when the Chiefs return from the bye in Week 6 against the Chargers. — Bowen 6. Nico Collins, WR, Houston Texans Collins, who missed the past two games because of a hamstring injury, scored a season-high 30.8 points in the loss to Dallas, catching seven of a team-high eight targets for 110 yards and two touchdowns. The difference-maker for the Texans' pass game, Collins caught both of his touchdowns on end zone throws from quarterback C.J. Stroud. Collins is a WR1 for the Week 5 matchup at Tennessee. — Bowen 7. Zay Flowers, WR, Baltimore Ravens Flowers scored a season-high 25.8 points in the Week 4 win over the Titans, catching eight of 10 targets for 118 yards and a score. However, where do we see Flowers in the Week 5 matchup versus the Falcons if Lamar Jackson (ankle) can't play? If Tyler Huntley starts, look for more play-action throws, which will create schemed targets for Flowers. He'll stay in the WR2 range. — Bowen 8. Kyle Monangai, RB, Chicago Bears The Bears' rushing standout of Week 4, Monangai handled seven goal-to-go carries and converted two for touchdowns, and effectively took over the backfield during the second half on his way to a career-best 28.0 fantasy poin

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3. Oct 4
   Love carried the ball 14 times for 63 yards and caught his only target for minus-8 yards in Sunday's 36-24 loss to the Giants.

   Tyler Allgeier scored the Cardinals' only TD on the ground on a 22-yard dash in the first quarter, and Love's final numbers were hurt by the big loss on his only reception. The rookie RB wasn't able to build on a big Week 3 performance against the Niners, and through his first four NFL games, Love has managed just 259 scrimmage yards and two scores — one rushing and one receiving. He'll look to bounce back at home in Week 5 against the Lions.

   RotoWire via ESPN
4. Oct 2
   Fantasy football buzz: How will absence of DeVonta Smith affect other Eagles?

   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. 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 Herbert and Drake Maye. Rodgers has a plus matchup next week against the Colts. Do you have the nerve to put him into your starting lineup? Something to think about. Of course, most people have to wait until Tuesday to put in a waiver claim. And so many things can happen between now and then. But for the moment, Rodgers is looking like a borderline QB1 in fantasy circles, which is not something that I would have thought about six weeks ago. Heck, even two weeks ago.  While we're reassessing our preseason preconceptions … my edito

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5. 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

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