After six long, cold months we finally had a full slate of NFL football back on our screens. Ian Hartitz goes team by team through all 32, covering the usage and key plays from every quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end room, then gives the one fantasy takeaway that actually matters for each.
After six long, cold months we finally had a full slate of NFL football back on our screens. Ian Hartitz goes team by team through all 32, covering the usage and key plays from every quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end room, then gives the one fantasy takeaway that actually matters for each.
It is August, so keep your composure out there. Usage matters more than performance in these glorified scrimmages. The point is working out who each team's starters actually are instead of trusting those silly unofficial depth charts.
Some of what came out of it:
Jeremiyah Love hit his signature hurdle inside his first 30 minutes of football and looked the part as the No. 3 overall pick, but he has a high ankle sprain and is not expected to play again this preseason, which does drop him down the ranks.
MarShawn Lloyd was THE running back in Green Bay with Josh Jacobs and Chris Brooks out, playing all 12 snaps of the first two drives. Tank Bigsby played every snap of Philadelphia's first three drives with Saquon out and, encouragingly, was not taken off the field on pass downs. Washington fed rookie Kaytron Allen 23 carries, which is a wild number for a preseason game.
In Buffalo the real story might not be DJ Moore, whose ankle is a genuine worry, but Khalil Shakir finally getting downfield usage. Cincinnati leaned into under-center play action on 43% of Joe Burrow's dropbacks after doing so on just 8.3% of them last season. Chicago's Luther Burden was moving laterally a week after the groin injury, and Ian is buying the dip.
Plus Anthony Richardson's full first half in Indianapolis, Emmett Johnson and Cyrus Allen in Kansas City, KC Concepcion moving up to WR46, whether Fernando Mendoza should just start Week 1 in Las Vegas, and a whole lot more.
Rankings, tiers and the Draft Assistant are all at RotoWire. Use code IAN35 for 35% off any subscription: https://www.rotowire.com/?ref=owmwyje
Timestamps:
0:00 The plan
0:31 Arizona Cardinals
4:12 Atlanta Falcons
7:35 RotoWire, code IAN35
8:25 Baltimore Ravens
12:04 Buffalo Bills
17:49 Carolina Panthers
20:49 Chicago Bears
22:14 Cincinnati Bengals
25:43 Cleveland Browns
30:30 Dallas Cowboys
32:41 Denver Broncos
36:09 Detroit Lions
37:03 Green Bay Packers
40:13 Houston Texans
41:34 Indianapolis Colts
44:36 Jacksonville Jaguars
45:07 Kansas City Chiefs
49:09 Las Vegas Raiders
53:15 DraftKings
55:12 Los Angeles Chargers
57:18 Los Angeles Rams
59:31 Miami Dolphins
1:03:12 Minnesota Vikings
1:05:56 New England Patriots
1:08:29 New Orleans Saints
1:10:13 New York Giants
1:14:21 New York Jets
1:16:55 Philadelphia Eagles
1:18:26 Pittsburgh Steelers
1:20:01 San Francisco 49ers
1:21:56 Seattle Seahawks
1:23:00 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
1:24:55 Tennessee Titans
1:27:02 Washington Commanders