NFL

This always felt like the most likely scenario for Hockenson, whose 2023 came to an end in Week 16. The veteran tight end had a career year last season, catching 95 passes for 960 yards — both career highs, while also hauling in five touchdowns. He suffered a torn ACL and MCL in that Week 16 contest against the Lions, which usually takes six to nine months to fully return from. In some cases, it can take longer. Hockenson will be nine months removed from his injury in late September. He remains a prime candidate to open the year on injured reserve while continuing his recovery, likely leaving Robert Tonyan or Josh Oliver to serve as the team’s starting tight end.

Johnston appeared to be on the outside looking in during the early days of camp, but Fowler’s takeaway while visiting Chargers camp is that Johnston is still very much a part of their plans. We’ll see how that plays out in the coming weeks. According to Fowler, Greg Roman is hoping to manufacture opportunities for Johnston to create after the catch and that “there’s no reason to overreact” to “untimely drops in practices.” Fantasy managers interested in taking shots on Johnston can do so at little to no cost to their fantasy roster. He’s currently going outside of the top 50 receivers on most platforms but could have some low-end upside if the Chargers are able to utilize him in the way they hope.

Speaking with ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Pierce said Meyers has “really, really, really stepped up his game.” In his first year with the Raiders, Meyers totaled 71 receptions for 807 yards and a career-high eight touchdowns while playing 71.8 percent of his snaps out wide — also a career-high. Meyers had played primarily as a slot receiver during his four years in New England but is now making noise as an outside threat opposite Davante Adams. His strong 2023 campaign was fueled by a lot of early-season production, with five of his eight scores coming in the first seven weeks of the season. The Raiders’ offense isn’t expected to be great this season, with Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell both likely to see playing time. Meyers is likely best viewed as a low-end WR3 who could provide the occasional top-24 week. O’Connell took over as the team’s starter in Week 9. Meyers averaged 12.3 fantasy points per game and had four top-24 weeks in nine games.

According to Boyd, Gould “has flashed more as a receiver than as a returner during camp.” The rookie fifth-rounder made a name for himself as a returner during his time at Oregon State, but with Downs sidelined for multiple weeks, there’s now a hole that needs to be filled at the slot position. Gould blazed a 4.39 40-yard dash at the combine this spring and totaled 44-711-2 in his final season of college. He played just 33.5 percent of his college snaps from the slot but had a 90.5 percent slot rate in 2021. We wouldn’t expect Gould to offer much fantasy upside, but this is worth monitoring as the team figures out a temporary replacement for Downs.

It was Gray who stuffed the stat sheet with nine touches for 72 yards, but Tracy dominated snaps with what amounted to “the starters.” Pro Football Focus charted Gray as seeing the field for just two plays on the G-Men’s first four drives. The competition to back up Devin Singletary is not yet settled, but Tracy certainly seems to have the leg up.

Lock evidently would have stayed in Thursday’s preseason opener had it been a regular season contest. Moving on.

Baker was the sixth Pats wideout into the game. It’s not surprising, per se, but Baker in theory had a bit of a shortcut to getting into the game sooner with Kendrick Bourne and Pop Douglas both banged-up. Not that you had re-draft expectations for Baker, anyways, but he is looking like a strict Dynasty option for 2024.

However, the No. 37 overall pick was in on the second drive with fellow rookie Drake Maye. He caught three balls, one of which was a sure-handed grab that got the Twitter GIF mafia fired up. The Pats seem intent on making Polk jump through a few hoops to earn his starting stripes, but that remains well attainable in this talent-deficient offense.

Playing against the Lions’ backups, Lock tossed an absolutely horrific pick and took way too many big hits. Lock’s status has taken on less urgency with Daniel Jones (knee) fully participating in camp, but he is still one of the league’s more important backups for 2024. A multi-week injury would be bad news for this undermanned offense as Lock attempts to build chemistry with pass catchers he could be throwing to later this season.

Alrighty then. Lamb, who has not reported to camp as he awaits his new deal, responded with a one-word quote tweet of “lol.” Either Jones is playing hardball or has lost his fastball, as this would not be a recommended negotiating tactic with a player the Cowboys desperately need for 2024.