Fantasy News

Christian McCaffrey says he’s “way stronger” than he was last year.

The third-year running back told ESPN’s David Newton that he had no choice but to get “bigger, faster, stronger.” A couple of weeks ago, a picture of McCaffrey went viral because it appeared to show the former Stanford star’s biceps have gotten noticeably bigger this offseason—and it didn’t happen by accident. McCaffrey and his personal trainer Brian Kula laid out his workout to ESPN, and it includes football-specific training meant for McCaffrey to get more ground-force application, which is leading to him running faster and jumping higher. McCaffrey says that he “would definitely like the ball as much as possible,” adding that’s why he trains and takes care of his body the way he does. He says he’ll be ready for “25 carries and eight catches a game” if that’s what the Panthers want for him, just as he’d be ready for less touches but to play the whole game and pass protect a lot. There was talk about Carolina scaling back McCaffrey’s workload to keep him fresh throughout the season, but it doesn’t look like that needs to (or will) happen. Expect McCaffrey to be up at around 90% of the Panthers’ offensive snaps again in 2019 after his 91% by far led the NFL for running backs last season. McCaffrey is proving those that doubted him as a top-ten pick and thought he was just a scat back totally wrong, which is great to see.

Via: ESPN 5/13/19 - 08:31 AM ET

The Steelers are signing Johnny Holton, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.

The Eagles waived Holton last week, so he’ll move to the other side of Pennsylvania to join Pittsburgh. Holton will look to use his speed to carve out a role—special teams included—to make the Steelers roster in 2019. He’s not on the fantasy radar yet, though.

Via: Mike Garafolo 5/13/19 - 08:27 AM ET

The Eagles are signing Cody Kessler, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Philadelphia has Nate Sudfeld, rookie Clayton Thorson, and now Kessler behind starter Carson Wentz, and it figures to be an open competition for the backup quarterback job this season. The Eagles have been a good franchise for quarterbacks to develop, so this is a nice landing spot for Kessler.

Via: Ian Rapoport 5/12/19 - 12:46 PM ET

The Dolphins signed Mark Walton.

Walton has had a troubled offseason with multiple arrests, so he’s pretty lucky to land in a spot where he went to college at the University of Miami. Walton will look to stay out of trouble and make the Dolphins roster, but he’s not really on the fantasy radar yet.

5/12/19 - 12:40 PM ET

The Saints plan to use Jared Cook similarly to how they used Jimmy Graham.

According to The Times-Picayune, Saints tight ends coach Dan Campbell talked about the length of the team’s new tight end, making it clear that the offense is excited to utilize him. Campbell said: “The base is already here, the foundation for that is already here because they had a guy like (Graham). Look, we’ve already got what we need, we can brush off some of the stuff we’ve done before without any problem.” In his first five NFL seasons in New Orleans, Graham put up lines of 31/356/5 (rookie season), 99/1,310/11, 85/982/9, 86/1,215/16, and 85/889/10; if Cook can even come close to matching those last four totals, he’ll be an excellent fantasy TE1 in 2019. But the veteran tight end is coming off his best statistical season last year with the Raiders, catching 68 passes for 896 yards and six touchdowns, so it might be a stretch to expect a lot higher production than that. Overall, don’t expect 1,200+ yards for Cook, but he’s in a great situation and could certainly push for 1,000 yards receiving and double-digit touchdowns this season.

Via: The Times-Picayune 5/12/19 - 09:52 AM ET

The Falcons waived/injured Jeremy Langford.

Langford played one game for Atlanta last season, his first action since 2016. It’s unclear what injury Langford is dealing with, but he’ll revert to injured reserve for the Falcons if no other team claims him.

5/11/19 - 04:16 PM ET

The Patriots have officially signed Benjamin Watson.

This was reportedly going to happen, and now it’s officially been announced by the team. The veteran tight end’s retirement is over without getting started, as he’s back with the team that drafted him in the first round of the 2004 draft. Perhaps after starting his career with a Super Bowl victory while he was on injured reserve in his rookie season, Watson will look to go out with another ring while being on the field for the Big Game this time around. Watson will team with Austin Seferian-Jenkins at tight end for New England as the Patriots look to overcome the loss of Rob Gronkowski. Watson’s fantasy ceiling is probably low-end TE1 value this season.

5/10/19 - 05:08 PM ET