Team news: Atlanta Falcons | Page 5

The Falcons are signing former Commanders QB Taylor Heinicke. With plenty of starting experience, Atlanta adds a veteran to their QB room.

Related Players: Desmond Ridder

For the Falcons and Taylor Heinicke, it’s a two-year deal worth up to $20 million. Atlanta has said Desmond Ridder is the starter, and that's top-end backup money.

Commanders’ QB Carson Wentz will start Sunday vs. Cleveland.

Related players: Taylor Heinicke

Heinicke, who started hot after taking over for the injured Wentz, has turned the ball over eight times over the team's last six games - including three picks and five fumbles. Meanwhile, Wentz broke his right ring finger in October and has been the backup the last few weeks after getting cleared. The Commanders are 7-7-1, clinging to the NFC’s seventh and final playoff spot, and now need Wentz to come through, Schefter went on to say. Wentz at least has some superflex value going forward.

After a pair of late turnovers in Sunday’s loss to the 49ers, Commanders head coach Ron Rivera benched quarterback Taylor Heinicke in favor of Carson Wentz.

The No. 2 overall pick of the 2016 draft had a solid showing in his limited work, completing 12-of-16 passes for 123 yards with a touchdown.

Rivera said he wanted to talk to everyone involved before he makes a decision. He wants to make sure he has all ideas, thoughts and concepts and he wants to make sure the players have a voice.

The Commanders have benched Taylor Heinicke in favor of Carson Wentz.

Trailing 30-14 and having taken two sacks, the Commanders are hoping for a spark with a quarterback switch. Heinicke went 13/18 for 166 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

The Falcons placed Caleb Huntley on injured reserve, the team announced Tuesday. It was an expected move after the running back injured an Achilles’ tendon early in Sunday’s game against the Saints.

Related players: Cordarrelle Patterson, Tyler Allgeier, Avery Williams

The team didn’t add another running back in a corresponding move, and instead will roll with Patterson, Allgeier and Williams. Allgeier is coming off a huge game where he ran 17 times for 139 yards and a score. Patterson will likely remain involved as well and finished last week with a 14-52-1 line.

Falcons’ RB Caleb Huntley suffered a season-ending Achilles injury on Sunday that is expected to require surgery.

Related Players: Tyler Allgeier, Cordarrelle Patterson

The injury happened early in the game, so we have a good idea of how the team will handle the workload without Huntley, whose usage has fallen off since his 16-carry Week 8 performance; after basically going neck-and-neck with Cordarrelle Patterson after the last month or so, Tyler Allgeier far out-touched him in Week 15, turning his 18 touches into 136 yards from scrimmage.
Allgeier has been a pleasant surprise this year and now has three different 40+ yard runs on the year, and could continue a heightened workload with Caleb Huntley being sidelined the rest of the year.

Cardinals placed WR Rondale Moore and QB Kyler Murray on IR; their seasons are over.

Related players: DeAndre Hopkins, Marquise Brown, A.J. Green, Robbie Anderson, Greg Dortch

Moore, who was dealing with a groin injury, played in seven full games and in all but two had six or more catches. Twice he went for more than 90 yards receiving but had just one touchdown in that span. He'll remain behind Hopkins and Brown heading into the 2023 season with a big question at QB and whether or not Murray will be ready.

Update from the 49ers: Deebo Samuel has a MCL sprain and an ankle sprain and he's expected to return at some point during the regular season.

Related Players: Jordan Mason, Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle, Jauan Jennings, Ray-Ray McCloud

This is a bummer for the team and fantasy purposes, as this impacts the playoff implications for both facets. If you don't have an IR spot, it may be a waste of a spot for Deebo if he isn't going to return before Week 17.

Taylor Heinicke couldn’t lead the Commanders to a win over the Giants last Sunday and the offense hasn’t scored more than 20 points in any of their last three games, but they had won five of six before that 20-20 tie and they remain in good shape in the fight for a playoff spot in the NFC. That’s enough for Rivera to stick with Heinicke once Carson Wentz is back on the active roster.

“I feel comfortable with Taylor,” Rivera said, via Peter Hailey of NBCSportsWashington.com. “When Carson’s activated, he’ll be the primary backup and we’ll go from there.”

The Commanders have a bye in Week 14 and that gives the team a chance to take some stock of where things stand in various areas but head coach Ron Rivera said that he likes what he sees at quarterback right now. Heinicke has thrown five interceptions in seven starts, but Wentz was even less protective of the ball and wide receiver Terry McLaurin‘s production has spiked with Heinicke at quarterback, the story all said.

Falcons TE Kyle Pitts is OUT FOR THE YEAR, according to Arthur Smith.

Related players: Anthony Firkser, Parker Hesse

The good news is there is no concern about Pitts' long term future. He'll be remembered for being one of the bigger fantasy busts this year at a position that remains very thin at the top of the heap. Pitts should bounce back next season but will likely lose some value for those in dynasty leagues, and he'll likely slip in ADP heading into 2023.