Team news: Detroit Lions | Page 5

The Lions are signing QB Teddy Bridgewater after a recent visit to Detroit. A new backup QB.

Related Players: Jared Goff, Nate Sudfeld, Hendon Hooker

The Lions are signing the 30-year-old quarterback after a July 24th visit and have been in talks with him since March. This solidifies the fact that we are unlikely to see Hendon Hooker in any capacity as he continues to recover from a torn ACL, but it provides a great opportunity for mentorship. Bridgewater has made 31 starts over the past three seasons and offers a great option without much of a dropoff if something were to happen to Goff.

Sam LaPorta has been taking first-team reps since Day 1 and doesn't look out of place at all. He's still got a lot to learn, but all indications are that he's a quick study and his receiving skills are really advanced for a young tight end. He's going to play a big role in this offense starting Week 1.

Related Players: Brock Wright, James Mitchell

You love to see it. For a team that set a tight end TD record despite trading away T.J. Hockenson halfway through the season, fantasy managers are expectedly excited for the rookie's fantasy prospects. Detroit TEs went for 784 yards on 93 targets last year. La Porta is firmly on streaming radars right out of the gate.

After missing camp and the first 11 games of his rookie season, while recovering from an ACL tear in his left knee, the second-year Detroit Lions receiver Jameson Williams will also sit the first six regular season games of 2023 due to suspension for violating the NFL’s gambling policy.
Lions coach Dan Campbell says they’ll “douse him with a ton of game reps” during the upcoming preseason contests against the New York Giants, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Carolina Panthers.

Related Players: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Marvin Jones, Josh Reynolds, Denzel Mims

The article goes on; "Williams returned from a leg injury to participate in his first padded practice of the summer on Monday, struggling at times with drops and during 1-on-1s in the red zone."

With only 37 routes run through six truncated games to begin his career, it's obvious that this is not what Detriot had in mind when selecting him with the 12th-overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. If everything goes to plan during his time away from the team, Williams *should* be able to operate as the team's WR2 by the end of 2023, which will push down the veterans playing opposite St. Brown. Amon-Ra remains a very interesting selection in this year's fantasy drafts, but we'll have to slightly temper expectations in the back-half of the season with the return of Williams and the addition of receiving-game specialist rookie Jahmyr Gibbs.

As for the trade demand, Jim Irsay’s been adamant: It’s not happening. Not now and not before the deadline in October. The team owns every bit of leverage here and has the option of placing the franchise tag on Jonathan Taylor each of the next two offseasons — a last-ditch outcome that would surely not be either side’s preference.

As Chris Ballard said recently, “The market is what the market is.”

Related Players: Zack Moss, Deon Jackson, Evan Hull, Jake Funk

With Taylor sidelined for what feels like an indefinite amount of time as it stands, Zack Moss is also out for 1-2 months with a broken forearm. The relationship between Taylor and the team feels like it's bordering on abject disaster, but if the Colts franchise tag him and he sits out anyways, he will only be hurting his own bank account.

Through no fault of Taylor's, the team doesn't want to pay a running back while not in "win-now" mode, but they also don't want to trade him for assets. JT's first-round capital should be faded in fantasy drafts, even if we get confirmation that he is staying in Indianapolis.

Per head coach Dennis Allen, "Our expectation is that Michael Thomas will be a full participant."

Related Players: Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, Tre'Quan Smith

We've been down this road before, but if Thomas is truly fully healthy and expecting to be a full participant throughout camp, he will really be completely back on the fantasy radar. He is currently ranked as a fringe WR3/4 but makes for an interesting pick with how late (9th/10th round) he is currently going.

We knew it was only a matter of time before he emerged as TE1. The question was whether that would occur during the season or at some point before then. But at this rate, LaPorta looks like TE1. He’s quite obviously the most talented player at the position, and he received plenty of first-team reps Sunday. He might’ve already passed Brock Wright. The only thing holding him back would be the Lions trying to ease him into NFL action. But he looks ready to roll.

It's perfectly natural to be trepidatious about rookie tight ends performing in fantasy right away, but we've been proven wrong more in recent years, with specialized tight ends coming in and taking a much larger workload than they historically do. With no Jameson Williams for much of the year, it's very possible that LaPorta can carve out a role in the offense right away.

As of now, he's a back-end TE2 option, but streaming weeks are certainly in the cards if he's taking a majority of the tight end snaps.

The New York Jets are trading Mims and a 2025 seventh-round pick to the Detroit Lions for a conditional 2025 sixth-round pick, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo reported on Wednesday night. The condition on the pick swap is that Mims makes Detroit's 53-man roster, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported on Thursday.

Related Players: Corey Davis, Randall Cobb, Mecole Hardman, Marvin Jones, Kalif Raymond

The impact in the fantasy world is likely slight, if at all, but Mims can be on Dyntasy radars for those looking to get a cheap former second-rounder. This trade could very well lock Corey Davis into a roster spot which makes him similarly watchable.

The Lions will be patient with Sam LaPorta, but he’s already shown enough physical tools to warrant immediate snaps. If the mental side catches up, he could be the starting tight end in Week 1.

Related Players: Brock Wright, James Mitchell

Rookie tight ends notoriously take a long time to get up to speed, but if LaPorta is starting in Week 1, he finds himself in a great offensive environment. Lions tight ends set the receiving touchdown record last season, despite trading away TE1 T.J. Hockenson.

The Jets think Michael Carter will bounce back and also believe that Israel Abanikanda — whom they drafted in the fifth round out of Pitt — can make an immediate impact. He’s a home-run threat and will be part of the running back rotation right away, pushing to start if Breece Hall is out to begin the season.

Related Players: Zonovan Knight

This is music to analytic nerds everywhere. Abanikanda was a spreadsheet darling but when he went to New York in the fifth round, it took a little bit of the air out of the balloon. But it turns out that Breece Hall could be missing well into the season and Carter was far less effective with the ball in his hand than his rookie counterpart in the 2022 campaign.

Izzy makes for an interesting late-round option on teams desperate for RB help.

Per Zac, Elijah Moore was frequently targeted by Deshaun Watson throughout Wednesday's practice, mostly on quick passes. Their best connection of the day came in a red-zone 7-on-7 period for a touchdown as Moore used a double move and turned to see the ball delivered right where he wanted it. The Browns are clearly stressing three things: fast tempo, an attacking mindset on defense, and feeding wide receiver Moore.

Related Players: Marquise Brown, David Bell, Donovan Peoples-Jones

Jackson would continue later in the article; "We’re seeing Moore line up in different spots and plenty of Moore going in motion. How his exact role shakes out remains to be seen, but from two open practices, it’s clear the Browns want to get him the ball on short passes and let him create."

This is good news for Moore and those of us who wanted to see him get another chance after his interesting talent set was left to die on the vine while catching passes from the Zach Wilsons of the world. If the Browns really do use him in the inside and outside, there is a chance we can see Moore in some 2WR sets this season.