Team news: Houston Texans | Page 5

Without Kupp, Van Jefferson would step into the No. 1 receiver role, while Tutu Atwell and Puka Nacua would become Nos. 2 and 3. Depth receiver Ben Skowronek would likely play more on special teams this season than in the offense. But if Kupp is absent into the season, Skowronek knows each receiving position as well.

This depth chart is something else. Van Jefferson should be a fantasy target regardless of Kupp's health, but finding usable weeks for the other three options listed are sure to be hard to come by. Nacua is fine as a late-round dart, but Atwell has only one game of 60+ yards receiving and one other separate game with more than two receptions since being taken in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

Texans rookie head coach DeMeco Ryans announced that rookie C.J. Stroud will be the team's starting QB to open up the 2023 season following Houston's preseason finale against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

Related players: Davis Mills

Not a big surprise, but Stroud struggled a little early on before making improvement, especially in the preseason games. He threw is first TD in the team's third preseason game. The story said Mills may have been the safer pick, but the rest of the Texans young offense now has a chance to grow with a QB who was the number-two overall pick in the NFL Draft.

Joe Mixon’s aggravated menacing case came back not guilty and the Bengals declared they are “pleased that this matter is now behind everyone.” The path now clears for his role as the starter on early downs with rookie Chase Brown behind him. The story of the third-down job has been dominated by the rise of Chris Evans. He’s shown well in pass protection and improved running the ball downhill over last year’s disappointing preseason to become the frontrunner with Trayveon Williams (ankle) sidelined.

Williams seemed to be the favorite to land the passing down job but his injury has allowed Evans to thrive. The story added that outside of one big run, neither Evans or Brown were able to pick up much ground running the ball in the preseason so far. It seems like Brown will backup Mixon for early down work.

Bills receiver Stefon Diggs usually posts cryptic tweets. There was nothing cryptic about the tweet he posted last night.

“100% not true,” Diggs said. “I don’t know who the source is but I thought i nip this [stuff] in the bud already.”

The story went on to speculate Diggs undoubtedly was responding to a Monday claim from Stephen A. Smith of ESPN from Monday’s First Take: “Brother wants out, by the way. I’m just telling you what I know know. I got my own sources. Brother wants out. He don’t wanna be in Buffalo no more. I’m telling you right now. I have my sources. Stefon Diggs got to be there, but he would prefer to be gone.”

There has been speculation Diggs has wanted out at least since the team's playoff loss to end last season. As the story added, Diggs doesn't have a lot of choice other than to deny the claim.

Texans RB Dameon Pierce played every snap of the first two drives with starters, including all 3rd-downs. A change from last year, when Pierce only played on about 25% of 3rd-downs.

Devin Singletary then came on and played every snap of the third drive with starters.

Related players: Mike Boone, Dare Ogunbowale

It's tough to read into how much this will matter once the season starts. There are many in the fantasy world who are saying to stay away from Pierce, probably more when it comes to his dynasty value. Singletary is likely to have a big role in the offense as well, but if he takes away passing down value - that would obviously hurt Pierce. The good news is there isn't a whole lot to worry about fantasy value-wise behind Pierce and Singletary.

Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said C.J. Stroud will start again vs. the Dolphins —another step toward the No. 2 overall pick being Houston's QB1.

Related Players: Davis Mills

At this point, it would be quite a surprise if Stroud did not begin Week 1 as the Texans starter. Stroud completed two-of-four passes for 13 yards and an interception in preseason Week 1.

Bengals running back Joe Mixon was found not guilty of aggravated menacing and will return to practice. There will very likely be no punishment from the NFL.

Related Players: Trayveon Williams, Chase Brown, Chris Evans

It seems the most likely scenario is that no suspension will be handed down from the NFL. The Cincinnati backfield will be Mixon's for a mostly-workhorse role, with former sixth-round pick Trayveon Williams the mostly likely No. 2.

The Patriots are expected to sign former Cowboys star RB Ezekiel Elliott to a 1-year deal worth up to $6M after his successful FA visit earlier in camp.

Related players: Rhamondre Stevenson, Pierre Strong Jr., J.J. Taylor, Kevin Harris

As Rapoport added, New England loves Stevenson, but they’ve been seeking a running back to bang it between the tackles, while adding Elliott's prowess in pass blocking at the same time. The move seemed to be in the works for a while. Elliott is expected to take on a Damien Harris-type role in the Patriots offense, a role that saw Harris collect about 9-10 carries a game last season in 11 games. He ran for 4.36 YPA and added three TDs. Although older than Harris, Elliott could potentially see a similar workload, and he also has some pass-catching ability as well. Still, Elliott will likely be tough to trust even as a flex, at least early in the season until we see his role.

Rams’ offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur on the status of WR Cooper Kupp, who hurt his hamstring this week: “He’s day-to-day. He'll be back in the right time and stuff like that. So he is just going through the rehab process, but he's day-to-day. He'll be alright.”

Related Players: Ben Skowronek, Van Jefferson, Puka Nacua

Kupp walked off the field earlier this week after he "came up a bit" during a red zone route. This is good news, though it wouldn't be surprising if the team shuts him down until closer to Week 1. If drafters are scared off of Kupp, and you find him past his 1.05/1.06 ADP, feel free to pounce.

Per Rodrigue, it’s a little more complicated than names on a list. Limited to just the No. 3 position written on paper, it might be between third-year receiver Tutu Atwell and rookie Puka Nacua. Nacua had a significant workload in spring OTAs despite his rookie status, and that has not changed. Over the next few weeks without Kupp, he’ll vault into an even larger role alongside the more veteran players.

Related Players: Demarcus Robinson, Ben Skowronek

Rodrigue also mentioned that even if Cooper Kupp were to miss extended time, it's unlikely that any one player would somehow take over his entire workload, which falls in line with what we saw in 2022. Veteran Atwell's path to the WR3 slot is dependent on him being able to "do it all," which is a tall task for a player of his stature.

As it stands, both Atwell and Nacua make for very interesting dart throws in best ball drafts, particularly when you already have Matthew Stafford rostered.