Team news: Atlanta Falcons | Page 11

The #Bucs are going with Baker Mayfield as their starting QB, coach Todd Bowles announced.

The former No. 1 overall pick, Mayfield beat out Kyle Trask for the right to succeed Tom Brady and will start the Sept. 10 opener at Minnesota.

Mayfield's stock should rise - a little - with the news he's the starter, but it's tough to see him passing too many QBs at the bottom of our rankings leading up to Week 1. For now, Mayfield is more of a QB3 or bottom end QB2 until we see more. However, he certainly has some quality WRs to throw to in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. All three players will need one another in order to provide fantasy managers with the points they need. Also for now, Godwin and Evans are ranked as lower-end WR3s on our list.

Falcons coach Arthur Smith is still letting rookie running back Bijan Robinson know he’ll have to earn a starting job.

Although Robinson was the No. 8 overall pick and will surely be the No. 1 running back in Atlanta when the regular season starts, he remains the third running back on the depth chart for the Falcons’ third and final preseason game.

Cordarrelle Patterson is listed as the No. 1 running back and Tyler Allgeier is listed as No. 2.

While depth charts in August don't tend to mean a whole lot, the story went on to say Smith prefers to keep rookies behind veterans who have already proven themselves, and both Patterson and Allgeier played well last season. But Robinson was drafted to be the Falcons’ starting running back, and it remains overwhelmingly likely that he will be for the Falcons’ Week 1 game against the Panthers.

The Buccaneers have placed receiver Russell Gage on injured reserve, formally ending his 2023 season.

Gage suffered a ruptured patellar tendon in his right knee last week during a joint practice with the Jets, an injury that will sideline him for the year.

Related players: Deven Thompkins, Trey Palmer

After signing with the Bucs in the 2022 offseason, Gage caught 51 passes for 426 yards with five touchdowns last year in 13 games. Thompkins and Palmer are next up behind Chris Godwin and Mike Evans.

Arthur Smith said Cordarrelle Patterson will be out a couple of weeks, likely the rest of the preseason, and they will reevaluate and have more info on his status in the week before Week 1.

Related Players: Tyler Allgeier

This could end up being a huge boost to Allgeier, as the RB2 in Atlanta's scheme figures to be heavily involved. We will keep an eye on the situation, but a soft tissue injury for Patterson, who is entering his age-32 season could end up lingering longer the team is hoping.

Russell Gage is down and surrounded by trainers, in obvious duress. A cart has been brought out to take him off the field.

Related Players: Trey Palmer, David Moore, Deven Thompkins

Very unfortunate news for Gage, who was likely to get quite a lot of run this season, even after the trade rumors surrounding Chris Godwin and Mike Evans came and went. Trey Palmer and Deven Thompkins are both projected as kick returners, so one of them may get extra snaps as a speedy slot option, depending on the severity of Gage's injury.

Atlanta Falcons rookie running back Bijan Robinson is expected to make his debut Friday against Cincinnati, but even then don't expect a full gamut of what the No. 8 pick in this year's NFL draft can do.

"We're not going to go crazy," Falcons head coach Arthur Smith said. "We just need the reps. We need to get our bread-and-butter concepts in there and he'll see his tracks."

The story went on to say Smith said they'll give Robinson some of the basic stuff so he can feel the speed of facing another opponent in a game and have tackling in order to get him ready for Week 1 against Carolina. Robinson sat out the preseason opener against Miami along with many of the team's key players.

Vikings rookie WR Jordan Addison was cited just after 3 a.m. today for speed and reckless driving in St. Paul. He was driving 140 MPH in a 55, according to the Minnesota State Patrol.

Related Players: K.J. Osborn, Jalen Reagor, Jalen Nailor

This is a *very* tough look for the rookie, particularly with the sort of outcome that happened with a young former NFL player just a couple of years ago. As of now, it looks like maybe no one was hurt but that doesn't rule out league discipline. For fantasy purposes, Osborn has proven to be a reliable target when given the opportunity. We will watch for more news updates.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are poised for an offseason quarterback competition between Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask that could last deep into training camp.

Asked Wednesday about the balance between naming a starter early so he can get extra reps in the offense and allowing the competition to run its course, new offensive coordinator Dave Canales cited his experience last year during the Geno Smith-Drew Lock battle in Seattle.

The Tampa Bay job is sneakily a good one for fantasy purposes, as the team decided not to move on from any of their veteran pass catchers, despite many rumors to the contrary. Superstars Mike Evans and Chris Godwin may be aging, but they're still a fantastic one-two punch, while Cade Otton and Rachaad can pull their weight at their respective positions.
We would assume that Mayfield has the initial leg-up here since the team went out and got the former first round pick, who has 69 starts under his belt. Compare that to Trask, who has nine dropbacks to his name.

The Bucs are finalizing a deal with former No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield. Mayfield finished his fifth NFL season strong after landing with the Rams. Now he gets a chance to take over for Tom Brady in Tampa and is still only 27. It's a one-year, $8.5M deal for Baker.

Related Players: Kyle Trask

Mayfield will be battling it out with 2021 second-round pick Kyle Trask. Trask didn't have a chance to log a start underneath Brady last season. Mayfield should have the leg-up in the competition and it honestly isn't too bad of a landing spot at the time of writing, but there have been rumors swirling of a Mike Evans trade, so he may lose a weapon before he even dons a uniform.