Team news | Page 111

Technically, the Saints now have four quarterbacks on the 53-man roster.

As noted by Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.football, the team shifted the designation of Taysom Hill from tight end to quarterback. He had been listed as a tight end for all of camp.

The story went on to say that under that approach, Derek Carr would serve as QB1, Hill would fill the role of QB2, and Jameis Winston or rookie fourth-rounder Jake Haener would be the emergency third quarterback. The third quarterback could play only if both Carr and Hill were both unavailable due to injury or ejection. If that’s what the Saints do, it’s a creative application of the rule. The second quarterback can play at will and line up at other positions like tight end; only the emergency third quarterback is restricted to operating under center, the story said. However, it won't help fantasy owners much if Hill is only listed as a QB.

You’re not going to like my answer, but I’m not sure we do [see Kyle Pitts become a dominating force]. This doesn’t mean I don’t think he’ll be very valuable this year and into the future. It’s just that in this system, I’m not sure he’s going to be “dominating” in any traditional sense.

The story went on to say the thing about Pitts is his best fantasy football value would be to essentially use him like the Falcons used him in 2021, which is to say as a wide receiver. Miami’s Mike Gesicki was the only tight end to play more snaps split wide than Pitts in 2021 (240 to 227), according to TruMedia. However, Atlanta drafted Pitts with the idea that he was a player with No. 1 wide receiver ability who could also play tight end well enough to give the team true positional flexibility. If Pitts can’t — or just isn’t asked to — block then it handcuffs the Falcons’ ability to manipulate the types of defensive personnel they face, the story went on to say. The piece did add Pitts' blocking ability has been praised this offseason.

In the last 10 years, five running backs have been taken in the top 10. Four of the five (Saquon Barkley, Ezekiel Elliott, Leonard Fournette and Todd Gurley) had 229 carries or more in their rookie season. The fifth (Christian McCaffrey) had only 117 carries but added 80 catches. When teams draft backs in the top 10, like Bijan Robinson, they use them a lot.

Related players: Tyler Allgeier, Cordarrelle Patterson

The author went on to say Allgeier will still get plenty of use because the Falcons ran the ball an NFL-high 559 times last year. So even if Robinson carries the ball 250 times, there are still plenty of carries to go around. Patterson’s role is a little bit more of a mystery, the story added. He'll be third on the team in carries, according to the author, but how far back he’s going to be is a question mark. The prediction is Patterson's 144 carries from a year ago could get cut in half this season.

Ravens TE Mark Andrews is expected to return to practice Wednesday.

Related players: Isaiah Likely

As the post went on to say, Andrews has missed six straight practices. HC Jim Harbaugh was quoted in the post as saying, “We’re still on 'don’t push the panic button’'.” If Andrews can't go in Week 1, Likely would be in store for a potentially huge workload, but it looks like Andrews is at least trending in the right direction.

Mike McDaniel says Devone Achane, Brandon Jones, Jaylen Waddle should be out there today. No Terron Armstead just yet but he’s getting ready

A little bit of relief for Waddle owners. Waddle was expected to be ready for Week 1 so this is at least a good sign he's heading in the right direction.

The Dolphins named Mike White as their backup quarterback, coach Mike McDaniel said Monday, after a monthslong competition with Skylar Thompson.

Related players: Tua Tagovailoa

On four occasions last season, the Dolphins were forced to turn to a backup quarterback after their starter was knocked out of a game. They signed White to a two-year, $8 million contract this offseason with $4.5 million guaranteed to operate as the primary backup to Tagovailoa and he competed with the 2022 seventh-round pick Thompson throughout the summer for the job. There was a point this summer where some who follow the team felt Thompson may pass White on the depth chart, but for now the team is going with White as the QB2.

The wait for word on the severity of Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp’s hamstring injury will last a little longer.

McVay said that the team still considers Kupp day-to-day with the season opener looming.

“If he’s able to go, that’s outstanding for us,” McVay said.

McVay also said that team wants Kupp to feel fully back to himself before he returns to game action and, given all of the question marks about his status, it’s hard to imagine that happening in time for the wideout to face the Seahawks. McVay said he expects to have a more detailed update on Kupp’s condition Wednesday.

Kupp went to Minnesota to see a specialist for the injury, which head coach Sean McVay termed a setback in his return from an earlier hamstring pull. At a Monday press conference, McVay said Kupp made the trip because the nature of the injury “doesn’t fall in alignment” with the expected recovery from a soft tissue injury and that the wideout is still meeting with the specialist in hopes of gaining “clarity” about what’s wrong.

Dolphins rookie RB Devon Achane (shoulder) was at practice and no longer wearing a red, non-contact jersey.

Related players: Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson, Salvon Ahmed

Owners can officially start to get excited about Achane. With Wilson now on the IR, it leaves Mostert as the RB1, but Achane could be right there as the team's RB2. Ahmed could also be in the picture, but Achane has looked good all through camp and has the speed HC Mike McDaniel loves to use in this offense. It will be interesting to monitor the RB usage in Week 1.

The Jets plan to have running backs Breece Hall and Dalvin Cook in the lineup against the Bills on Monday night.

Jets head coach Robert Saleh said at a press conference that Hall will not practice on Monday because of a planned rest day as he returns from last season’s torn ACL, but that he is on track to be in the lineup for the season opener. Hall has been practicing with the team since being activated off the PUP list on August 15. That’s the same day that Cook signed with the Jets.

Given the limited practice time for both players, Saleh said that the Jets will be smart with how they deploy both backs in the opener.

Related players: Michael Carter

Cook only recently started practicing with the team because of the birth of his child after signing his contract. Cook will get in a full week of work this week, though, and Saleh said he’ll play against Buffalo as well. It also appears neither back will have a snap count for Week 1, according to the story. Speculation has been the two backs will split work early on in the season, but eventually the talent and youth of Hall will shine through as the season goes on. For Week 1, we rank Hall at 21st and Cook at 34th in what is expected to be a tough matchup against a good Bills defense.

Amon-Ra St. Brown (ankle) is practicing Saturday, Kyle Meinke of MLive.com reports.

Great news for owners who picked up St. Brown this weekend. St. Brown injured his ankle during a mid-August practice but never seemed to be in serious danger of missing the upcoming Thursday night opener against Kansas City, according to the story. The story went on to say it's unclear if he'll even be listed Monday when the Lions and Chiefs release the first official injury reports of the 2023 season. St. Brown looks good to go for Week 1 at this point.