Team news: Tennessee Titans | Page 8

Bills WR Curtis Samuel (turf toe) and backup QB Mitch Trubisky (knee) are off the injury report and good to go for Sunday vs. Arizona.

Related Players: Mack Hollins, Keon Coleman, Marquez Valdes-Scantling

Huge news for Samuel, who could be used in a variety of ways as the offense looks to replace both Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis. OC Joe Brady was recently quoted as saying, "There's a reason I wanted to bring him here, because I know how smart he is."

He makes for an interesting Flex option against the Cardinals.

Colts tight end Jelani Woods will miss his second consecutive season.

Woods is going on season-ending injured reserve, according to TheAthletic.com.

Related players: Kylen Granson, Mo Alie-Cox, Andrew Ogletree

Last year Woods missed the entire season with a hamstring injury. This year he’s out with a toe injury, the story said. There were high hopes for Woods this season as reports said he could take over the team's TE1 spot. The Colts will look to Granson, Alie-Cox or Ogletree will step up. Reports from earlier this summer said the Colts could use a lot of multiple-TE sets in 2024.

Titans are sending QB Malik Willis to the Packers in exchange for a 2025 seventh-round pick, per sources.

Related players: Sean Clifford, Mason Rudolph, Jordan Love, Will Levis

Willis is now likely to back up Love while the move pushes Clifford out as the Packers QB2. In Tennessee, Rudolph looks to be the Titans QB2 behind Levis.

Colts TE Jelani Woods underwent successful surgery today for turf toe and will miss about four months. The team is hopeful that Woods can return around Christmas in time for a playoff push.

Related Players: Kylen Granson, Mo Alie-Cox, Drew Ogletree

The Colts TE carousel continues. This should theoretically open the door for someone else to receive a heightened target share, but it's not enough to aim for any of the other options in typical redraft leagues.

Jelani Woods is expected to undergo surgery on his toe, according to a source.

Related players: Kylen Granson, Mo Alie-Cox

There is no word on how long Woods will be out but it's a big blow to his fantasy stock. Woods was expected to grab the Colts TE1 job but had an up and down camp and never really stood out like he was expected to. Granson and Alie-Cox are up next and the Colts are expected to use several tight ends this year, according to a report from a few weeks ago, but it remains to be seen just who stands out for fantasy purposes.

Ja’Lynn Polk likely will be one of the starting wide receivers when Week 1 arrives, at least until Kendrick Bourne returns from injury. Polk’s training camp hasn’t been spectacular or filled with other-worldly catches, but he has been consistent and done enough for the quarterbacks to trust him.

Demario Douglas probably has been the best wide receiver, but Polk isn’t far behind. He might start behind K.J. Osborn on the depth chart, but optimism is high around the second-round pick out of Washington.

Related players: Javon Baker

While optimism is high around Polk, it sounds like even if he doesn't get a starting job out of the gate, it should only be a matter of time. Meanwhile, fourth round pick Baker started strong, but looks to be further down the depth chart after a tough stretch, according to the rest of the story. Baker is dealing with drops in practice and running with the fourth-string QB at times. The story said he'll likely start as the team's WR4 or WR5.

Someone in the set of wideouts has to emerge as an eventual No. 1. Right now, rookie Ja’Lynn Polk has as good a shot as anyone.

Related players: Kendrick Bourne, Demario Douglas, Javon Baker, K.J. Osborn, Kayshon Boutte

For what it's worth, we've already reflected this on our fantasy depth charts listing Polk as the top option. Robinson thinks Polk could step in and get a ton of targets immediately. In the preseason opener, Polk played limited snaps but caught three balls for 14 yards. Robinson expects those numbers to grow. Polk could be worth targeting in the later rounds of drafts given his very late ADP.

For those thinking the RB2 battle was firmly between Michael Carter and rookie Trey Benson, Emari Demercado has something to say.

Throughout camp, Demercado has been a common occurrence subbing in for starter James Conner during first-team work.

It’s only been one day of pads, the story went on to say, but Demercado's pass-protecting ability, which earned him valuable playing time as a rookie, has been on display early on. The story went on to say keeping Murray upright is crucial to a successful season, and it’s clear the Cardinals are liking what Demercado is bringing to the table so far. It went on to say behind Conner and Demercado, Carter got first crack at second-team reps, with rookie Trey Benson subbing in for the veteran. Given the draft capital the team paid for Benson, it should only be a matter of time before he starts to make a move up the depth chart.

The best-case scenario, in my opinion, would be if Jelani Woods puts together a huge training camp and earns the starting job. The 25-year-old missed all of last year due to repeated hamstring injuries and revamped his body this offseason in hopes of staying healthy. If Woods can remain on the field, he’s the one tight end on Indianapolis’ roster who has all of the physical tools to be a constant mismatch, while creating explosive plays and blocking well enough to stay on the field.

Related Players: Kylen Granson, Mo Alie-Cox, Will Mallory, Drew Ogletree

The Colts once again have a huge swath of tight ends on the roster, but we have to assume those names will be pared down by the 53-man roster cuts. Woods had a literal 10/10 RAS score while coming out of the 2022 NFL Draft, setting a record for the highest score out of the 997 tight ends who tested between 1987-2022. He can be a legit fantasy asset if he's the clear-cut TE1, and should be on streaming radars if that ends up being the case.

While they moved quickly to sign Tony Pollard in March, they don’t project the former Cowboy will play a similar role to the one that Travis Henry filled in Tennessee. Last year’s third-round pick Tyjae Spears is also on hand and head coach Brian Callahan made it clear on Tuesday that he expects both players to see plenty of time in the offense this season.

“The fun part for me is: How are we going to deploy those guys?,” Callahan said, via the team’s website. “Maybe they both play at the same time, maybe one gets hot and you let him run, maybe we just rotate back and forth. I don’t know what that’s going to look like yet. But they are both going to play quite a bit of football for us, and I don’t view either one of them as a starter or a back-up. They are both starting players to me.”

Not exactly what fantasy owners want to hear. The statement makes a lot of sense and probably shouldn't come as a surprise. However, many consider Pollard and Spears to be of the same mold. As you would expect, the expectation of both players seeing lots of time puts a hit on their rankings. We have Pollard ranked 32nd and Spears 34th, with Pollard's ADP in the 8th round and Spears' the 9th round. Hopefully we get a better feel by the time fantasy drafts come around, but it looks like both players could be Zero RB targets for those using that approach.