I’m sure we can all agree that while it’s great to have football back, preseason football is already old and it’s time to get this show on the road (or at least get some starters on the field).

What’s in store:

• Could the Chargers be without Justin Herbert in Week 1? It’s an outcome that’s in the cards after suffering a foot injury in practice.

• Steelers rookie goes down in practice with an ankle injury 🤕 The third-round wide receiver is considered week-to-week.

• Faraz identifies the next Jameis Winston 😱 While a 30 TD, 30 INT season might not happen again, this player could bring a similar level of chaotic production to the table.

• Things could go from bad to worse for Jordan Addison in 2024… his numbers took a nosedive without Kirk Cousins last year, and he’s set up with a big question mark at QB in 2024.

ICYMI: Faraz’s top QB and TE breakout candidates for 2024!

• Chargers QB Justin Herbert hobbled with plantar fascia injury in right foot, considered week to week

  • A statement released by the team indicated that Herbert will likely spend the next few weeks in a walking boot before being ramped back up to full speed. The team reportedly remains hopeful that Herbert will be back to 100% for their season opener against the Raiders in Week 1, but time will only tell whether or not the fifth-year pro will be able to take the field come kickoff. While there’s obviously concern for Herbert about potentially missing time in the regular season, his absence in training camp could set the Chargers’ offense back a few weeks and force them to knock off any rust in season as opposed to in practice (think Joe Burrow and the Bengals’ slow start last year). With opportunities to build rapport with Herbert now few and far between, rookie WR Ladd McConkey may have a more difficult time hitting the ground running in 2024 with multiple weeks’ worth of practice reps now out the window. The Chargers offense was already likely to be very run heavy, even with Herbert under center – should he miss any time, though, the Chargers may live and die exclusively by the ground game with few viable options at starter (Easton Stick, Max Duggan) behind Herbert. Expect Herbert’s price to drop in drafts in the coming days and weeks, especially if reports emerge down the line that Herbert is progressing in his recovery anything short of very well.

• Browns RB D’Onta Foreman suffers injury scare after helmet-to-helmet hit in practice, could miss a few days

  • With veteran RB Nick Chubb facing an uncertain timeline for his return and subsequent ramping up to full speed in 2024, D’Onta Foreman has floated around at the end of drafts as a potential flier while the Browns ease Chubb back into his workload. However, an apparent neck injury in practice that required him to be airlifted to a hospital cast doubt on his availability come Week 1. Fortunately, all of his X-Rays came back negative and he’s in good spirits – an indication that he may be able to make a return to practice much sooner rather than later despite the scary nature of the injury. Should Chubb need to miss time as he works his way back from a nasty injury of his own, it’ll presumably be the Jerome Ford and D’Onta Foreman show in Cleveland until Chubb re-enters the lineup. Foreman had a handful of productive games in 2023 during his one-year stint with the Bears while splitting a backfield with the likes of Roschon Johnson and Khalil Herbert. Just like last year, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him become completely fantasy-irrelevant as the rest of the backfield gets healthier –but with Foreman apparently avoiding a significant injury, he remains on the table as a very cheap flier/handcuff to Jerome Ford.

• Steelers rookie WR Roman Wilson considered week-to-week despite being carted off from Tuesday’s practice

  • With WR George Pickens and TE Pat Freiermuth constituting the only significant threats to his target share, this year’s 84th overall pick was positioned with a relatively clear runway to opportunity operating presumably out of the slot in Pittsburgh’s new-look 2024 offense. Of course, Arthur Smith’s run-first approach and a fairly questionable QB situation was likely to limit the overall number and quality of targets Wilson saw in 2024, but an injury to his ankle only deepens the hole he’ll have to dig out of to be useful in fantasy lineups come September. While there were initially fears of a much worse diagnosis, the Steelers are officially calling Wilson ‘week-to-week’ – not exactly a dream timetable for a return, but one we’ll take given that the alternative was looking like a lengthy absence that had the potential to stretch into the regular season. Wilson has been getting drafted at the 15-16 turn on Underdog as the WR78 off the board up to this point. However, with this new injury on the radar and on an offense that is likely to be as run-heavy as any in the NFL, he may very well start going undrafted in the coming days and weeks as more and more late sleepers emerge from training camp.

Tennessee’s offense is being built around the pass game, and everybody knows it. Every time you talk to their coaches, including their new head coach Brian Callahan, about their RBs, they keep talking about how good they are in the receiving game. All indications are pointing to them being a pass first squad… and remember that Callahan, even with a backup QB for most of last year, has had the highest early down pass frequency of any team over the last two seasons.

Of course, you have to mention the new WR duo he’s got his hands on between WR DeAndre Hopkins and WR Calvin Ridley. Don’t forget the forgotten veteran addition of Tyler Boyd, either… they might be the oldest starting three in the league, but that’s still a legit trio right there.

There have also been improvements on the offensive line (which was terrible last year), but the great news there is that Brian Callahan hired his father Bill - who is considered as one of the best, if not the best, offensive line coaches in the NFL - to right that ship for 2024. So, there will be improvement there regardless.

Now, who does Levis remind me of? You’re not going to like it, but last year, he was 3rd worst in catchable throw %, off-target throw %, adjusted completion %, and turnover worthy throw %. 

But!

He threw the deep ball on more than 20% of his attempts. That was by far the most among qualifying QBs… his hero ball %, which is another word for incredible throws that are credited to him making a play, was at 9%. That was also 1st among qualifying QBs; he’s a gunslinger, and he reminds me of Jameis Winston. There can be some room for some bad plays, some interceptions, some turnovers, but is it that far out of the realm of possibility that we see 350 yard passing games and a couple of TDs with their defense likely not holding opposing offenses in check this year? They can just send Levis in to chuck it - I can see that working out from a fantasy perspective, just like it did for Jameis when he was out there throughout his career.

Also, Levis has some rushing ability. Don’t be surprised if they use him inside the 5 yard line given the RBs they have on their roster. I’m intrigued, and I think if you’re looking for a late round QB, he’s probably the guy to take a shot on.

Addison’s 70-911-10 line as a rookie was very impressive, but context is very important. He started off red-hot through eight games with the help of Kirk Cousins (18:5 TD:INT ratio in that span), scoring seven touchdowns in eight games despite just a 16.2% target share. Addison averaged 15.8 PPR points per game with Cousins under center, good for the WR15 in that timeframe – but things fell off dramatically once Cousins went down.

Where Addison was hyper-efficient on just 36 receptions through Cousins’ eight starts (catching a TD on nearly 20% of them), he felt the ill effects of backup QB play in the back nine of the 2023 season, scoring just three more touchdowns on 34 more receptions (~9% clip). His reliance on touchdowns to remain productive was evident and only further magnified by the return of Justin Jefferson to the lineup following their Week 13 bye: Addison garnered just four or fewer targets in four of the Vikings final five games while finishing inside the weekly top-20 just once with non-Cousins quarterbacks at the controls. His 16.8% target share on the season ranked just 47th among all wide receivers, and a 1.63 yards per route run was low compared to other rookie WRs. That’s despite working in a Kevin O’Connell offense that passed the ball at the third-highest rate last year.

The bad news is that 2024 figures to put Addison in an environment much more similar to the one he struggled in last year than the one he thrived in. Heading into 2024, Kirk Cousins is out the door and off to greener pastures in Atlanta, leaving veteran QB Sam Darnold and first-round rookie J.J. McCarthy as the heirs apparent to the Vikings QB throne. Regardless of which signal caller starts this year, they’ll have big, productive shoes to fill in Cousins’ wake.

The return of TE T.J. Hockenson looms in the more distant future, providing Addison an opportunity to earn some looks in the early going – but without Cousins, as well as having the league’s pre-eminent talent at wide receiver to contend with and with a question mark at quarterback, it’ll be an uphill climb to fantasy relevance outside of anything more than a flex start on a regular basis for Addison in 2024.