Kyren Williams is leaving the door open... 🚪

I can’t wait to lose a matchup in fantasy football because of a digital stat correction.

What’s in store:

• Kyren Williams isn’t helping us to quiet the Blake Corum propaganda. The third-year RB is set to miss early OTA action.

• Two-headed monster in the Texans backfield? It’s not even June yet, but DeMeco Ryans is talking up Dameon Pierce like it’s 2023.

• Zamir White might have the Raiders backfield on 🔒. Faraz dives into the current complexion of the Las Vegas RB room.

• It’s finally Terry McLaurin’s time to shine 🙌. It’s about damn time. Zach explains what we have to look forward to in 2024 with the Commanders WR.

• Rams RB Kyren Williams expected to be sidelined for the entirety of the team’s spring OTAs while he works through an apparent foot injury

  • Just when you thought there would be an offseason of no drama at the running back position for the Rams, Kyren Williams picks up a foot injury that’s apparently enough of an issue that he’s straight up been ruled out until training camp. Yes, it’s beyond early in the offseason, and ‘minor’ injuries like they’re calling this one at this point in the game generally aren’t any reason to be concerned – but with Blake Corum waiting to pounce on an opportunity, the door has at the very least been cracked open for the third-round running back to foil our workhorse plans for Kyren Williams in 2024. You can already almost hear Sean McVay lavishing praise on Corum and four-letter networks drumming up controversy about what the backfield will look like this season. At the end of the day, there’s still no reason panic about Williams’ potential workload even with Corum factored in… although it wouldn’t be a bad idea to brace ourselves for all of the Blake Corum RB1 propaganda that’s about to come our way while Kyren is sidelined. Based on Kyren’s workload in 2023, he’s earned the benefit of the doubt as the team’s clear lead back despite the early turbulence this offseason has brought.

• Texans HC DeMeco Ryans says that Houstons backfield could be a ‘one-two punch’ between RBs Joe Mixon and Dameon Pierce

  • Because it makes all the sense in the world to sign a running back that will be 28 years old at kickoff to a three-year deal, only to force feed Dameon Pierce the ball who was already on the roster in the first place. In one of the more surprising developments of the still-young offseason, Ryans has apparently become a Dameon Pierce fan and is interested in using him in a larger capacity than he was late in 2023. His desire to get Pierce on the field likely stems more from needing to keep Joe Mixon fresh than it does actually wanting to hand the ball off Pierce, who averaged a paltry 2.9 yards per carry last year. As crazy as it might sound, especially given Pierce’s fall from grace last season, fantasy managers should bear in mind the threat that Houston lets Pierce mix in a bit more than originally anticipated, especially if DeMeco Ryans is going to continue to blow smoke up his a**. However, the bottom line for the Texans backfield remains intact; Mixon should be expected to handle the majority of the work when fresh while Pierce remains on glorified mop-up duty.

• Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes says that the Chiefs are working to re-establish the deep passing game in 2024

  • After watching the deep passing game stagnate last year at the hands (bricks) of Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kadarius Toney, and Skyy Moore, the Chiefs decided enough was enough and brought in the personnel necessary to make Andy Reid’s dreams of a potent downfield attack a reality. Since adding Marquise Brown via free agency and Xavier Worthy through the draft, the Chiefs have seen Worthy go down with a soft tissue injury – leaving Hollywood as the most effective deep threat available on the offense. WR Rashee Rice has been participating in early OTAs despite his legal situation, but the expectation is that he’ll be missing some time in 2024 either to begin the season or at some point during it. With Worthy already struggling to stay healthy and Rice staring down a multi-game suspension, Marquise Brown has inherited the No. 1 role in the Chiefs offense and has been doing a good job of establishing himself there. The Chiefs are hoping Mahomes can up his deep pass attempt rate in 2024 after ranking just 20th among QBs to make nine or more starts in 2023, and making Brown a focal point of the passing offense is a solid step in that direction. As just the WR35 off the board in Underdog best ball drafts, Brown is a screaming value on an offense quarterbacked by Patrick Mahomes and coached by Andy Reid.

With the NFL Draft behind us, it looks like Zamir White is set to be the Raiders RB1. How safe of a pick is he?

To be honest, I’d definitely tread carefully; these types of situations are breeding grounds for running backs being added late in the off-season. But White might be safe at this point. He closed out the season with four straight games as the Raiders’ workhorse running back, totaling 84 carries in that span as one of only two RBs to do so.

During that span, there were 23 RBs who had 50+ carries. White’s 3.43 yards after contact/attempt was 5th among that group. Pretty impressive.

Unfortunately, not everything was coming up aces in Las Vegas. Don’t expect White to force too many missed tackles - he’s not an elusive back, but he matches head coach Antonio Pierce’s philosophy of a physical team. The good news is that Zamir White did provide some big plays with his late-season opportunity, he had five carries of 15+ yards during that span, 2nd among the 23 qualifying RBs.

The Raiders went out and added Alexander Mattison to the backfield as a way to address depth in the wake of Josh Jacobs’ departure. Sure, Mattison will slot in admirably as a solid depth piece, but he’s not going to be part of a legitimate rotation in the backfield. I do think this makes it less likely this backfield gets even more muddy.

Newly drafted New Hampshire RB Dylan Laube, though, might be the best pass-catcher in this draft class. He’s got real chops in the receiving game, but he was extremely inefficient in the run game, and that was in the FCS. Because of that, there’s no reason to be worried about him on early downs.

Given the Raiders non-ideal QB situation, they’re likely going to rely on the ground game like they did at the end of last season. Zamir White averaged 21 carries a game in that offense down the stretch, which is more than enough for me to take a chance on him at a very affordable price right now in drafts.

Could they add another RB to this backfield before the season? It’s definitely a possibility, and that’s something we’ll want to keep in the back of our minds when we’re drafting. But if that doesn’t happen, his RB30 price on Underdog will likely be a steal.

Are you all in on Zamir White being the lead back for the Raiders this season, or is he a trap?

Target WR Terry McLaurin, WAS

Is it finally Terry McLaurin’s turn to have a capable quarterback under center in Washington? Time will tell, but Jayden Daniels is perhaps his most promising shot at playing with a difference making signal caller in McLaurin’s five-year career. Since he was drafted, we’ve written McLaurin off every season as a WR2 at best with a shaky enough floor that he ends up filling the WR3/flex spots of many starting lineups. But there could be something different about this year, and it’s not just a change at QB…

Despite a quarterback resume that has Marquez Valdes-Scantling clutching his pearls on his way up to Buffalo, McLaurin has cracked 1000 receiving yards in each of the past four seasons while also registering 120+ targets and 75+ receptions every year since 2020. His production profile has remained remarkably consistent given the quarterback woes the Commanders have faced since Kirk Cousins’ departure, and with an entirely new coaching staff installed along with Daniels under center, he has a chance to finally achieve his full potential.

New OC Kliff Kingsbury will bring a fast-paced offense to Washington that will have more purpose than the spray-and-pray Eric Bienemy scheme of 2023 – in that offense, McLaurin and teammate Jahan Dotson were two of five receivers to notch 600 or more routes in 2023. McLaurin’s most pressing competition for targets at WR has also been relieved heading into 2024, with the Bills landing WR Curtis Samuel in free agency and vacating 109 targets. While the Commanders did draft Luke McCaffrey relatively high in the third round and TE Ben Sinnott in the second, neither figure to challenge McLaurin’s status as the top dog in the target distribution.

Daniels is a Heisman-winning quarterback who had one of the most statistically impressive seasons in college football history in 2023. He was drafted second overall to the Commanders, and much like Washington fans are hinging their hopes on him to turn the franchise around, so are fantasy managers who want to see McLaurin achieve his full potential. With a situation like the one McLaurin finds himself in – one that will likely make him the focal point of the offensive attack in a fast-paced scheme – a 3rd-4th round ADP would be perfectly reasonable for 2024. However, his ADP currently sits in the fifth round at 56th overall, making him both the WR32 off the board and an incredible value in fantasy drafts given his potential to finally break through to fantasy WR1 status with a new QB, HC, and OC to work with.