Our deepest sympathy to the Travis Kelce fantasy managers that are scrambling right now because they didn’t think they needed a backup tight end.

What’s in store:

• Travis Kelce trouble haunts Week 1! Fantasy football’s TE1 might miss the season opener.

• Three waiver wire targets ahead of kickoff! Go ahead and grab these guys if they’re still available.

• The Colts backfield is a mess – how should we be treating it? Faraz and Zach weigh in.

• How high should we be setting the bar for Javonte Williams? Tyler gives us his answer – scroll down to find out!

• TE Travis Kelce suffers hyperextended knee, status for Thursday’s Week 1 game vs Lions uncertain

  • There’s still a chance that Kelce is able to suit up on Thursday for the Chiefs, but the timing of the injury is brutal for Kelce and his fantasy managers just two days out from the season opener. Kelce was able to walk off the field under his own power, but there’s a very realistic possibility that Week 1 comes and goes without the top tight end in fantasy football ever seeing the field. There will be no replacement for Kelce in lineups if he’s unable to go, but the hope is that if he does miss time that it will only be limited to Week 1. Should Kelce be sidelined, the rest of the Chiefs pass catchers would receive a bump in the rankings, including WRs Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore.

• WR Kadarius Toney logs limited practice on Tuesday, could play Thursday night

  • Toney has miss a lot of time this offseason after a surprise surgery on his knee forced him off the field at the very beginning of training camp. Toney is back in practice and the expectation over the past week has been that he will play on Thursday, but it’ll be important to keep a close eye on this situation as it unfolds. With news of Travis Kelce potentially missing Week 1, Toney could see a significant boost in the season opener as the Chiefs’ top weapon in the passing game. If that’s the case, Toney would make for a very solid start as a WR3 to open the 2023 season.

• NFL Network’s Ian Rapaport reports that “all signs point” to QB Joe Burrow starting for the Bengals in Week 1 against the Browns

  • After a scary-looking injury early in training camp, it appears that Joe Burrow has taken the necessary steps in his recovery to be ready to go for Week 1. This is excellent news not just for Burrow, but the rest of the Bengals offense, as well; barring any setbacks, fantasy managers can treat their Bengals players as if the Joe Burrow injury never even happened in the first place.

• WR Marvin Mims, DEN

  • If Marvin Mims is available on your wire, I’m doing what I can to put him on my roster. Jerry Jeudy might be out for a couple of weeks and might not come back until Week 3 or Week 4… and when there’s opportunity for a young WR who we already like, that the analytics love, and he’s got the round 2 draft capital, I don’t want that WR on the waiver wire.

  • You might be asking why I’d want him if Jeudy’s going to eventually come back. Well, Mims can turn out to be good - this is just the right process in my opinion - and it can’t hurt you to have this guy on your roster in this type of situation. Jeudy can still come back, and all of a sudden its Jeudy and Mims as the fantasy relevant WRs on this team - or not, and it’s still Jeudy and Sutton.

  • But there’s some upside here that I don’t want to miss out on, especially because he’ll be on the field a lot regardless given the Tim Patrick injury.

• RB Jaylen Warren, PIT

  • He needs to be rostered, #1 because he’s a league winning every down handcuff if Najee Harris were to get hurt, and #2, we’ve already seen his opportunity increase in situations this preseason with Najee and the first team that he wasn’t too involved in last year.

  • And it hasn’t been just the passing downs - it looks like he’s going to get some early downs too. I don’t want to say that this is turning into a Zeke/Pollard situation just yet because Najee isn’t washed like Zeke was, but this has some sort semblance to that especially early on from a couple of years ago.

  • He’s someone I want to pick and just hold on my bench all season long… and if someone drops him, I’m doing what I can to pick him up.

• RB De’Von Achane, MIA

  • De’Von Achane is practicing as of Monday, so that’s great news for someone who can take advantage of this Jeff Wilson injury. Raheem Mostert and Achane can be the 1-2 in this offense, and Achane will have a chance to gain more control of the backfield.

  • Here’s the thing with Achane - if he’s eventually good to go - you have Wilson on IR, you have Mostert who hasn’t been able to stay healthy - this can turn into a De’Von Achane backfield pretty easily. How many times have you started Raheem Mostert for fantasy, he got hurt, and you were surprised? Not many. Achane should be rostered, especially with him back in practice.

• Colts RBs - Deon Jackson, Zack Moss, Evan Hull

  • Let me address the Colts RB situation right now. If you need a starter for Week 1 for whatever reason, picking up Deon Jackson and starting him as a flex option makes sense. But keep in mind, I do think it’ll end up being a committee between him and Evan Hull in Week 1 - Shane Steichen already said it’s going to be a committee with JT regardless.

  • Zack Moss probably won’t be suiting up Week 1, but he’s someone on my radar, especially if neither Jackson or Hull show out in Week 1 with the opportunity that they get… because at that point, Moss will likely be in play to compete and even start in Week 2.

  • So if you didn’t end up with Jackson or Hull and you’re in a deep league and want a RB stash, Moss can be that for your team… but then again, what’ll probably happen is that you stash Moss for a week or two and then the Colts sign Kareem Hunt once they realize none of these guys will do.

Faraz’s Take

• Let me address the Colts RB situation right now. If you need a starter for Week 1 for whatever reason, picking up Deon Jackson and starting him as a flex option makes sense. But keep in mind, I do think it’ll end up being a committee between him and Evan Hull in Week 1 - Shane Steichen already said it’s going to be a committee with JT regardless.

• Zack Moss probably won’t be suiting up Week 1, but he’s someone on my radar, especially if neither Jackson or Hull show out in Week 1 with the opportunity that they get… because at that point, Moss will likely be in play to compete and even start in Week 2.

• So if you didn’t end up with Jackson or Hull and you’re in a deep league and want a RB stash, Moss can be that for your team… but then again, what’ll probably happen is that you stash Moss for a week or two and then the Colts sign Kareem Hunt once they realize none of these guys will do.

Zach’s Take

• There’s value in the Colts backfield to be had right now, but it’s spread out between two running backs already as things stand today and it’ll be three once Moss is back from injury.

• I don’t think that the Colts are going to turn to Evan Hull right off the bat because he’s a rookie, and Deon Jackson has filled in serviceably for them in the past. For Week 1, Deon Jackson is the RB to add, and I agree – Zack Moss is the player to add long-term. But I’m not expecting much out of these guys at all, to the point where I’d be hesitant to start even Jackson as a flex at this point.

• There’s also the chance that the Colts offense just craters in Week 1 because they go down and play catchup all game against the Jags, which would mean any work in the ground game would come on Anthony Richardson’s legs, and not replacement level running backs.

• The Colts RBs are really last resort adds in my opinion and I’m only dipping my toes into that backfield if I’m really desperate – which you shouldn’t be in Week 1 unless you had Jonathan Taylor.

It was a season to forget for Javonte Williams (and the entirety of the Broncos). For Williams in particular, his sophomore season didn’t last long, suffering a torn ACL in Week 4 and coincidingly missing the remainder of the season.

Before the injury, he was average, posting 204 yards off of 47 carries and adding another 76 yards on 16 catches through the first four games. For where he was drafted in 2022, it was wildly underwhelming production when he was on the field, but considering the offensive struggles we saw all season long in Denver, Williams may have shown promise.

It appears that Denver is fully expecting Williams to be 100% to start the season, opting to bring in multiple RBs (Samaje Perine, Tony Jones Jr.) but neither of major significance outside of a potential 3rd down role for Perine. With that commitment from the coaching staff and front office, Williams could be in store for a sizable role in Sean Payton’s offense, even after a season-ending knee injury last year.

Everything comes down to price with Williams – the potential is there, especially between the workload and a favorable offensive scheme, but the risk is also significant with a lengthy history of reaggregation the year following an ACL tear.

I like the RB2 (or even RB1) upside with Williams, especially in the mid-rounds of drafts in an offense that should be expected to bounce back under Payton. Invest in him as a high-upside RB3 option.Check out more of Tyler’s in-depth player preview articles here!

Rams TE Tyler Higbee has largely flown under the radar as a reliable fantasy option at a position where consistency is sorely lacking. While he won’t be the sexiest pick in your draft given his low ADP, his presence on an offense with a still-capable QB and the absence of arguably the league’s top receiving threat makes him a potential value starter in 2023.

In the Weeks last year where Matthew Stafford played 100% of snaps (Weeks 1-6, as well as Weeks 8 and 9), Higbee finished 5th in the NFL among tight ends with at least 50 targets in target share (18.5%). The reason that’s significant? That was also when Stafford had Cooper Kupp on the field – and in that span, Kupp had a league-leading 32.1% target share.

With Kupp potentially sidelined to open the season and Van Jefferson the only experienced target competition for Higbee in the Rams offense, the Rams tight end could see a monstrous target share of his own in the early going in 2023. The Rams offense may not have a high ceiling, but as a tight end, Higbee can return great value as a volume-based option.