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- 2 Shocking Injury Updates (WTF?!)
The injury updates have been flying the past few days. Some of them are to be expected (like Alec Pierce and Tucker Kraft being placed on the active/PUP list), but a few others are big surprises relative to what we initially thought …
🤯 Malik Nabers could be good to go for Week 1!? Most of us assumed Nabers was a lock for PUP, or at the very least, an extremely slow start to the season.
But then last week we learned that he is not being placed on the PUP list for the start of training camp and that “it’s fair to be optimistic that he’ll play Week 1.”
Then yesterday, we followed it up with a positive report about how he’s been moving in drills and a video of him looking pretty, pretty good.
Action item: Drafters are moving quickly on this news, aggressively targeting him at the 2-3 turn in current best ball drafts. I would still like a discount because I do think it will be a slow ramp up, but man, it’s tough to ignore his upside (top-5 WR) and his late-season schedule—two dome games vs. DET and DAL in Weeks 16 and 17.
 | Pete’s PUP PSA: Being placed on PUP during camp does not mean a player will miss any games. They can be moved on and off the list at any point during camp. A player placed on the PUP in-season, however, must miss a minimum of four games. |
🤯 Zach Charbonnet is a “potential close call” for Week 1? Um, what?! Excuse me. This dude tore his ACL in January and all reports have pointed to a late-season return at best. This optimism comes from an Albert Breer report that also said the team will be smart with him.
Action item: Not going to lie, Charbs has been completely off my board until now. But if this report is even remotely accurate, his outlook has greatly improved and I’m much more inclined to mix him in as a Zero RB target and late-round dart in both best ball and managed leagues.
Other injury updates:
49ers WR Ricky Pearsall is dealing with knee swelling and there is some “concern.” I don’t love that.
Panthers rookie WR Chris Brazzell was carted off the field yesterday. He’s expected to miss eight weeks. Awful.
Michael Penix still isn’t ready to practice. Looks like another month at least.
Texans WR Tank Dell continues to make “major strides in comeback” from his major knee injury in 2024.
Chris Olave is a “full go” with zero restrictions.
George Kittle placed on PUP, but GM John Lynch is “optimistic on all of them hitting the practice field sooner rather than later.”
Time to Buy Jeremiyah Love Making The NFL Leap
Few things are as breathtaking and fun to watch as Jeremiyah Love hurdling over defenders during his Notre Dame days. Many of those jumps set him loose on long runs on the way to amassing 3,016 scrimmage yards and 40 TDs for this multi-talented weapon who is taking his talents to Arizona. He’s not yet 21, and appears to have as bright an NFL future as any of the players just drafted. Now it’s time for forward-thinking fantasy managers to act when Love’s available in fantasy drafts in the months ahead.
UNest works the same way. You don't wait until your kid is 16 to start building their financial future. You start now, when time is your single greatest advantage. A tax-advantaged investment account that grows with your child, set up in under 10 minutes. The long game is always the smartest play, on the field and off it.
Fantasy
Around the Watercooler
Stay up to date without spending hours scrolling. Catch up with the latest and greatest around the Fantasy Life and NFL ecosystem …
💪 So many updates on the Falcons. Who’s healthy at QB?
🙌 Garrett Wilson vs. Tetairoa McMillan? Choice between up-and-coming WRs in their prime.
🤩 Middle rounds with Mike Evans and D’Andre Swift. Value picks.
🤝 Chris Olave for Quinshon Judkins. Rate this trade.
🏆 Turning our attention to college football … lotto-ticket bets to win the title.
🎒 CJ Stroud is ready for … the start of middle school?
🤔 Is Marvin Harrison Jr.’s confidence shot? Sure sounds like it.
😆 Brandon Aiyuk to the Commanders? Doesn’t sound like it!
🥁 A deep, deep sleeper TE? There’s been a drumbeat.
🙏 I’m begging you not to panic on Jeremiyah Love. This kinda rhetoric was inevitable.
🏈 Picking all Tight Ends? Yup, and we didn’t know 20 were worth drafting.
🏴☠️ Bucs WR is a great value in auctions. Not the one you think.
👀 Former teammates, now close to each other in ADP. Choose your fighter.
🗞️ Latest news from Day 3 of training camps. Important updates.
Dynasty
Freedman’s 12 Players To Avoid In 2026 Drafts
I swear I'm a good time at parties. I can talk about craft beer and William Shakespeare with the best of them (and also the worst of them).
But for some reason, around the company watercooler I've developed a reputation as a "wet blanket" (I believe it was Dwain McFarland or Peter Overzet who first grievously misapplied this term to yours truly).
I'm not, in fact, a wet blanket.
I'm just a man who appreciates the power of pessimism.
You know, I just re-read that last sentence … I now get why people say I'm a wet blanket.
But in a world aflame, wet blankets have a purpose.
In my opinion, too many people in the fantasy football industry spend too much time hyping up too many players and not enough time contemplating the risk they carry and the odds that they'll underperform expectations.
So in this piece, I want to highlight 12 players I'm likely fading at cost (based on our fantasy football ADP tool) in redraft, best ball and Guillotine Leagues™.
Lamar Jackson | Ravens
If you're a Ravens fan, please don't hate me.
I love Lamar Jackson. I bet on him to win MVP at 80-1 in 2019.
I think he should've won MVP in 2024.
In my opinion, he has probably been the league's best QB over the past three seasons.
But 2026 is a new year, and with it come new circumstances. Gone are former HC John Harbaugh and OC Todd Monken. Maybe these changes will be positive, but Harbaugh championed Jackson early in his career, and Monken helped him become the NFL's most efficient passer over the past three years (9.4 AY/A).
There's no guarantee that first-time HC Jesse Minter (a defensive coach by trade) and new OC Declan Doyle (a first-time NFL playcaller) will create an environment that enables Jackson to flourish.
On top of that, Jackson has missed 14 games to injury over the past half-decade, and last season he had a career-low 26.8 rushing yards per game. Now at 29 years old, the two-time MVP might be entering the downside of his Ravens tenure.
As long as he's healthy, I doubt Jackson will massively underperform, but he's priced as a premium QB, which gives me pause given all the uncertainty surrounding him.
If I'm paying up at QB, I'd rather pay a little more for Josh Allen or wait and pay a little less for Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels or even Jalen Hurts.
Fantasy
Kendall’s Mailbag: Worried About Puka’s Usage?
With the Rams making so many game-changing defensive additions like All-Pro CB Trent McDuffie and reigning NFL DPOY Myles Garrett, is that going to mean less of a need to pass and thus fewer targets for Puka Nacua?
A SiriusXM caller had that valid question, and posed it to Kendall Valenzuela for her weekly mailbag. Could that defense be so good that the Rams won’t have to put the pedal to the metal on offense much this season? Kendall answers this and other questions. ⤵️
TE Tiers: Time to Put Colston Loveland Among Elite?
If you don’t pay up for the elite tier of TEs, will you be left in second place? Dwain joins Kendall and Pete to talk all things Tight End Tiers, and especially whether waiting at the position will pay off this season. Subscribe today and don’t miss any episodes on the Fantasy Life Show YouTube channel.
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