Immediate fantasy football takeaways from Thursday’s games

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Pittsburgh Steelers @ Carolina Panthers

The Steelers use a surprising running back rotation: Jaylen Warren started the game, while Kenneth Gainwell played on third downs.

Most fantasy managers assumed that third-round rookie Kaleb Johnson would be the Steelers’ early-down back this season, while Warren played passing downs. The first two weeks of the preseason showed that Gainwell is clearly in their plans. He was the starter in the two preseason games, while Warren was among the veterans who had the day off.

The Steelers have had a pretty clear rotation in recent seasons. Najee Harris played on early downs and Warren played on third downs, serving as Harris’ backup on early downs. In this game, Warren played in Harris’s role, while Gainwell played in Warren’s role. Gainwell was a third-down back at times with the Philadelphia Eagles. Johnson took over on the third drive, while other players who started the game were still playing.

This is good news for Warren and Gainwell’s fantasy value and bad news for Johnson. A combination of eight wide receivers and four tight ends either were resting starters or played on the first two drives. Johnson is the Steelers’ only skill player who is expected to make the roster but didn’t play until the third drive. While we could reach some point of the season where Johnson is playing 50% of the team’s offensive snaps, it seems like we are at least a few weeks away from that point. Before, the general thinking was that Warren wasn’t going to play more than 60% of the snaps, so Johnson would have a safe 40%. Now, he would need to beat out Warren for any early-down snaps. Anyone drafting Johnson should not expect him to be in their fantasy starting lineup this month.

On the flip side, Warren seems in store for double-digit carries early in the season, as well as a decent amount of work in the passing game. Gainwell is typically going undrafted in fantasy leagues. His upside isn’t all that high, but he could be a borderline fantasy starter in this role in larger leagues.

The Steelers’ receiving room remains unsettled: Pittsburgh used six different wide receivers on the first drive in a unique rotation.

D.K. Metcalf is locked into the Steelers’ X receiver spot. Calvin Austin III is expected to be the second receiver, but he has also missed the entire preseason due to an abdominal muscle injury.  Everyone else is fighting for the third job and the rest of the roster spots, while some players who played on the first drive today will get cut. One of the several wide receivers fighting for a spot on the depth chart is Ben Skowronek, but he missed his second-straight preseason game due to a toe injury. He will likely make the 53-man roster as a backup wide receiver, but that isn’t guaranteed.

Roman Wilson and Brandon Johnson started the game. Wilson played the most snaps after each of the first few drives and is the favorite to be a starter. Johnson only played the first five snaps. It’s possible he suffered an injury at that point, or he was pulled from the game earlier than the rest of the starters. Lance McCutcheon was the next man up on the outside for Johnson, while Robert Woods was Wilson’s backup. Either Johnson or McCutcheon will be the backup X receiver. Skowronek is typically a slot receiver, and Scott Miller and undrafted rookie Max Hurleman rotated as the slot receivers for this game. At least one of them will make the roster, while the other two fight with Woods for the last roster spot. Given that this room is so unsettled, it’s also possible the Steelers add a player or two, leaving even more of these players off the roster.

Brycen Tremayne potentially locks in a roster spot: The former Washington Commanders wide receiver was among the Panthers’ wide receivers who had the night off.

Carolina rested starters and key backups, which included the three starting wide receivers Tetairoa McMillan, Xavier Legette and Adam Thielen. Jalen Coker also appears locked into a roster spot. He played this week, which usually wouldn’t be the best sign for his playing time, but he missed last week’s game due to an illness, so this was an opportunity to get him ready for Week 1, while other key players got prepared last week.

While the Panthers have several other noteworthy wide receivers, including David Moore, who played 569 offensive snaps for the team last year, Hunter Renfrow, and sixth-round rookie Jimmy Horn Jr., Tremayne was the fourth wide receiver who had the night off.

Tremayne spent two seasons on the Commanders’ practice squad, getting elevated for two games where he caught one pass. He signed a futures contract with Carolina this offseason. In the first preseason game, he primarily played in the third quarter with Moore and Horn, while Renfrow was out injured. Last week, he took one snap for Legette on the opening drive. He played two snaps with the starters on the first two drives and then played with Moore and Renfrow starting on the fourth drive.

While it seems unlikely Tremayne will have fantasy value this season without multiple injuries, this does mean at least one, and likely two, of the other noteworthy wide receivers won’t make the roster. Carolina kept five to six wide receivers on the roster last season, so it’s also possible all three don’t make it, or there will be a surprise with the top four.

Miscellaneous Notes

New England Patriots @ New York Giants

Multiple Patriots wide receiver spots secured: Eight different wide receivers didn’t participate in this game for New England.

Stefon Diggs, DeMario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte and Mack Hollins are four wide receivers who were healthy enough to play in the game Thursday night, but the Patriots rested them. Diggs hasn’t played at all this preseason, but reportedly been ramping up practice, looking ahead to Week 1. Douglas appears to be the slot receiver, while Boutte and Hollins have fought for the other starting spot. The fact that none of them played Thursday when they could have suggests their roster spots are secure. Third-round rookie Kyle Williams has missed some practice this week, which has led to him not playing. His spot is also safe.

The Patriots kept six wide receivers last season. Mike Vrabel’s teams of the past have at times kept five. This means there is potentially one more roster spot, or two if they really want to keep two more.

Kendrick Bourne has also sat out the entire preseason due to a leg injury. The Patriots still list him as a starter on the unofficial depth chart, but many believe he might not be on the roster by this time next week. Undrafted rookie Efton Chism III has been the talk of training camp. He is dealing with an undisclosed injury, which has left him unable to play. He and Douglas are the only players mentioned so far who have seen double-digit snaps in the slot, and it seems likely to make the roster, which would leave Bourne on the outside looking in. Former fourth-round pick Javon Baker started against the Panthers and also seems unlikely to make the roster. He was one of just four wide receivers for New England active for this game, so he played significantly.

Former second-round pick Ja’Lynn Polk will reportedly have season-ending shoulder surgery. This will land him on injured reserve, and he will need to fight for his roster spot next season.

Cam Skattebo makes his New York Giants debut: Skattebo had missed the first two preseason games due to injury.

Skattebo was a fourth-round pick and was expected to fight for significant playing time during training camp. Unfortunately, he missed a little over two weeks of training camp due to a hamstring injury. He played every snap on the first two drives and his day was done before the rest of the Giants players who started in this game. This game doesn’t give us any indication of how much playing time he will get, but it was good to see he is healthy enough to play, so we know we can expect him to play in Week 1. It was also good to see him playing on every down, rather than the Giants restricting him to a specific situation. 

Miscellaneous Notes

• The Patriots rested over 30 players tonight. That included running backs TreVeyon Henderson and Antonio Gibson and tight end Austin Hooper.
• Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson missed last week’s preseason game due to an undisclosed injury. He returned to practice on Monday in a non-contact jersey.
• Tight end Hunter Henry missed last week’s preseason game and has missed practice due to an undisclosed injury. It’s unclear if he sat out due to injury or due to being a starter.
• The Giants rested running backs Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Devin Singletary, wide receivers Malik Nabers, Wan’Dale Robinson and Darius Slayton, and tight end Theo Johnson.
• Nabers had missed time with practice this preseason, but he returned to practice on Tuesday.
• Tight ends Daniel Bellinger and Chris Manhertz missed last week’s game due to injuries, but they both returned on Tuesday. It’s unclear if they didn’t play this week due to injury or because their roster spots are secure.
• Backup running back Eric Gray remains on the physically unable to perform list. He’s missed the entire preseason and training camp.
• Giants undrafted rookie wide receiver Beaux Collins looks pretty likely to make the Giants roster. He could potentially reach fourth on the depth chart over Jalin Hyatt, but at worst, he is fifth. The team typically keeps six wide receivers on the roster.

Table Notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.
• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.
• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.