Sep 7, 2026, 12:08 PM ET

New England Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson (ankle) was not spotted during the media-access portion of Monday's practice, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN. Henderson has not practiced since injuring his ankle Aug. 24 and was officially listed as a non-participant Sunday. With New England opening Wednesday night in Seattle, there is very little time left for him to get back on the field. Rhamondre Stevenson and Corey Kiner were both practicing Monday, along with practice-squad running backs Lan Larison and Hassan Haskins. Neither practice-squad back has been elevated yet, but both would give New England another option if Henderson cannot play. Monday's official practice designation is still pending, but his Week 1 availability is firmly in question.--Bruno Mulé
Source: Mike Reiss

Sep 7, 2026, 12:00 PM ET

Carolina Panthers running back Jonathon Brooks is still dealing with general soreness and worked off to the side with a trainer during Monday's practice, according to Mike Kaye. Brooks was also held out of Carolina's Sept. 1 and Sept. 2 practices before the team took a few days off. Head coach Dave Canales said last week that he was "very optimistic" Brooks would be available for Week 1, but the third-year back has yet to get back into regular team work. Brooks missed all of 2025 following his second right ACL tear before returning this summer and appearing in two preseason games. Carolina doesn't open against Chicago until Sept. 13, so there is still time. For now, Brooks' practice participation over the next few days will be worth watching.--Bruno Mulé
Source: Mike Kaye

Sep 7, 2026, 11:53 AM ET

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Rashid Shaheed is becoming one of the more interesting players still available in a lot of leagues. He didn't do much through the air after arriving in Seattle last season, catching 15 passes for 188 yards in nine games, but the Seahawks appear ready to give him more this time around. Shaheed had a strong offseason, and the latest expectation is that he'll be used as more of a complete receiver rather than mostly being sent downfield. Seattle also wants to spread the targets around more after leaning so heavily on Jaxon Smith-Njigba last year. That doesn't make Shaheed an automatic Week 1 starter, and RotoBaller currently has him at WR59 for the opener. The waiver case is stronger. He's sixth among the site's wide receiver pickups and carries an add recommendation for leagues with 10 or more teams. If Shaheed is still available, he's worth grabbing now before the expanded role gets a chance to show up on Sundays.--Bruno Mulé
Source: RotoBaller

Sep 7, 2026, 11:47 AM ET

New England Patriots wide receiver Romeo Doubs shouldn't be sitting on many waiver wires heading into Week 1. RotoBaller has him fifth among its pre-Week 1 wide receiver pickups and recommends adding him in leagues with 10 or more teams. The role is there, too. New England's unofficial depth chart has Doubs with the first-team offense after he came over from Green Bay, where he caught 55 passes for a career-high 724 yards and six touchdowns last season. He followed that with eight catches for 124 yards and another score in the playoffs. A.J. Brown will command plenty of targets, and DeMario Douglas and Hunter Henry aren't going away, so Doubs doesn't need to be forced into fantasy lineups immediately. RotoBaller has him at WR48 for the opener in Seattle. That ranking shouldn't stop managers from adding him, though. Doubs has enough of a role and enough production behind him to be more than a speculative stash, making him a priority pickup in 10-team leagues and deeper.--Bruno Mulé
Source: RotoBaller

Sep 7, 2026, 11:32 AM ET

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (knee) will be inactive for Sunday's season opener against Pittsburgh, head coach Kevin Stefanski said, according to D. Orlando Ledbetter. Tua Tagovailoa will start, with Cooper Rush serving as Atlanta's No. 2 quarterback. Penix spent most of the offseason and training camp working his way back from ACL surgery before finally being cleared for full-team work in late August. He did not play in any of Atlanta's three preseason games. Stefanski declined to put a timeline on what comes next for Penix, but said he is "very, very confident" in the team's plan for him and feels good about where he is right now. Penix started nine games last season, throwing for 1,982 yards, nine touchdowns and three interceptions.--Bruno Mulé
Source: D. Orlando Ledbetter

Sep 7, 2026, 11:22 AM ET

Denver Broncos wide receiver Pat Bryant turned plenty of heads during training camp and could be in line for more work in Year 2. According to Parker Gabriel of the Denver Post, Sean Payton keeps coming back to one fairly simple trait when talking about Bryant: he rarely has to leave his feet to make a clean catch. That allows him to stay in stride and create more after the catch. Payton has also praised Bryant's strong hands, intelligence, size and consistency after what he called a "heck of a camp." Bryant caught 31 passes for 378 yards and one touchdown across 15 games as a rookie, starting seven of them. Denver still has Courtland Sutton, Jaylen Waddle and Marvin Mims Jr. ahead of him on the current depth chart, but Bryant can work outside or from the slot. After the summer he just put together, finding him more snaps shouldn't be difficult.--Bruno Mulé
Source: The Denver Post

Sep 7, 2026, 11:09 AM ET

New England Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson (ankle) remains uncertain for Wednesday night's opener against Seattle. Asked Monday about Henderson's status, head coach Mike Vrabel said the team will see how he feels and whether he can do anything at practice, according to Alex Barth. Vrabel added that Henderson has been working "extremely hard" to get back. Henderson was officially listed as a non-participant Sunday and has not practiced since injuring his ankle Aug. 24. The second-year back ran for 911 yards and nine touchdowns on 180 carries as a rookie while adding 35 catches for 221 yards and another score. New England has not yet issued Monday's official practice designation, so Henderson's status remains up in the air with the opener only two days away.--Bruno Mulé
Source: Alex Barth

Sep 7, 2026, 10:54 AM ET

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Jakobi Meyers had a very productive second half of his 2026 season after being traded from Vegas to Jacksonville. Meyers finished last year as the WR32 in PPR leagues, but he jumped to the overall WR17 spot after joining the Jaguars' offense. Additionally, he scored zero touchdowns with the Raiders, then went on to score three with the Jags. Meyers benefitted significantly from playing in an improved offense with Trevor Lawrence as his quarterback, and he was able to maintain WR2 value despite competing for targets with Parker Washington, Brian Thomas Jr., and Brenton Strange. Those three players will continue to push for volume this year, but Meyers has already established that he's going to get the ball and produce regardless of the players around him. Plus, there should be enough targets to go around. This was already a high-volume passing offense last year, and now, we would expect to see even more emphasis on throwing the ball after running back Travis Etienne Jr. departed in free agency. Right now, managers are drafting Meyers as the 50th receiver off the board. There's a massive discrepancy between his price tag and his outlook, which creates a great opportunity for managers to pick up Meyers off the waiver wire after drafts end. He should be a priority waiver wire target in 10+ team leagues.--Andersen Pickard
Source: RotoBaller

Sep 7, 2026, 10:46 AM ET

Los Angeles Chargers running back Keaton Mitchell remains available in roughly 83% of fantasy football leagues. He's not going to be a workhorse running back this season, but his incredible explosiveness gives him a very high ceiling for 2026. Mitchell is coming off a three-year stint with the Baltimore Ravens that was riddled with injuries. When he was healthy, though, he was somewhat unstoppable. So far in his career, he's averaging a whopping 6.3 yards per carry. He doesn't usually have a huge role in the receiving game, but his speed and athleticism translate very nicely to the running game. The most encouraging part about rostering Mitchell is that the Chargers went out and made a concerted effort to sign him in free agency. In other words, they wouldn't have spent money to sign him if they didn't plan to get him involved. He's now paired up with offensive mastermind Mike McDaniel, who extracted elite fantasy value from a similar-profile running back, De'Von Achane. Mitchell will be the No. 2 running back in Los Angeles as long as Omarion Hampton is healthy, but that doesn't mean he can't carve out fantasy relevance in deeper leagues. Mitchell is a high-upside waiver wire target in 12+ team leagues. He should open the year on your bench, but he could quickly earn a lineup spot if he racks up big yardage early in the season.--Andersen Pickard
Source: RotoBaller

Sep 7, 2026, 10:40 AM ET

New Orleans Saints tight end Juwan Johnson is coming off an impressive TE8 finish in PPR leagues, and he has the potential to finish among the top 12 once again this year as the Saints' offense continues to trend upward. He was healthy for all 17 games last year, catching 77 of 102 targets for 889 yards and three touchdowns. The targets, catches, and yards all represent career-highs, and it was impressive to see him finish so high in fantasy scoring despite finding the end zone just three times. If he can replicate his volume stats and increase his touchdown total in 2026, he'll finish even higher. Fantasy managers should also feel encouraged that Johnson performed better with Tyler Shough as his quarterback (11.5 PPR points per game) than with Spencer Rattler (9.5 PPR points per game). Shough is the starter for New Orleans, which bodes well for Johnson. Finally, there's a clear path to targets for Johnson in New Orleans. Not only does he face minimal competition at the tight end position, but he could also handle an increased target share with Jordyn Tyson (hamstring) opening the year on injured reserve. With Tyson sidelined, Johnson projects to be Shough's second-favorite target behind Chris Olave. The 29-year-old tight end should be targeted on the waiver wire in all leagues.--Andersen Pickard
Source: RotoBaller

Sep 7, 2026, 10:38 AM ET

Philadelphia Eagles running back Tank Bigsby is a handcuff to target on the waiver wire as the 2026 regular season gets underway. Managers in 10+ team leagues who already have Saquon Barkley on their roster should make it a priority to add Bigsby off the waiver wire. Losing Barkley, a fantasy RB1, to an injury would be brutal, but being able to plug-and-play Bigsby as a solid RB2 would take away a lot of the sting of losing Barkley. Managers in 12+ team leagues who don't even have Barkley on their roster should consider adding Bigsby, too. There's not a ton of standalone value here week after week, but he does get into the mix when the Eagles are leading by a lot. Plus, he'd jump to the RB2 tier if Barkley missed any time. With all that being said, he's a bench stash as long as Barkley is healthy, which means he's not worth starting in Week 1 against the Washington Commanders.--Andersen Pickard
Source: RotoBaller

Sep 7, 2026, 10:22 AM ET

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Jalen Coker enters the 2026 season as the undisputed No. 2 target for quarterback Bryce Young. Coker is behind Tetairoa McMillan on the depth chart, but other than that, he faces no real competition for volume. The 24-year-old is coming off his second pro season, during which he played 11 games and tallied 33 catches, 394 yards, and three touchdowns. With decent quarterback play, a clearly defined role with little competition for targets, and an offense that could throw the ball a lot, Coker is emerging as a priority waiver wire target in 12+ team leagues, especially for managers in half-PPR or full-PPR formats. He has a chance to produce right away, as he faces off in Week 1 against the Chicago Bears, who allowed the third-most fantasy points to wide receivers last season.--Andersen Pickard
Source: RotoBaller

Sep 7, 2026, 10:19 AM ET

Tennessee Titans running back Tyjae Spears enters the season as No. 2 on the depth chart, but he still has the potential to carve out standalone value, especially in PPR leagues. The Titans have Tony Pollard set to handle early-down work and Nicholas Singleton at the bottom of the depth chart to offer a change of pace. However, Spears is a pass-catching specialist who should consistently work his way onto the field on passing downs. Through 13 games last year, he tallied 283 rushing yards, 45 catches, 264 receiving yards, and two total touchdowns. He finished as the RB44 in PPR leagues, but if he had been healthy for the full season, he likely would've cracked the top 36. Spears gets somewhat of a fresh start this year with new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, and he also opens the season with a softer matchup against the New York Jets. There's legitimate RB3/flex appeal here for managers in 10+ team PPR leagues.--Andersen Pickard
Source: RotoBaller

Sep 7, 2026, 10:00 AM ET

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy enters the 2026 season in a strong position. After a shoulder injury, Worthy struggled, hauling in 42 of 73 targets for 532 yards and one touchdown in 14 games. He suffered the injury on the first drive of the 2025 season, and it was reportedly "serious" and should have required season-ending surgery. Now that he and star quarterback Patrick Mahomes are healthy, Worthy hopes to regain form in 2026. With Eric Bieniemy back in Kansas City, Worthy hopes to be the new "Tyreek Hill" in this offense. With Rashee Rice not looking great in training camp, Worthy could be the lead receiver in 2026. He faces a tough Week 1 matchup against the Denver Broncos, but a big game on Monday night will make him a top addition on the waiver wire next week.--Nathan Harvey
Source: RotoBaller