The NFL preseason can be an interesting barometer for teams attempting to gauge talent on the back half of their rosters. Since top-tier talent is often relegated to the bench to avoid the risk of injury in an otherwise meaningless game, rookies and UDFAs frequently shine, catching the eye of savvy fantasy managers. Positive performances can place pressure (how about that for alliteration, eh?) on incumbent starters, or in some rare cases, they can pull a Wally Pip and usurp them entirely.
Below is a list of fantasy football players negatively affected by this NFL preseason, either due to their performance or those around them.
- 2024 Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- 2024 Fantasy Football Rankings
- 2024 Dynasty Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator
NFL Preseason Duds and Fallers (2024)
The top competition at the position this offseason occurred in Pittsburgh, where newly acquired Fields and Russell Wilson contended for the top spot in the Steel City. According to head coach Mike Tomlin, Wilson reportedly had an edge early on, but he was willing to allow the scenario to play out. Secretly, I think he was hoping for Fields (by far the more athletically gifted of the two options) to win the job. Unfortunately, that didn’t materialize. Fields’ numbers look okay at first glance, going 19-for-27 passing for 199 yards, but anyone who took the time to watch him on the field knows those numbers don’t tell the full story. Fields struggled with the center exchange multiple times and ran into a bevy of sacks while attempting to extend plays. He still flashed as a runner, but his reckless playstyle echoed his time in Chicago. Tomlin hemmed and hawed about initial deliberation on naming a starter but eventually came to his senses and chose Wilson.
Brooks’s inclusion here isn’t due to anything he had done offhand, but rather his lengthy recovery from a torn ACL suffered during his time at the University of Texas. That injury caused the Carolina Panthers to place Brooks on the PUP list to start the season. This is not a massive surprise per se, but many were hopeful that he wouldn’t need the additional four weeks before taking the field. During his absence, Chuba Hubbard will slide into the feature role, and he makes for a sneaky selection in the final few rounds of drafts. Once Brooks returns in Week 5 against the Chicago Bears, he will likely be eased into a complementary role rather than being fed 20-plus touches instantly. The Panthers square off against stiff competition after Week 5 before eventually reaching their bye in Week 11. After that, I’d expect Brooks to explode and be ranked as an every-week low-end RB1, similar to Jahmyr Gibbs.
White had a phenomenal end to his 2023 campaign from mid-December onward following Josh Jacobs succumbing to a quad injury in Week 14. Used in a feature role, White was given 20 or more touches per week and averaged over 100 all-purpose yards from scrimmage. A bowling-ball bruiser who bounces off tacklers, White was penciled in as a low-end RB2 for fantasy purposes entering draft season. Unfortunately, Las Vegas opted to make this a committee situation instead, handing Alexander Mattison and rookie Dylan Laube a bevy of touches. Should the RB by committee approach last into the regular season, White’s bell-cow status will evaporate, and any upside he had as a volume-based option will evaporate.
On August 22nd, news broke that the Washington Commanders were performing a rare in-division trade with the Philadelphia Eagles, shipping off explosive wideout Dotson and a fifth-round pick in exchange for a third-round pick and two seventh-round selections in 2025. It is unclear if Dotson was disenchanted with the coaching staff, wasn’t a fit for the system or if the team soured on his upside this year. Any hope for a breakout campaign is now dead in the water. The WR3 role in Philadelphia is void of fantasy relevance since the Eagles’ targets will be concentrated mainly toward A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Saquon Barkley. Dotson should still slide ahead of Parris Campbell and Britain Covey on the depth chart but can be largely ignored for fantasy purposes.
Acquired with the 31st overall pick in the first round by San Francisco, Pearsall was a favorite of fantasy managers who rely upon RAS metrics and agility scores. Pearsall drew comparisons to Christian Kirk, a large slot receiver who can line up anywhere if need be and use his route-running skills to create separation. Pearsall had a chance to create some real buzz when Brandon Aiyuk was in the midst of a contract dispute with the 49ers but instead was forced to nurse a shoulder injury that kept him sidelined for multiple weeks. Unable to play a single snap in a preseason game, he finally returned to practice this past Monday but has been spotted in a non-contact jersey. The hope is that San Francisco will ramp up his activity enough to be able to take the field during the September 9th opening game against the New York Jets, but the situation is still in flux.
Kmet’s stock was already in a free-fall with the offseason additions of Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze, and multiple preseason games demonstrated that he will now be splitting snaps and targets with veteran Gerald Everett. Kmet was initially ranked by ECR around the TE18 range (in a similar territory as Tyler Conklin or Hunter Henry) but is plummeting down ADP with each passing day. Since Chicago has so many mouths to feed with targets (I didn’t even mention D.J. Moore and D’Andre Swift earlier), Kmet is best left away from starting lineups and best used as a streamer during bye weeks instead.
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | SoundCloud | iHeartRadio
