This article is part of our Training Camp Notes series.
Here are the most important fantasy football headlines from Tuesday.
-ESPN.com's Cameron Wolfe offered a general workload projection for Dolphins runners Jordan Howard and Matt Breida on Monday, suggesting that Howard take 50 percent of the team running back touches while Breida take 35 percent and play much more often than Howard in pass-catching situations. It's not clear whether Wolfe is relying on information obtained in his work as ESPN.com's Dolphins beat writer or if the projection is more of a common-sense suggestion. Patrick Laird, Myles Gaskin and Kalen Ballage would battle for the remaining 15 percent of touches in this scenario.
Howard is a reliable runner between the tackles and has shown some explosiveness in the past, but he also has a lengthy injury history at this point and can't do much more than pick up the blitz in passing situations. For him to safely outproduce Breida it might require the Dolphins defense to improve significantly, or else the Dolphins might be forced to turn to Breida in games sooner they'd like due to early point deficits. If the game flow in run-viable, though, then Howard should steadily accumulate numbers as long as the carries are there. He also appears the likely goal-line runner between the two.
Breida might have the lower floor due to his lesser workload in this projection, but it still might be true to say that Breida has more upside than Howard. If Howard gets hurt then Breida might become something of a short-term workhorse, whereas it's difficult to imagine a scenario where Howard's pass-catching production goes up. Breida is not only the much better pass catcher between the two, but he's also a strong runner in his own right, or so say his 1,902 rushing yards on 381 career NFL carries (5.0 YPC). Howard fails to get more pass-catching opportunities because he's just not very good at it, but Breida's rushing projection might only be limited so long as an alternative like Howard is available.
-Tennessee wideout A.J. Brown said he's heading into 2020 with improved conditioning. Brown criticized the energy level he showed late in games last year, saying he'd sometimes fail to maintain a consistent pad level through his routes, tipping off the route as a result when his pad level would fluctuate. It reflects well on the 23-year-old Brown that he pays attentions to such details and criticizes himself despite a rookie season that was an enormous success by any standard. As much as Brown will be vulnerable to major per-target yardage regression due to his unsustainably high average of 8.9 yards after the catch per catch last year (98th percentile), it's also important to remember that Brown is the sort of talent who could improve in other aspects to mitigate the effect of the YAC regression.
-Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson was activated from the COVID reserve list Tuesday, giving Philadelphia their best offensive lineman back. With any luck Johnson will get up to full speed soon, allowing him to work with former teammate and short-notice Brandon Brooks replacement Jason Peters at right guard. The Peters-Johnson combo on the right side could prove an important developing situation, because Brooks-Johnson established a high standard of play on the line. If a noticeable decline occurs there it could be a bit of a drag on the pass and run game both.
