This article is part of our Training Camp Notes series.
Here are some of the top fantasy football headlines from Friday.
-Friday lived up to the week's theme of big running back headlines, the news in today's case being Washington's release of Adrian Peterson and the subsequent skyrocketing of Antonio Gibson in the draft market. After previously falling toward the end of the 10th round in drafts, Gibson's unique upside is likely to propel him toward the first five rounds of PPR drafts. Gibson is likely raw after playing wide receiver for almost all of his collegiate career, but his natural abilities might be so substantial that they compel Washington to feed him anyway. Prior reporting from the Athletic indicated Peyton Barber and J.D. McKissic were ahead of second-year fourth-round pick Bryce Love, but each of those three offers different traits and could theoretically see their workloads rise in certain scenarios depending on the task. McKissic stands out from the other three for his pass-catching ability, while Barber might be a between-the-tackles specialist.
Peterson intends to keep playing, in any case, and by the afternoon at least three teams had reached out to Peterson, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.
-The Bears named Mitchell Trubisky their starting quarterback for Week 1, leaving Nick Foles the loser of the team's quarterback competition after the Bears traded a fourth-round pick for him earlier in the offseason. Trubisky was profoundly dysfunctional in 2019 and presumably has a short leash given the trade investment in Foles, but he might have more fantasy upside than Foles due to much better running ability. Trubisky's rushing production would potentially be at the expense of the from-scrimmage production of the skill position players, on the other hand, so Foles might be the better quarterback for the projections of the Bears running backs and pass catchers.
-In a concerning development, the Jaguars added Ryquell Armstead to the COVID reserve list Friday, which marks Armstead's second stint on the list. That he was added to the list doesn't necessarily mean that he tested positive, but regardless of the circumstances around the transaction it rules out practice time for Armstead that he probably needed to preserve his role in the offense. The little time he was present for training camp was abbreviated due to nagging leg muscle injuries. Armstead was the favorite to lead the Jaguars running game in light of Leonard Fournette's release, but with Armstead's latest setback Devine Ozigbo pulls even at the least. Rookie James Robinson might not be far behind those two, however, and none of the previously named trio project for much pass-catching opportunity as long as Chris Thompson is healthy.
-The Dolphins cut Josh Rosen, sending the cursed 2018 top-10 pick to waivers with two years and about $3.6 million left on his contract, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. That might be cheap enough for some team to claim him on waivers, but if not he should find a new team quickly enough. Rosen has been quite bad, but he's still only 23 and it's difficult to downplay how poor his playing conditions have been. As much as he's likely not good, it's probably a bad idea to issue a final verdict on a player who was as good in college as Rosen was just because at 22 he was outplayed by a veteran in the midst of the second-best season of his 15-year career.
-Friday also featured further fallout from the Leonard Fournette signing, as Tampa Bay cut presumed passing-down back and special teams captain Dare Ogunbowale. There was never any reason to believe Ogunbowale would do much from scrimmage even before the signings of Fournette and LeSean McCoy, and the latter veteran directly vultured the passing-down role previously held by Ogunbowale. Although Ronald Jones is still referred to as the team's lead running back by coach Bruce Arians, at the very least the Buccaneers made the backfield more competitive by replacing Peyton Barber with Fournette and Ogunbowale with McCoy. None of that is convenient for fantasy investors of any of the players involved, of course. It's basically fine print at this point, but it's also worth noting that the team cut rookie seventh-round pick Raymond Calais, who presumably will go to the Buccaneers practice squad if he goes unclaimed on waivers.
KICKER NEWS
The Rams are going with Sam Sloman and the Buccaneers cut Matt Gay in favor of Ryan Succop. Both roles could prove enviable for fantasy football purposes.
