We are less than 50 days away from NFL kickoff, and nothing can contain our excitement. Best ball drafts are in full swing, home league drafts are being planned, and your commissioner is already hounding that one person in the group chat to pay their league dues. Smell that? It smells like football season is approaching.

And while we are all eagerly waiting for that first Thursday Night Football game, we did get some updates on upcoming suspensions and players who have question marks surrounding their availability for upcoming training camps or legitimate concerns as to whether they'll be able to play Week 1.

Important NFL News Updates

This isn't to say we should stop drafting these players, but it does mean if you're doing early drafts, you need to be comfortable if some of them give you zeros—it's important to always have a plan.

Rashee Rice (WR, KC): Sentenced to 30 days of jail time and five years of probation for his part in a multi-car crash that happened last year, per Adam Schefter. In terms of the jail time, Rice can serve the 30 days at any point during the five-year probationary period. The NFL can now go through its process, and we should likely expect a multi-game suspension for the upcoming season, but we'll have to wait until they make and announce their decision.

Jordan Addison (WR, MIN): Had a trial on Thursday for his DUI case, and his agent tweeted that Addison "decided to plead to a lesser included vehicular offense, commonly referred to as a ‘wet reckless.’” Schefter then reported that the NFL is now expected to decide on Addison's discipline—again, we have no clear number of games that Addison could be suspended, but we should expect something soon. 

Najee Harris (RB, LAC): We knew this was coming, but Harris was officially placed on the active/non-football injury list by the Chargers on Thursday. GM Joe Hortiz said that Harris isn't expected to remain on the NFI list for long, but missing any portion of training camp for a running back on a new team (even as a veteran in the NFL) is not a great start. Harris sustained an eye injury during the 4th of July, but can come off the NFI list at any time. If he, for some reason, were to remain on the list after the 53-man roster is set, then he would have to miss at least four games.

Anthony Richardson (QB, IND): This is actually good news, I promise! ESPN has reported that Richardson "is believed to have recovered from his recent right shoulder setback.” The Colts report to training camp next week, and this is a step in the right direction for Richardson because of the quarterback battle the team is having between him and Daniel Jones. Any potential time that Richardson was going to miss heading into camp was going to set him back in evaluations. This at least evens the playing field a bit.

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Great Players, Brutal Opening Schedules

In Guillotine Leagues™, September is the most important month of the year. After half a year of anticipation and speculation, September finally rolls around with four weeks of NFL games.

Of course, Guillotine players are hyper-focused on September, because nobody wants the indignity of getting chopped in the first month of the season. Your roster will become increasingly powerful as the season goes along, so surviving September is of paramount importance. It only takes one dud game to end your season.

And guess what? Even the best fantasy players are not immune to a dud game, especially when their schedule is working against them.

Paul Charchian highlights four players—one at each position—who open the 2025 fantasy season with less-than-favorable schedules and why drafters should have pause … even if some of them are Round 1-2 selections …

FADE THIS 2ND-YEAR RB?

Fantasy

Breaking Through Forced Missed Tackles For Fantasy Glory

Comparing football to baseball is sometimes a fool’s errand. After reading this newsletter, search for George Carlin’s hilarious comparison. Before that, Chris Allen takes a more straightforward approach, taking a look at how forced missed tackles and barrel rate both measure consistent explosiveness to uncover who are the home run hitters in both sports.

Taking a hard look at forced missed tackles and who are some of the best running backs, and even receivers, can help to identify those players who can go deep for your fantasy rosters. These players fighting for extra yards can turn a 10-yard play into a 35-yard gain, which is an extra 2.5 fantasy points. That can be the difference in a win and loss, all on one play. Here are some of the players to target. 🎯

IS KENNETH WALKER UNDERVALUED?