![\"2025](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-Redraft-Draft-Kit-CTA.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFantasy Football Takeaways: NFL Preseason Week 3
\nPittsburgh\u2019s Backfield Surprise<\/p>\n
The preseason vibes aren\u2019t great for Steelers rookie running back Kaleb Johnson<\/a>. In Pittsburgh\u2019s final preseason game, running back Jaylen Warren<\/a> started and played on early downs for the first two drives, while former Eagles running back Kenneth Gainwell<\/a> played on third downs during those two drives. Johnson didn\u2019t enter the game until the third drive.<\/p>\n Maybe Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is simply following old-school protocol and deferring to veterans over rookies. But this is worrisome for Kaleb Johnson enthusiasts. FantasyPros\u2019 Real-Time ADP<\/a> showed Johnson at RB27 as of Monday \u2014 a price that suggests Johnson should at least be Flex-worthy.<\/p>\n If Johnson, a third-round draft pick, opens the season as the Steelers\u2019 No. 3 running back, he\u2019ll be dropped in thousands of leagues after Week 1.<\/p>\n Gainwell, whose average draft position<\/a> (ADP) is RB99, could become rosterable if he\u2019s able to hold off the rookie and hang onto the No. 2 role.<\/p>\n Less Is Moore<\/p>\n The Bears gave their starters a long look against the Chiefs on Friday night, letting quarterback Caleb Williams<\/a> play 28 snaps. Rome Odunze<\/a> was on the field for all of those snaps and had three catches for 45 yards and a touchdown on five targets. DJ Moore<\/a> played all but one snap with Williams and was targeted only once, catching a 14-yard pass on 3rd-and-a-mile.<\/p>\n In games that Moore and Keenan Allen<\/a> played together with the Bears last season, Allen had the higher target share. The chemistry between Williams and Moore seemed off last year, and it would be hard to blame Moore investors for being nervous about Williams targeting Odunze so heavily in Friday night\u2019s dress rehearsal.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been shying away<\/a> from Moore in drafts and will continue to do so.<\/p>\n Sampson Starts<\/p>\n With rookie second-rounder Quinshon Judkins<\/a> still unsigned, rookie fourth-rounder Dylan Sampson<\/a> was the Browns\u2019 starting running back Saturday night against the Rams. Sampson played five snaps and either carried the ball or ran a route on all of them.<\/p>\n Veteran Jerome Ford<\/a> came off the bench and played six snaps, also carrying the ball or running a route on all of his snaps.<\/p>\n Judkins\u2019 situation remains murky. Not only does he remain unsigned after missing all of training camp, but he could face a suspension under the NFL\u2019s personal conduct policy, even though prosecutors declined to charge Judkins following his July arrest for domestic violence.<\/p>\n It\u2019s premature to assume that Sampson\u2019s starter status in Cleveland\u2019s preseason finale will carry into Week 1. But Sampson will have a prominent role in the Browns\u2019 offense, at least until Judkins is signed and ready to play. Until that happens, we should probably assume something close to a 50\/50 workload split between Sampson and Ford.<\/p>\n TeSlaa Aces Early Tests<\/p>\n The Lions traded a pair of future third-round draft picks to trade up in the third round of this year\u2019s draft to take receiver Isaac TeSlaa<\/a>. It looks as if Lions GM Brad Holmes knew what he was doing.<\/p>\n In four preseason games \u2014 the Lions had an extra one with the Hall of Fame Game \u2014 TeSlaa has 10 receptions for 146 yards and three touchdowns, and a few of those catches were highlight-reel material.<\/p>\n TeSlaa has likely surpassed oft-injured veteran Tim Patrick<\/a> to become Detroit\u2019s No. 3 receiver behind Amon-Ra St. Brown<\/a> and Jameson Williams<\/a>, and the rookie might be one injury away from fantasy relevance. TeSlaa is only draftable in the deepest of fantasy leagues, but he\u2019s worth putting on waiver wire<\/a> speed dial.<\/p>\n Houston Backfield Check-In<\/p>\n Texans running back Joe Mixon<\/a> continues to be sidelined by a foot injury, and there has been no indication that his return is imminent. The Texans held running back Nick Chubb<\/a> out of their last preseason game along with the rest of the starters, which means he\u2019s a near-lock to start until Mixon is back.<\/p>\n Dameon Pierce<\/a> was Houston\u2019s starting running back against the Lions on Saturday, playing 10 snaps and carrying seven times for 17 yards. Rookie running back Woody Marks<\/a> came in on the Texans\u2019 second drive and wound up with 6-19-1 rushing and 3-20-1 receiving.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to tell how Pierce and Marks will be used while Mixon is out, but it seems as if Pierce still outranks Marks, at least for early-down snaps. However, Marks might be better qualified for passing-down work.<\/p>\n A Good Sign for \u2018Bill\u2019<\/p>\n Jacory Croskey-Merritt<\/a>, AKA \u201cBill,\u201d and Austin Ekeler<\/a> were held out of the Commanders\u2019 final preseason game, but Chris Rodriguez<\/a> started and played eight snaps. That suggests Rodriguez, despite starting ahead of Croskey-Merritt a week earlier, is probably the No. 3 running back in Washington, with Croskey-Merritt likely to start and be the primary early-down back.<\/p>\n Still, Rodriguez is a worthwhile late-round flier. Commanders head coach Dan Quinn last week said that Rodriguez will get some short-yardage usage, which could mean valuable goal-line work.<\/p>\n Bits and Pieces<\/p>\n Saints wide receiver Chris Olave<\/a> is getting a lot of slot snaps in head coach Kellen Moore\u2019s offense. Yes, there are concussion and quarterback concerns with Olave, but slot usage should funnel some easy completions toward Olave and bolster his fantasy value. Subscribe: YouTube<\/a> | Spotify<\/a> | Apple Podcasts<\/a> | iHeart<\/a> | Castbox<\/a> | Amazon Music<\/a> | Podcast Addict<\/a> | TuneIn<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before we turn our attention to the NFL regular season, let\u2019s examine the developments from the final week…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98229,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,514,82],"class_list":["post-98228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Fantasy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/fantasy_football_draft_cheat_sheet-1024x576.jpg\")
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\nBroncos wide receiver Marvin Mims<\/a> continued to play full-time with the starters. It looks like Mims will be more than just a gadget guy this year. He\u2019s a worthwhile late-round pick. So is second-year Broncos wide receiver Troy Franklin<\/a>, who played with Broncos quarterback Bo Nix<\/a> at the University of Oregon and appears to have ascended to No. 3 on Denver\u2019s wide receiver depth chart.
\nRookie running back Ollie Gordon<\/a> has looked good in the preseason. He had eight carries for 48 yards in the Dolphins\u2019 regular-season finale, and the sixth-round pick seems to be pushing his way past Jaylen Wright<\/a> for the No. 2 spot on Miami\u2019s running back depth chart behind De\u2019Von Achane<\/a>. Wright, who missed the preseason finale with a leg injury, is no longer a reasonable late-round flier in fantasy drafts.
\nRookie running back Cam Skattebo<\/a>, a fourth-round draft pick, got his first taste of preseason action for the Giants after recovering from a hamstring injury, playing 10 snaps and carrying three times for 12 yards. Skattebo could eventually push Tyrone Tracy Jr.<\/a> for lead-back status, but for now, Skattebo might be No. 3 on the depth chart behind Devin Singletary<\/a>.
\nThe Rams held second-year running back Blake Corum<\/a> out of their final preseason game but played rookie Jarquez Hunter<\/a>. If you\u2019re intent on handcuffing lead running back Kyren Williams<\/a>, Corum looks like the preferred option.<\/p>\n![\"FantasyPros](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/draft_wizard_ken_walker.jpg\")
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