BUFFALO: It’s too early to push the panic button, but Sammy Watkins didn’t do anything in the first preseason game that made him look like anything special. All 3 balls thrown his way were incomplete, and he got no separation on a long ball. Not that anybody should give up on Watkins, but right now Brandin Cooks of the Saints looks far more likely to be the best of the rookie receivers. The other starting receiver will be Mike Williams or Robert Woods. Williams got all the playing time with the first-team offense in the first preseason game. Woods made a bigger impact in the game (with 4 catches and a touchdown) but he didn’t get on the field until the ...
This report is taken from today's edition of the Fantasy Index Cheat sheet Update. The newsletter also includes our latest player rankings, camp reports, depth charts, complete stat projections, and access to the custom rankings generator. Haven't ordered yet? BUY IT NOW! Already a subscriber? LOG IN!
... first unit was gone. Woods, oddly, wasn’t even their No. 3 receiver when the starting offense played the first two series. ... Nice things have been written about Bryce Brown, the talented but inconsistent tailback the Bills picked up in a trade with Eagles. With Fred Jackson sitting at 33 years old, it’s reasonable to wonder if the Bills are mulling whether to put together a new tandem (which will include C.J. Spiller). They run the ball plenty (No. 2 in rushing last year), so they have room for two tailbacks. But there are things about Brown that coaches don’t like. The Eagles, of course, decided to dump him. They’d rather go with Chris Polk. And when the Bills released their initial depth chart, Brown was way down at No. 4, behind not only Spiller and Jackson but also Anthony Dixon. It serves as a reminder that while Brown is worth a late-round flyer as a high-upside gamble pick, he can’t really be counted on to do much of anything. And Dixon could play his way into this discussion. He’s kind of a tailback/fullback ‘tweener, and he has some special teams value. He’s too slow to be a featured back. But Dixon is their biggest back, and note that they have him listed as a tailback -- not a fullback. It’s early, but Dixon might be considered for some goal-line work. He got some of those carries with the 49ers -- scored a 1-yard touchdown in the NFC Championship against Seattle. In three years under Jim Harbaugh, Dixon went 8 of 13 when asked to pound out 1 yard to either score or keep a drive alive. Not great, but acceptable, and he’s got some experience. Jackson was their goal-line back last year, going 13 of 20 in crucial situations when 1 yard was needed (that’s 65 percent, slightly better than Dixon). Both Spiller and Brown have issues with not hitting holes decisively, so they’re less likely to be used at the goal line. In the preseason opener, nothing happened to indicate the running back mix would be much different than last year. Spiller and Jackson got the work early; there’s no reason to expect Spiller will suddenly take on a huge workload and become another Marshall Faulk. Dixon and Brown came in and worked with the twos. Brown posted the best numbers of the tailbacks -- 7 carries for 40 yards -- but had one carry at the 5-yard line where it looked like he could have put his head down and gained a couple of yards; instead, he tried to bounce it outside and lost a yard (which has been a flaw of his). Brown looks like a Spiller-type guy. Jackson is 33, but it doesn’t look like he’s an old man who can’t play anymore, so we’re expecting he’ll probably maintain his same role.