Early games kick off soon, but the biggest news is probably from a later game. Adam Schefter has reported that the Rams are planning to start Royce Freeman at tailback, with Darrell Henderson the No. 2. Probably best to keep Zach Evans on the bench this week.
NFL reporters occasionally have bad sources or get deliberately misled, but Schefter in general is reliable enough that that's probably how things will go. Since Evans was the No. 3 a week ago, our guess in the Weekly was that with the top 2 (Kyren Williams and Ronnie Rivers) both headed to IR, Evans would get the nod in the starting lineup. Instead it will be Freeman, activated off the practice squad, and Henderson, signed this week, handling the workload. Myles Gaskin will reportedly be inactive.
In general, this makes me more encouraged by the passing game. I don't think Freeman's going to be out there racking up big rushing totals; Henderson either. But Evans (who was ranked fairly conservatively anyway, at 39-40 in the Friday Update) doesn't look safe to use.
In that same update, we had Gaskin, Henderson and Freeman all ranked between 42-53 in Standard and PPR rankings. I think Freeman now moves up into the 27-28 range -- that's about where I'd consider starting him, over most other teams' No. 2s. Ahead of Darrynton Evans and probably banged-up Kareem Hunt.
Other news: Christian McCaffrey (oblique) is expected to play tomorrow night for San Francisco. I'm starting him in the league I have him in, because he's Christian McCaffrey.
--Andy Richardson
