Denver Broncos

Denver Broncos running back Audric Estime (ankle) was placed on injured reserve on Wednesday, forcing him to miss at least four games. The rookie running back had a limited role in the Week 1 26-20 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, totaling two rushing attempts for 14 yards, including a 12-yard rush. While the former Notre Dame star was the No. 3 running back on the depth chart, his time on injured reserve could open up playing time for Blake Watson. The undrafted free-agent running back is worth adding in dynasty and deeper redraft leagues. Meanwhile, Javonte Williams and Jaleel McLaughlin should again receive most of the backfield workload in the Week 2 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Denver Broncos offense could not consistently move the football in the Week 1 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at Lumen Field, but Lutz was still able to have a strong fantasy day thanks to the Broncos offense not being able to capitalize on good field position throughout the day. Lutz finished the day a perfect 3-for-3 on his field-goal tries, with a long of 45 yards. He also hit his only extra point to finish as a top-10 fantasy kicker in the games through Sunday night. Lutz's other two field goals were good from 30 and 35 yards out. It was a nice first game of the 2024 season for the 30-year-old booter, but the Broncos offense under rookie first-round quarterback Bo Nix is going to need to show improvement for Lutz to be considered an option as a streaming fantasy kicker in standard-sized 12-team leagues.

The good news for Denver Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton in the team's 26-20 Week 1 loss to the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on Sunday was that he led the team with 12 targets. However, Sutton could only connect with rookie first-round quarterback Bo Nix four times for just 38 receiving yards in a day in which Nix looked a bit overmatched in his NFL debut against a fired-up defense in a hostile environment. The 28-year-old Sutton is certainly going to have ups and downs in 2024 while working with a rookie signal-caller. It's clear that Nix is going to target Sutton plenty as the WR1 in Denver, but Sutton's fantasy managers couldn't have been thrilled with rookie Devaughn Vele drawing eight targets of his own in his NFL debut. The Pittsburgh Steelers won't pose a much easier matchup in Week 2, where Sutton will set up as a touchdown-dependent WR4/flex.

Denver Broncos rookie wide receiver Devaughn Vele made a statement in his NFL debut on Sunday in Week 1 against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. Vele didn't have a banner day by any means with just 39 receiving yards, but his eight receptions (on eight targets) surprisingly led the team on a day in which the Broncos offense couldn't really move the ball at all consistently in rookie first-round quarterback Bo Nix's NFL debut. Vele caught all eight of the balls thrown his way in this one and was tied for second in targets with Josh Reynolds, behind Courtland Sutton's 12. Vele, a seventh round pick this year, wasn't targeted very far beyond the line of scrimmage with his eight receptions, but just that fact that he commanded that much attention from Nix is notable. The 26-year-old seems to have developed some good chemistry with his QB and is worth a look in deeper fantasy leagues as a waiver pickup.

Denver Broncos wide receiver Josh Reynolds had a positive debut with the Broncos in their Week 1 loss on the road at Lumen Field against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday by a score of 26-20. Nobody in the Broncos offense really had a great game, but Reynolds caught five of his eight targets for a team-high 45 yards receiving. His eight targets were tied with rookie Devaughn Vele and were second on the team behind Courtland Sutton's 12. Nothing about Denver's offense under rookie first-round quarterback Bo Nix was really that impressive, and the young signal-caller spread the ball around, which is mostly bad news for all of Denver's pass-catchers. For now, Reynolds should remain on the waiver wire in standard-sized 12-team leagues as he battles for targets as the WR2 in Denver with Vele, Marvin Mims Jr. and Lil'Jordan Humphrey.