Fantasy Football 2023: Training Camp Roundup (8/28)

Training camps provide our first look into NFL players and teams as we prepare for the upcoming fantasy football season. Information will now begin to flood our social media timelines, leaving us to determine the subsequent fantasy impact. It’s a matter of knowing which information matters, and which should be ignored.

So each day in this space, we’ll take a trip through the top news and takeaways around the league’s training camps to offer up what fantasy managers need to know as we head through draft season and into the 2023 NFL regular season. 

Let’s take a look around preseason Week 3 and review the key takeaways.

Philadelphia 24, Atlanta 0

Kenny Pickett and the Steelers offense continued to look fantastic, jumping out to a 17-0 first-quarter lead. Both Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren scored touchdowns, but Harris saw the majority of work with the starters. The split between these two Pittsburgh running backs remains one of the most interesting storylines of the preseason. 

Indianapolis 27, Philadelphia 13

Colts rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson continued his up-and-down preseason. He showed off his rushing ability, tallying 38 yards on just five carries. However, his 6-of-17 passing efficiency only produced 48 yards. Can Richardson find better passing production while maintaining (and improving) his incredible rushing floor? 

Detroit 26, Carolina 17

Carolina rookie quarterback Bryce Young threw a first-quarter touchdown pass to Adam Thielen for his first TD pass of the preseason. Add in his 21 yards on the ground, and the first-overall pick looks ready to take the reins in Week 1 for the Panthers. 

Tennessee 23, New England 7

If Tennessee lead running back Derrick Henry gets injured, it appears Tyjae Spears is ready to go.

This year’s third-round pick from Tulane has impressed throughout the preseason in both the rushing and receiving game for the Titans. 

Los Angeles Chargers 23, San Francisco 13

San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy is ready for Week 1, connecting with Brandon Aiyuk on this 35-yard pass before rushing in a first-quarter touchdown. 

Sam Darnold was also named the QB2 before Trey Lance was traded to Dallas for a fourth-round draft pick. 

For the Chargers, it appears Joshua Kelley secured the team’s RB2 role behind Austin Ekeler after this 72-yard touchdown run. 

Kansas City 33, Cleveland 32

Kansas City running back Isiah Pacheco made his preseason debut after battling a shoulder injury that kept him out of the first two preseason games. Wide receiver Richie James played with the Chiefs starters, fueling the possibility he could see more opportunities with Kadarius Toney sidelined. 

Toney had been dealing with a shoulder injury that held him out most of training camp and the first two preseason games.

Buffalo 24, Chicago 21

Damien Harris entered the game and vultured a touchdown from James Cook, who took the first nine offensive snaps with the Bills. Cook saw the first six snaps on the second drive with Harris seeing two. Cook is an explosive back who will see the majority of passing-game work but is in danger of losing those critical goal-line touches to Harris during the season. 

Jacksonville 31, Miami 18

Rookie running back Tank Bigsby played 36% of snaps with the starters, cutting into the playing time for starter Travis Etienne. 

Bigsby averaged 6.2 yards per play but lost this fumble on the goal line.

Bigsby has seen a steady increase in his usage throughout the preseason and is a legitimate threat to Etienne’s workload. 

Jets 32, Giants 24

The big surprise here was veteran Randall Cobb starting over Mecole Hardman at wide receiver. With Corey Davis’ surprising retirement earlier this week, Cobb started in place of Allen Lazard, who missed practice earlier in the week.