NFL Player News

Broncos running back Ronnie Hillman will get the starting nod ahead of Montee Ball, then Knowshon Moreno, Jacob Hester and C.J. Anderson, according to the team's official depth chart for Week 1 against the Ravens.

Hillman led all running backs with 91 yards on 24 rushing attempts in the preseason. Ball had 25 carries for 80 yards and a touchdown on the ground in preseason. The Broncos may use a committee-type backfield approach this season between Hillman, Ball and Moreno.

The Rams officially finalized their 53-man roster Saturday by placing linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar and running back Isaiah Pead on the reserve/suspended list by the NFL.

St. Louis also released offensive lineman Ryan Lee with an injury settlement and placed tackle Ty Nsekhe on the waived/injured list.

In addition, the Rams waived the following 19 players from the roster: wide receiver Emory Blake, defensive end Mason Brodine, linebacker Sammy Brown, quarterback Austin Davis, safety Cody Davis, defensive tackle Garrett Goebel, safety Rashard Hall, tackle Sean Hooey, linebacker Josh Hull, receiver Nick Johnson, tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen, cornerback Andre Martin, tight end Zach Potter, fullback Eric Stevens, cornerback Drew Thomas, receiver Justin Veltung, tackle D.J. Young, defensive end R.J. Washington, and cornerback Darren Woodard.

The Vikings finalized their 53-man roster Saturday by placing guard Seth Olsen, full back Jerome Felton, tackle DeMarcus Love, wide receiver Greg Childs and defensive tackle Christian Ballard on the Reserve/Suspended List by the NFL.

In addition, Minnesota waived the following 19 players from the roster: tight end Colin Anderson, running back Joe Banyard, safety Brandan Bishop, guard Travis Bond, cornerback Brandon Burton, wide receiver Stephen Burton, defensive tackle Everett Dawkins, safety Darius Eubanks, cornerback Bobby Felder, tight end Chase Ford, tackle Brandon Keith, defensive tackle Anthony McCloud, linebacker Tyrone McKenzie, tackle Kevin Murphy, defensive tackle Spencer Nealy, defensive end D'Aundre Reed, wide receiver Rodney Smith, wide receiver Adam Thielen and defensive end Collins Ukwu.

Only first-rounder Anthony Castonzo remains from the 2011 draft by the Colts. That's because they waived second-round tackle Ben Ijalana and third-round defensive tackle Drake Nevis on Saturday, according to NBC Sports.

The following is a list of their other cuts: linebackers Monte Simmons and Daniel Adongo, safety Larry Asante, center Thomas Austin, cornerback Marshay Green, defensive end Lawrence Guy, quarterback Chandler Harnish, fullback Robert Hughes, tight end Dominique Jones, wide receivers Lanear Sampson, Jabin Sambrano and Jeremy Kelley, tackles Lee Ziemba and Bradley Sowell and nose tackle Martin Tevaseu.

The team also waived/injured tackle Emmett Cleary, linebacker Shawn Loiseau and cornerback Dax Swanson.

The Ravens have cut wide receiver Tandon Doss among eight players released Saturday, the team's official site reports. Doss, who at one time was in the running to be the team's No. 2 receiver, struggled in training camp and the preseason.

The other cuts made by the Ravens Saturday are as follows: Safety Omar Brown; Running back Bobby Rainey; Tight end Billy Bajema; Tight end Matt Furstenburg; Defensive tackle Cody Larsen; Tackle J.J. Unga; and Offensive lineman Antoine McClain.

The Bengals have announced that veteran offensive lineman Dennis Roland, who started 24 games for them in 2009 and 2010, has been waived.

The move was one of many cuts by the team on Saturday. The following players have also been released: wide receivers Cobi Hamilton, Taveon Rogers and Roy Roundtree, linebackers Bruce Taylor and J.K. Schaffer, cornerbacks Chris Lewis-Harris, Onterio McCalebb and Shaun Prater, offensive tackle Reid Fragel, safety Tony Dye, halfback Dan Herron, center T.J. Johnson, defensive end Dontay Moch, quarterback John Skelton, defensive tackle Terrence Stephens and guard John Sullen.

The Bengals also placed running back Bernard Scott (knee) on the Reserve/PUP list and linebacker Emmanuel Lamur (shoulder) on the Reserve/Injured list.

I thought I already had Darren McFadden ranked low enough when my colleague Jamey Eisenberg pointed out on Friday's edition of Fantasy Football Today that my rankings still reflected that I liked McFadden as a quality Flex. 

So I took a second look -- it didn't last long -- and decided to sink McFadden further. I just don't want him on my team. 

I took a dive into our player archives to dig up all of the injuries McFadden has had. You can find the long list in our "Defending Our Rankings" video here. Obviously he's injury prone but with shoulder, toe, hamstring and knee problems limiting him through his career the red flag on him is as big as can be. 

Now throw in the current state of the Raiders offense: The O-line is a mess. The quarterback situation is a mess. The receiving corps is a step above a mess. Nothing suggests McFadden will thrive like other rushers who are surrounded by weak skill-position players -- and that's if he can stay on the field. 

I don't hate McFadden as a low-end flex, but someone in every league I'm in will take him before I'm willing to. That's fine by me. 

The Bills have officially released 18 players from its roster on Friday, the team announced.

Players released were linebacker Kourtnei Brown, running back Zach Brown, cornerback Crezdon Butler, guard Antoine Caldwell, guard Zack Chibane, defensive back Jordan Dangerfield, tight end Dorin Dickerson, running back Kendall Gaskins, defensive lineman Jarron Gilbert, cornerback T.J. Heath, wide receiver Brandon Kaufman, quarterback Matt Leinart, linebacker Keith Pough, tight end Nick Provo, tackle Zebrie Sanders, linebacker Brian Smith and center David Snow.

The Jaguars have trimmed its roster down to 54 players after parting ways with backup quarterbacks Mike Kafka and Matt Scott on Friday, the team announced.

Players also released were wide receiver Jeremy Ebert, defensive end Pannel Egboh, running back Jonathan Grimes, linebacker Brandon Marshall, wide receiver Charly Martin, offensive tackle Pat McQuistan, guard Drew Nowak, cornerback Kevin Rutland, defensive tackle D'Anthony Smith, linebacker Julian Stanford and cornerback Marcus Trufant.

Wide receiver Toney Clemons and defensive end Ryan Davis were among the first-year players released. Defensive tackle T.J. Barnes, offensive tackle R.J. Dill, tight end Ryan Otten, wide receiver Tobais Palmer, safety Steven Terrell and linebacker Mike Zimmer were among the rookies released.

The preseason has gone from bad to worse for 49ers running back LaMichael James. He has been diagnosed with an MCL sprain and is out for three weeks, CSNBayArea.com is reporting.

The left knee injury was sustained Thursday night in the preseason finale at San Diego. James had gained just 28 yards in 16 carries in the preseason, but was to be used prominently on special teams.

The second-year back did not figure to see much playing time in the backfield behind Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter, who has played well in rebounding from an Achilles injury.