NFL Player News

During an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, coach Kevin O'Connell declined to shed much light on the upcoming QB competition between Murray and J.J. McCarthy, Nick Shook of NFL.com reports.

As training camp approaches, O'Connell has yet to declare a QB pecking order, though he did offer brief assessments of the team's top three signal callers, as well as his general approach to evaluating the position. "Kyler has come in and done a great job," O'Connell noted of the team's offseason free-agent acquisition. "J.J., I think, has benefit[ed] from it; he's had a really good spring. Carson Wentz is the veteran quarterback in the room. As a guy who's played seven or eight quarterbacks in four years, the two years we had our starter play the whole season, we won 13 and 14 games. So we want to try to get back to the standard of having the quarterback position be a driving force behind us winning by doing their job, by hopefully activating the great players they get to play with." Valuable context regarding this looming job battle is slated to arrive once training camp commences later this month, but at this stage Murray profiles as the favorite to draw Minnesota's Week 1 start.

John Shipley of SI.com considers Boerkircher the favorite to secure the Jaguars' No. 2 TE role behind Brenton Strange.

Strange inked a lucrative extension with the team last month and remains Jacksonville's clear-cut No. 1 TE on the heels of a 46-catch effort in 12 regular-season games in 2025. Boerkircher -- whom the Jaguars took 56th overall in the 2026 NFL Draft -- is thus slated to compete with fellow rookie Tanner Koziol, as well as returnees Quintin Morris and Hunter Long for slotting behind Strange ahead of Week 1. After logging a total of 38 career catches through five collegiate seasons, Boerkircher figures to make his initial mark as a pro in the blocking game, with the 24-year-old's long-term fantasy upside hinging on whether he's able to make strides as a pass catcher down the road.

Though Hunter (knee) is on track to participate in training camp, Ryan O'Halloran of The Florida Times-Union relays that the CB/WR's snaps will likely be managed early on.

As O'Halloran notes, Hunter will be seeing his first team work since Oct. 30, 2025, so the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft figures to be eased back into the mix as he rebounds from an LCL injury. As the coming campaign approaches, the Jaguars plan to utilize Hunter as both a cornerback and wideout, with the 23 year-old's fantasy lineup utility in formats that don't factor in IDP stats hinging on what sort of workload he's able to carve out in a crowded Jaguars pass-catching corps that also includes fellow WRs Brian Thomas, Jakobi Meyers and Parker Washington, as well as TE Brenton Strange.

Brissett, who is in the midst of a contract dispute with the Cardinals, posted a photo Thursday on Instagram that showed him getting in some work recently with several teammates, Tyler Drake of Arizonasports.com reports.

As he strives for new contract terms, Brissett stayed away from Arizona's voluntary work this offseason, and while the veteran signal-caller was present for the team's mandatory minicamp last month, he did not participate in practice. That he connected with WRs Marvin Harrison and Simi Fehoko, TEs Trey McBride and Elijah Higgins along with fellow QB Kedon Slovis ahead of training camp is a positive sign, but it remains to be seen if or for how long Brissett's contract issue lingers once the Cardinals re-take the field. For now, Drake notes that Brissett remains the team's expected Week 1 starter, but Gardner Minshew (who took the majority of first-team QB reps this offseason) and 2026 third-rounder Carson Beck also could enter the conversation this summer, pending Brissett's status.

As the regular season approaches, Cameron DaSilva of USA Today notes that Parkinson is expected to remain the Rams' No. 1 tight end.

During the 2025 regular season, Parkinson made his mark by catching 43 of his 56 targets for 408 yards and eight TDs in 15 contests. Though Los Angeles' current TE room is crowded, with Tyler Higbee, Terrance Ferguson, Max Klare and Davis Allen also in the mix, DaSilva relays that Parkinson should be the Rams' primary inline tight end once again and will almost always be on the field when the team deploys TE-heavy sets. In that context, the 27-year-old retains a modest degree of fantasy utility in a passing attack that continues to feature high-volume WRs Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, in particular if Parkinson retains a key red-zone role in 2026.

As the coming season approaches, Johnson is set to compete for depth slotting in a Pittsburgh backfield led by Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle, Brian Batko of the Steelers' official site reports.

Johnson, whom the Steelers took in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft, recorded just 28 carries for 69 yards and one catch for nine yards over 10 regular-season games as a rookie. With Warren and Dowdle clearly atop the team's RB depth chart in 2026, Johnson doesn't have a clear path to steady carries in his second year as a pro. Also in the backfield mix are Travis Homer, Lew Nichols and rookie seventh-rounder Eli Heidenreich, but in any case Johnson will be off the fantasy lineup radar as long as Warren and Dowdle are available.

Arroyo will enter training camp as a candidate to secure an expanded role on offense with the Seahawks, Justin Melo of USA Today reports.

Arroyo is expected to see more opportunities in 2026 after catching 15 passes for 179 yards and one touchdown across 13 regular-season games as a rookie. AJ Barner remains atop Seattle's depth chart, but Arroyo's athleticism gives him a path to increased usage in passing situations and two-tight end sets. Injuries limited Arroyo's involvement last season, so better health could be all the 2025 second-rounder requires to take a notable step forward.

Hunter (knee) is expected to be fully cleared for the start of training camp, Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network reports.

Hunter remains on track to be fully cleared for training camp after undergoing surgery to repair the LCL injury that ended his rookie season, as GM James Gladstone first said back in May. Jacksonville still plans to use him on both sides of the ball, which clouds Hunter's fantasy ceiling in an already crowded WR corps. Still, a strong camp would give Hunter a path to establish a defined role on offense before Week 1, even with all of Brian Thomas, Jakobi Meyers, Parker Washington and recently extended tight end Brenton Strange vying for targets from quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

Ferguson remains the Cowboys' unquestioned starting tight end ahead of training camp, Chris Amaya of ExpressNews.com reports.

Ferguson signed a four-year, $50 million extension with Dallas last offseason, so the 27-year-old remains positioned as Dak Prescott's top target at the tight end position for the foreseeable future. He caught 82 passes for 600 yards and eight touchdowns while suiting up for all 17 regular-season games last year, giving him a steady fantasy floor through volume and red-zone usage. It's worth noting, though, that Ferguson's average depth of catch has dropped in three consecutive seasons, from 10.7 yards in 2023 to 8.4 in 2024, then just 7.3 yards per catch in 2025.

Ahead of training camp, Jared Koch of SI.com projects that Hutchinson slots in as the No. 4 option in a WR corps that also includes Nico Collins, Jayden Higgins, Jaylin Noel, Tank Dell (knee) and Lewis Bond.

Collins remains Houston's clear-cut top wideout, with Koch having noted last month that Higgins and Noel both logged frequent reps in the first-team offense on the outside and in the slot, respectively. Hutchinson's role in 2026 is thus TDB, with Dell's ongoing recovery from a knee injury a notable moving part in that regard. In 17 regular-season games in 2025, Hutchinson compiled a 35-428-3 line on 57 targets, but steady volume may not be in the cards for the 2023 sixth-rounder out of the gate this season unless injuries hit the Texans' WR corps.