Dynasty News, Week 16

Photo: Joe Nicholson, USA Today Sports

We scour the news around the NFL to bring you what matters most to you and your dynasty team: the most current news on players, both superstars and the relative unknowns, and analysis to decipher the respective situations. These are many of the major stories and are not meant to be an exhaustive look at all the recent happenings around the league.

The Arizona Cardinals will be a team with clouds of doubt hovering as the 2023 season opens. Quarterback Kyler Murray, who signed a five-year, $230 million extension earlier this year, may not be ready for Week 1. Murray tore his ACL and is waiting until after Christmas to have surgery. The team is also expected to have a new coaching staff. Additionally, there is a chance that at least one of the two star receivers, Marquise Brown and DeAndre Hopkins, will not be back due to salary cap reasons caused by Murray’s new deal.

In his breakaway run against the Jets in Week 14, it was obvious that Ravens tailback J.K. Dobbins was favoring his injured leg. Baltimore still gave him the full complement of touches. After the New York game, he told reporters, “It’s still not me all the way yet,” referring to his lack of a full recovery from last year’s ACL injury. Dobbins continued, “I’m going to continue to get better, and hopefully those 100-yard games will start turning into 200-yard games, maybe … I’m still not in shape that I need to be in, because I would have never gotten caught,” With quarterback Lamar Jackson hopefully coming back this week, the Ravens are getting healthy at the right time. Dobbins and Gus Edwards make a formidable duo. He looked much improved Saturday against the Browns though we do not expect Dobbins to be fully healthy until next season. The loss to Cleveland was a tough one, and we expect the Baltimore offense to be much improved when Jackson returns to the field.

It was strange to see the Houston Texans waive Eno Benjamin last week, just a couple of weeks after claiming him from the Arizona Cardinals. The timing also was odd as Benjamin was waived the same day it was reported that Houston starting tailback Dameon Pierce would miss Sunday’s game against Kansas City. Something is going on with Benjamin. He was claimed by the New Orleans Saints, who just lost Mark Ingram to injured reserve with a knee injury. Ace beat reporter, Nick Underhill, reported that Benjamin was waived by both Arizona and Houston because of his "difficult personality." With the possibility of Alvin Kamara missing time in 2023 due to suspension, Benjamin has a chance to earn a long-term role. While talented, Benjamin will need to mix with the Saints' lockerroom culture to be on the team next season. Expect him to begin integrating into the New Orleans offense as soon as Week 16. There is not much talent for him to pass to see touches, just an aging David Johnson who saw four carries (for a meager 12 yards) against the Atlanta Falcons Sunday,

Jeremy Fowler tweeted yet another Odell Beckham update this past week, “Several NFL teams believe Odell Beckham is leaning toward sitting out the rest of the year and gearing up for free agency in March, per sources. ‘He’ll be the prize’ of the free agency receiver class, one executive said.” This scenario is becoming more likely as the days roll by with him still unsigned. Last Wednesday, Jordan Schultz tweeted, “Just spoke w/an NFL GM on Odell Beckham Jr ‘We would definitely be interested in him during the 2023 free agency cycle, but the sense has been for a while that he probably wouldn’t play this year, even in the playoffs. Teams are generally looking at him for ‘23 and ‘24 I’d say.’” Play-making receivers rarely make it to free agency, so Beckham will likely get the $20-plus million annual salary he is seeking. It is worrisome that his recovery from the knee injury (suffered in last year’s Super Bowl) has taken this long.