The summer is here, the UDK is out, and everyone’s in the best shape of their lives or ahead of schedule while recovering from a major surgery. What a time to be alive in the fantasy football space. With OTAs officially underway, the NFL news cycle is starting to heat up. At this time of the calendar, it’s easy to get lost in the weeds with every “news” blurb that’s being reported. What’s real? What’s fake? What matters? What doesn’t?
In this collaborative article, Matthew Betz and I will be reacting to the biggest news items of the week and giving our thoughts on how to adjust in the fantasy football market. This article is the second in the series, and we will have several more throughout the summer, depending on how voluminous the news is, but in July and August, when training camp opens up and the news is coming in fat and furious, we’ll have one of these articles every week.
Without further ado, here are the biggest storylines we’re currently monitoring from OTAs.
Editor’s Note: For continuously updated Rankings and Projections from Andy, Mike, and Jason, with context around those rankings, be sure to check out the 2025 Ultimate Draft Kit.
1. HC Brian Daboll says Malik Nabers is progressing with his toe injury.
Julia: News – On May 28, at the Giants’ second OTA, Nabers was not on the field due to a nagging toe injury. “We’re being mindful of his toe that he’s had,” said head coach Brian Daboll. “Nothing serious, but we’re being smart with him in terms of the rehab part of it.” Daboll continued, saying that this toe issue had been around since his LSU days. Nabers apparently did not have surgery on the toe in the off-season and would just need rest to get back to fighting shape. But here we are, about three weeks later, and Nabers still hasn’t made his way on the field to participate in drills. Now, Daboll is saying that Nabers will miss mandatory minicamp, but he is not concerned, and the team has a plan in place for his rehab. Look, we know Nabers is one of the best at the position; we saw it last year as he excelled catching passes from a hodgepodge of average at best QBs in New York. He finished with 1204 yards receiving, seven TDs, and a WR target share of 48%, but I still have some concerns that he isn’t able to be out there building a rapport with new QB Russell Wilson. My fears are calmed slightly by the fact that if it were serious, I feel like he would have had surgery by this point, but I still have added him to my Google alerts.
Betz: Newsish – I’m monitoring this one closely. Nabers has a toe injury that goes back to his time at LSU, so presumably, the Giants were aware of this when they took him last year in the NFL Draft. The injury affected him late during his rookie season as well and is now lingering into the spring/summer. We still have a couple of months until the start of the season, so I’m not necessarily worried about his early-season availability/effectiveness, but the fact that this same injury has been going on for years now suggests this could be a chronic issue that pops up every now and then. We don’t know the specifics of the injury, but if this is a big toe injury, it could potentially affect his explosiveness, especially off the line of scrimmage. For now, I’m watching this one closely.
2. Josh Reynolds is the “clear-cut favorite” for the Jets’ No. 2 WR job.
Julia: Noise – There are few names on the Jets past Garrett Wilson that shout “give me the ball,” so this could be something if Fields looks good in camp…but with a caveat. There are tons of vacated targets in New York, 186 combined from the departure of Davante Adams and Tyler Conklin; however, those targets are no longer coming from Aaron Rodgers. It is Justin Fields under center, and he has yet to eclipse a 2600 passing yard season during his time in the league. Look, I don’t hate Reynolds, but all the pros for drafting Fields are centered around his rushing ability, not his arm.
Betz: Noise – Since Justin Fields has been a starter in the NFL, his teams have registered a sub-55 (!!!) percent drop-back rate. For context, he’s averaged 23 pass attempts per start since he’s entered the league. No disrespect to Mr. Reynolds, but do we really want Fields’ WR2 in fantasy? The betting markets really aren’t expecting much from the former Bears and Steelers QB. His current yardage line on DraftKings is just 2,550.5 passing yards, while his passing TD line is 14.5. Meh.
3. WR Jack Bech is mostly working with the second team offense.
Julia: News – As a member of the Bech Boyz executive board, this news doesn’t excite me by any means. With ESPN’s Ryan McFadden reporting this week that rookie WR Jack Bech has seen “the majority of his reps” with the second-team offense, I get nervous about him being able to showcase his talent on the field. It is the players he is running behind that concerns me; Jakobi Meyers will obviously be the one, but Tre Tucker and rookie Dont’e Thornton are joining him with the first team offense. Tucker saw flashes in a couple of games last year, but only finished with 539 yards receiving, and Thornton stings the most. The difference in draft capital between the two rookies cannot be ignored, with Bech going in the second round, and Thornton in the fourth. Thornton is significantly taller and faster than Bech, so the team might want to use him in a specific spot – playing on the outside and stretching the field. It isn’t all doom and gloom; reports have said that Bech has flashed, but only with the second team. I think Las Vegas might want both rookies out there with Meyers, and we could see Bech take Tucker’s spot in the rotation. My abundance of Bech shares in dynasty certainly hope so. There is still a lot of time before the season, so I am not panicking quite yet; a lot can change as camp progresses.
Betz: Noise (For now) – It’s not necessarily ideal that Bech is starting with the second-team offense in mini camp and OTAs, but we need to be careful about making sweeping conclusions about depth charts in June. And let’s be honest, no one is drafting Bech (or any other non-first-round prospect) with the idea that they’ll be peaking in Week 1. When we think of rookie archetypes, we’re usually drafting them in redraft leagues with the hope that they emerge as the season progresses. The new regime didn’t draft Bech in Round 2 to play him behind Tre Tucker, who’s nothing more than a gadget/special-teams type of guy. Let’s see what happens in camp.
4. Sports Illustrated’s John Shipley believes Travis Etienne will start the season as the team’s RB1.
Julia: Noise – This was an offhand comment about the Jags RB room, and was more opinion than actual reporting. Shipley added to his comment about Etienne, saying that “all four (running backs will) get some run at some point.” To hold on to this RB1 role in Jacksonville, Etienne will have to clean a few things up. He averaged less than four yards per attempt in the last two seasons and only managed to find the endzone twice in 2024. This is a new regime (say it with me, Duuuvaaaaal), so if there is any chance that another RB can make a statement, it is this season. Andy’s favorite Tank Bigsby showed some promise last year, rookie Bhayshul Tuten has draft Twitter a fire with his college history of explosive runs, and rookie LeQuint Allen is one of the best pass-catching RBs to come out of this year’s draft. We have to see how the carries are distributed in training camp.
Betz: Neither – This was more of a fleeting thought from Shipley than an actual report. His direct quote from his early 53-man roster projection article: “No real surprises here. My guess is Travis Etienne is the lead running back, but all four get some run at some point.” I’m not really reacting to this at all, one way or another. Etienne is the veteran incumbent, so logically it would make sense that he would start the season as RB1 on the depth chart. If the drumbeat continues into mid-August, then sure, we could chalk this one up as news, but just like I noted with the Bech discussion above, we don’t define season-long depth charts in June, July, or August. If Etienne struggles, I suspect this new regime will be quick to give a look to the rookie, Bhayshul Tuten, or last year’s early down runner, Tank Bigsby. Among 54 RBs with 75+ carries last year, Etienne ranked 46th in YPC (3.72), 43rd in Stuff Rate, and 51st in missed tackles forced per attempt. On top of that, in early May, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote, “watch for fourth-round running back Bhayshul Tuten to make an impact. I’ve talked to multiple people in the league who believe the new regime is not so high on Travis Etienne Jr., and Tank Bigsby has a fumbling issue.” In dynasty formats, if I can capitalize in the trade market on this Etienne hype, I’m doing it.
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