- TheLas Vegas Raidersdeclare their top wide receiver:Tre Tucker was among the starters who didn’t play in this game, while Jalen Nailor played, suggesting Las Vegas views Tucker as their top wide receiver.
- TheHouston Texans adjust withoutJayden Higgins: Their second-year receiver tore his ACL earlier in the week, leaving Xavier Hutchinson as their Z receiver.
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PFF’s fantasy football recap focuses on player usage and stats, breaking down all the vital information you need to achieve fantasy success in 2026
Las Vegas Raiders @Houston Texans
Tre Tuckeris the Raiders’ top receiver: Tucker was among the Raiders’ wide receivers who didn’t play in this game, suggesting he is the top wideout on the pecking order
Tucker was the Raiders’ top wide receiver last season once the team traded Jakobi Meyers. He was their Z receiver, while Tyler Lockett played in the slot, and Dont’e Thornton Jr. and Jack Bech both played X. The Raiders shook up the wide receiver room, adding free agent Jalen Nailor as their X receiver, not re-signing Lockett and moving Bech to the slot, where many anticipated he would play when coming out of college. That is how Las Vegas used its three receivers in the first preseason game
It was debatable which of the wide receivers was considered their top option, with Tucker having the earlier ADP on ESPN and Nailor having it on Yahoo!, and experts being divided on which wide receiver to rank higher. The fact that Tucker rested with the starters while Nailor played into the second quarter suggests that Tucker should be the top option, and the one ranked higher
It was also notable that sixth-round rookie wide receiver Malik Benson took Tucker’s spot at Z, rather than Bech. Nailor left the game before the rest of the players who started this game, and when that happened, Bech started seeing more playing time outside. This suggests that even if Tucker were to suffer an injury, Bech wouldn’t see an increase in playing time. That will make it very difficult for Bech to find fantasy value this season.
Thornton missed multiple practices with an undisclosed injury. He missed the first preseason game and was able to do some agility work early in the week. However, Benson has played well enough in training camp to suggest he might be ahead of Thornton on the depth chart at this point
The Raiders signed veteran wide receiver Noah Brown this past week to add depth to the wide receiver room. He also primarily plays on the outside. Considering Tucker appears locked in as the Z receiver and Benson appears to be a player on the rise, Las Vegas made this move either because they it wasn’t entirely happy with Nailor or with Bech. We could see Brown cutting into either player’s playing time at some point this season
If you wanted to spend a late-round pick on a Raiders wide receiver, Tucker appears to be the clear option at this point
The Texans adjust withoutJayden Higgins: Their up-and-coming second-year wide receiver tore his ACL in practice and will miss the season
Last season, Houston had Nico Collins as its X receiver, Higgins and Xavier Hutchinson in a rotation as the Z receiver and Christian Kirk in a rotation with Jaylin Noel in the slot. Houston allowed Kirk to leave in free agency, while Tank Dell, who tore his ACL, MCL and LCL in 2024, is expected to be ready to play sooner rather than later. Dell also primarily played the Z receiver role in the past, so Hutchinson was seeing more time in the slot, as was Higgins
Houston was without most of its receivers for this game. Collins was among the starters who rested, while Dell is still being eased back into action. Noel returned to practice this week after missing nearly three weeks due to hamstring and finger injuries. Although he returned to practice,he was held out for this game.
While Hutchinson was the only top-five wide receiver playing, it was worth noting he played on the outside for seven of his eight snaps, with his one snap out of the slot coming out of 12 personnel. Last week, there were four plays out of 11 personnel where Hutchinson was lined up in the slot. Justin Watson was the slot receiver with the starters in this game. C.J. Stroud was pulled after the first drive, as were Hutchinson and running back Woody Marks. Every other wide receiver outside of Hutchinson who played on the first drive carried on with the backups on the second drive.
This suggests Hutchinson was going to play more in the slot, but the injury to Higgins will likely return Hutchinson to his Z position. He will likely start there in Week 1, and will rotate with Dell throughout the season. This is good news for Noel once he’s healthy, as he might have the slot role to himself and not need to rotate with Higgins or Hutchinson. If he rotates with anyone, it will likely be Watson
A wide open competition for the backup tight end spot: Houston heavily invested in the position this off-season
Dalton Schultz has been the clear-cut lead tight end for Houston since 2023, and he suddenly becomes a top sleeper option with Higgins’ injury. He was among the veterans who sat out this game. Houston struggled at the backup tight end position last year, with Brevin Jordan missing the season and Cade Stover being sidelined for half of the year. Houston brought in reinforcements this offseason with second-round rookie Marlin Klein and Foster Moreau
Houston had a clear-cut rotation last week, with Klein as the lead tight end, with Moreau joining him in 12 personnel and taking three of the 11 snaps out of 11 personnel. Then Klein exited the game, and Stover took over on the third drive, leading to three possessions with Stover and Moreau splitting snaps. This suggested a clear hierarchy of Klein, Moreau and Stover
This week, that pecking order was out the window. All three tight ends played on the first drive, with each receiving at least one snap in 11, 12 and 13 personnel. The three carried on throughout the first half, with Moreau being the most common tight end out of 11 personnel, and Stover as the most common in 12 personnel. It’s unclear if Jordan will complicate this situation given his injury
The second tight end in Houston won’t have any fantasy value as long as Schultz is healthy. Unless one of these players emerges as the clear backup in passing situations, it’s unlikely one will carry fantasy value even if Schultz suffers an injury this season
Miscellaneous Notes
- The Raiders rested their key starters, including quarterback Kirk Cousins, running back Ashton Jeanty, wide receiver Tre Tucker and tight ends Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer.
- The Texans rested their top few veterans, including running back David Montgomery, wide receiver Nico Collins and tight end Dalton Schultz.
- Backup running back Jawhar Jordan (strained hip flexor), fullback British Brooks (broken hand) and tight end Brevin Jordan (knee) are among those who also haven’t been practicing recently.
San Francisco 49ers@Los Angeles Chargers
Oronde GadsdenII becomes undraftable: Gadsden did not receive a snap on the Chargers‘ first two drives
Los Angeles added Mike McDaniel as offensive coordinator and made significant changes to its tight end room. The Chargers added former Browns starting tight end David Njoku as well as Baltimore Ravens run-blocking tight end Charlie Kolar. They join Gadsden
McDaniel consistently had a three-man tight end rotation in Miami, with players like Julian Hill as a blocker, Durham Smythe as a well-rounded tight end and names like Jonnu Smith, Mike Gesicki, Tanner Conner, Greg Dulcich and Darren Waller taking a receiving role at various times. Gadsden appeared like the tight end most similar to his receiving tight ends, which made it seem like he had the most fantasy value
In the first preseason game, Kolar and Njoku rested with the starters, while Gadsden played with the rest of the backups. This week, the Chargers used Kolar and Njoku on two drives. They exited the game after those two series, with Gadsden starting to play on the third. On those two drives, Kolar took every snap in 11 personnel, the two shared the field on 12 personnel and Njoku played more than Kolar in 21 personnel
There is at least a small possibility that Gadsden is still the primary receiving tight end on third downs and two-minute drills. There were three third downs on the first two drives, and they were all for 3 yards or fewer. It’s common enough for a team to use its heavy personnel in those situations. However, looking at the past few years, McDaniel has often kept the receiving tight end on the field in these situations
This not only makes Gadsden not draftable, but it also makes it possible Kolar is a sleeper tight end. It could be hard to draft him without knowing how much Gadsden might play in obvious passing situations. However, this could be a two-man tight end room, with Njoku as the blocking tight end. In that case, Kolar could be in an excellent situation to have fantasy value
Keaton Mitchellremains the RB2: Mitchell took every snap on the second and third drive before Kimani Vidal played his first offensive snap
The Chargers had a strong one-two punch at running back last season in Omarion Hampton and Vidal when both running backs were healthy. Los Angeles added Mitchell in free agency on the suggestion of offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel. Mitchell is the running back in the league most similar to De’Von Achane in terms of size and speed, and Achane was among the league’s top running backs in McDaniel’s offense
It’s unclear exactly how snaps will be distributed between the running backs, but it’s becoming more likely this is a two-man rotation instead of three. In the first week of the preseason, Mitchell and Hampton both rested with the starters, while Vidal played. This week, Hampton started and played each of the three snaps. Ideally, we would have seen a longer drive to see how early in the drive Mitchell may have rotated in. It also could have been nice to see a third-and-long situation to see who was on the field, but we didn’t get a glimpse of that either.
Hampton was pulled after the first drive, along with Justin Herbert, Ladd McConkey and various other starters. Mitchell joined the game at this point and played in all situations, suggesting the Chargers are comfortable with Hampton in receiving situations more than the Baltimore Ravens were. Vidal didn’t join until the fourth drive, and continued to be the main running back for the rest of the half
While it remains possible this is a three-man rotation, and Vidal is simply third in that order, we should expect Mitchell to see more snaps and touches than Vidal this season
De’Zhaun Striblingpushes for a starting job: Stribling was a frequent target in the first half and is making a push for a top-three spot on the depth chart
When San Francisco drafted Stribling, it was unclear where his easiest path to playing time was. San Francisco had Ricky Pearsall as its Z receiver, added Mike Evans in free agency to be the X and Christian Kirk in free agency to be the slot. Since then, Pearsall was placed on season-ending injured reserve, while Kirk hasn’t been able to play with a calf strain and seems unlikely to make the roster. In their place, Deebo Samuel was re-signed, and Demarcus Robinson has moved into the starting lineup.
Evans missed this game while dealing with tightness, leading to Samuel and Robinson being the starting receivers, with Stribling joining them in 11 personnel. While all three receivers netted some playing time in the slot, Stribling was lined up there more often than not. Both starting wide receivers also took a play off on the first drive. The 49ers took out some starters after the first possession, including Samuel, with Robinson and Stribling playing an additional drive. Stribling caught four passes for 46 yards over his two drives, while Robinson was held without a target.
Regardless of who the starters and who the backups are in 11 and 12 personnel, Stribling will see significant playing time in Week 1. Evans, Samuel and Robinson are all on the wrong side of 30 and will get rotated out at times. Given Evans’ and Samuel’s injury history, they are likely to miss time this season. While Stribling might not make sense to have in Week 1 fantasy starting lineups, he should be drafted as he should be a significant contributor this season
Miscellaneous Notes
- The 49ers have several running backs dealing with injury. Christian McCaffrey has been held out of practice due to tightness, Jordan James has been doing some work on the side with fractured ribs, Isaac Guerendo remains on the PUP list and Patrick Taylor Jr. was placed on injured reserve today.
- Kaelon Black missed the first preseason game with an adductor injury, but was back for this game. He was the clear starter with the first team for this game, and given his health, is now the slight favorite for the backup job.
- George Kittle remains on the PUP list, but there is optimism he will be ready for the first week of the season. Jake Tonges was the lead receiving tight end for this game, and remains the tight end to add if Kittle misses any time due to injury.
- Chargers wide receivers Quentin Johnston and Tre Harris both missed practice this week and didn’t play in this game. Brenen Thompson was notably the starter in this game over KeAndre Lambert-Smith, making it clear the rookie is ahead on the depth chart. However, Thompson went to the blue medical tent and then the locker room with an undisclosed injury.
Table Notes
- Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.
- Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.
- Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.
