Fantasy football buzz: Don’t be surprised if a Dolphin other than Achane becomes fantasy-relevantDe’Von Achane is the only Miami Dolphins player sure to be drafted in all fantasy leagues this year, but that doesn’t mean others won’t emerge. AP Photo/Lynne SladkyESPN FantasyJun 8, 2026, 10:39 AM ETClose
Everything that happens in the NFL has additional context when viewed from a fantasy football perspective. From position battles to injuries and so much more, the news cycle will constantly affect player values in fantasy football.
Our Fantasy Football Buzz file, with contributions from our ESPN fantasy writers and our NFL Nation reporters, aims to provide fantasy managers with the intel they need as news breaks around the league.
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June 8: Don’t be surprised if a Dolphin other than Achane becomes fantasy-relevant
Eric Karabell: Superstar RB De’Von Achane might be the only Miami Dolphins player selected in your fantasy drafts (both mocks and real ones) this summer because, according to pretty much everyone with an opinion, this offense will stink. It will never score many points and even the awesome Achane, last season’s No. 12 fantasy scorer, will be statistically compromised and turn into perhaps a bust of a first-round fantasy pick. This is all going to be so ugly, right?
Perhaps all of this is so, and words from new Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley and offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik from the team’s recent minicamp hardly inspire confidence — typical, general early-summer terms like “work in progress” and “developing chemistry” — but c’mon, this is an NFL team. Bemoan the so-called underwhelming options that new QB Malik Willis has at his disposal without previous organizational fixtures Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, but surely others will step up.
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That’s the point here. We’re not saying other Dolphins — including Willis, who is getting paid a whole lot of money to be better than Tua Tagovailoa — must go in your drafts. Just don’t be so surprised when Willis and someone from the WR crew among veterans Malik Washington, Tutu Atwell and Jalen Tolbert, and rookies Chris Bell, Caleb Douglas and Kevin Coleman Jr. become fantasy-relevant in September. Perhaps more than one does. And let’s not be so quick to presume Achane is a disappointment, too.
Last season’s seven-win Dolphins, led at QB by Tagovailoa and backup Quinn Ewers (three starts), were 25th in passing yards. It’s not great, but it wasn’t “New York Jets” embarrassing. Achane and Waddle hauled in 42% of the receiving yards. Most believe Achane will see a reduction in passing usage, because that’s what happens to running backs when their quarterback is a talented and willing runner. Waddle is a Denver Bronco now. Let’s say Willis throws for 3,000 yards. I’m not sure why it is simply assumed he cannot do this. Geno Smith has achieved this for the past four seasons. Jacoby Brissett just did it in 12 games!
Sure, it feels premature to wager a guess at who those emerging receivers will be, but Washington finished third on the team with 46 receptions last season. They know him. Tolbert caught 49 passes and seven TDs for the 2024 Dallas Cowboys. These first-year receivers delivered notable college numbers. They possess size, speed and significant upside. TE Darren Waller caught six TDs in half a season in 2025. Returning TE Greg Dulcich can do this over a full season. Why can’t a Miami offense, even lacking supposed offensive genius Mike McDaniel, and with a generally unproven passer in Willis, play competent offense? The Dolphins do face the Jets twice, after all.
This can be a productive offense, of course, and while this Monday morning rant is hardly about loading up on Dolphins for this season in standard-sized fantasy leagues (though I think Douglas and Tolbert warrant attention in deeper formats), it is a reminder that any NFL offense can deliver fantasy value. Even the 2026 Dolphins.
June 5: With extension done, is Christian Watson ready to break out?
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Liz Loza: Watson and the Packers agreed to a four-year extension worth an estimated $110.5 million, signaling a hefty investment in the 27-year-old receiver. With more than 130 targets vacated via the departures of Romeo Doubs (Patriots) and Dontayvion Wicks (Eagles), Watson figures to experience a boost in volume, potentially exceeding his career high of 5.9 targets per game from 2023.
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Despite the decent per-game average, Watson has yet to draw more than 66 targets in a season, as injuries have regularly rendered him unavailable. The former second-round pick from 2022 returned from an ACL tear in late October of last year. He registered a team target share of 18.3% (WR31), averaged 13.2 fantasy points per contest (WR21) and recorded six receiving scores (T-WR5) from Weeks 8 through 17. A bonafide downfield talent with an electric athletic profile, Watson has regularly produced when healthy, posting 2.40 fantasy points per target (WR2) over the aforementioned span.
While Matt LaFleur favors an “everyone eats” approach to target distribution, Watson’s vertical presence and red zone usage provide him with an enviable fantasy ceiling. He’s poised to emerge as Green Bay’s leading receiver, sharing the field with Jayden Reed (who also signed a three-year extension in April), Matthew Golden (Green Bay’s first-round pick last year) and TE Tucker Kraft (who is working his way back from an ACL tear suffered in Week 10 of 2025). Both Watson’s upside and volatility are baked into his current 95.5 ADP.
June 4: Does Wan’Dale Robinson have a higher floor in Tennessee?
Wan’Dale Robinson could outperform expectations on the Titans, and is worth a late-round fantasy draft pick. AP Photo/John AmisMatt Bowen: What do we see for Robinson on the Tennessee Titans? The value is there, as Robinson carried an average ADP of 88.6 (WR41) in our mock draft project at ESPN. You can land the wide receiver later in drafts. Think of Robinson as a higher-floor bench stash who could emerge as a potential Flex in the lineup at some point this upcoming season.
Now, I don’t believe Robinson goes over the 90-reception mark like he did last season with the New York Giants. The Titans used the No. 4 overall pick on rookie WR Carnell Tate, and Calvin Ridley is still hanging around. Plus, QB Cam Ward must show improvement with his mechanics, timing and ball location. We need to see that second-year jump with Ward under new coach Robert Saleh for the Titans’ pass game to start rolling at a consistent clip.
But let’s remember that the Titans signed Robinson to a four-year deal in free agency with $38 million in guaranteed money … you aren’t paying that type of cash to crack block on linebackers and safeties. Robinson is back with his former coach, Brian Daboll, who takes over the playcalling duties in Tennessee. There is a real sense of familiarity here, and an understanding of how to maximize Robinson’s skill set from the slot — where there’s more upside than many people think.
Robinson did average a career-best 13.6 PPG in 2025, while he produced multiple breakout weeks with two games of at least 28 points. In addition to that, Robinson displayed more big-play juice at the third level of the route tree, catching 13 passes of at least 15 air yards (after totaling four over his first three years as a pro). And we know he can uncover underneath to be that outlet for Ward on higher-percentage throws.
So, as you start your summer draft prep, I would put Robinson on the radar, because he could end up playing a key role in your lineup.
June 2: DJ Moore has the bigger name, but Khalil Shakir has better fantasy value
Despite the Bills signing DJ Moore, Khalil Shakir is still a valuable fantasy option in the Buffalo WR room. Brian Fluharty-Imagn ImagesEric Moody: The Buffalo Bills traded for Moore hoping he could give QB Josh Allen the proven No. 1 receiver Buffalo has been searching for. Moore has four 1,000-yard seasons, 608 career receptions, 8,213 receiving yards and 41 touchdowns. But in 2025, Moore was reduced to a 16% target share, his lowest mark since his rookie season in 2018 and finished as the WR35 in fantasy points after six straight top 25 finishes.
Moore could absolutely rebound with Allen as the season progresses, but for fantasy managers, this situation may make fellow WR Shakir the better value, since he’s readily available in the double-digit rounds and is projected for the second-most targets on the Bills this season.
Shakir already knows the offense, has Allen’s trust and could remain a steady short-to-intermediate option. He has cleared a 20% target share and 70 receptions in consecutive seasons, and he ranked top five among WRs in catch rate and yards after the catch in both years.
The obvious concern is TD upside. Shakir has never scored more than four TDs in a season, and has totaled only eight TDs with five end zone targets over the last two years. That limits his ceiling and keeps him more in the flex conversation. Still, there is a difference between limited upside and bad value. Shakir has finished just outside the top 35 in each of the last two seasons, and Buffalo’s four-year, $53 million commitment suggests the team still views him as an important part of the offense.
Moore’s arrival could lower Shakir’s target ceiling, but it also may allow him to stay in the role that fits him best. Shakir does not need to be the alpha to matter for fantasy, especially if he settles into the short-to-intermediate role underneath while Moore draws more defensive attention downfield.
June 1: Don’t believe the player: McCaffrey will see fewer touches
Christian McCaffrey had a career-high 450 touches last season, including the playoffs, and is entering his age-30 campaign. Brooke Sutton/Getty ImagesEric Karabell: What is San Francisco 49ers star RB Christian McCaffrey supposed to say? That yes, he is concerned about yet another injury? Or that he doesn’t want the football a million times again? That he isn’t in absolutely awesome condition prepping for the season?
Reporters questioned McCaffrey at OTAs late last week and the future Hall of Famer — sounding a tad defensive as his coach Kyle Shanahan continues to proclaim the team wishes to lower his irresponsible (my word, not his) workload — proudly mentioned “you prepare yourself for playing every snap” and “workload is really monitored in practice” and other stuff we must ignore.
I may be on an island on this one since McCaffrey is an annual headliner of my “Do Not Draft” list and — note to editors, spoilers ahead — he will be again, but I’m going with Shanahan on this one because this is obvious. After all, coach talk in May typically tends to be the proverbial “same old thing,” vague and easily dismissed, but Shanahan and his coaches are smart. They know they were quite fortunate to coerce a career-high 413 touches from McCaffrey, who turned them into more than 2,100 yards from scrimmage, 17 touchdowns and a league-leading 416.6 fantasy points.
History tells us the past two seasons McCaffrey came off a wildly inflated touch total were 2020 and 2025, and he managed to participate in a total of seven games in those seasons, ruining the 49ers and, for our purposes, myriad fantasy campaigns. It is, frankly, a small miracle this man handled 413 touches last season sans something breaking or tearing.
McCaffrey turns 30 this coming Sunday. We didn’t need the 49ers coach telling us McCaffrey would fall short of 400 touches again, nor do we need McCaffrey telling us we have nothing to worry about. We know we have something to worry about. We always do.
Perhaps this is merely a reminder that it doesn’t really matter so much what anyone says over the next three months, unless it does (you know, like actual injuries or depth chart stuff). Read all the offseason quotes you can from OTAs and camps and everything else, then decide for yourself what matters and what does not.
I feel like I could have written this little story last December, before the 2025 regular season even ended. Praise McCaffrey, a top-five fantasy scorer in five of his nine seasons, while still questioning the future. It’s great that he is saying all the right things, but we fantasy managers can also do all the right things — like cutting through the noise and expecting less from McCaffrey in 2026.
June 1: Odell Beckham Jr. signs with Giants
Eric Karabell: Beckham Jr. signing with the New York Giants is quite a nostalgic story, but he is hardly the same magician who once was the league’s Offensive Rookie of the Year and was selected to three Pro Bowls. Beckham, now 33, is a depth addition for the Giants, perhaps a bit more notable with current star Malik Nabers (knee) questionable for September action, but even then, there is little statistical upside here.
This version of Beckham is a journeyman, having played for the Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Rams, Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins from 2021 through 2024 (he sat out the 2022 and 2025 seasons), intriguing fantasy managers in name only for that overhyped span. Beckham, derailed by injuries and controversy for years, caught 35 passes for 565 yards for the 2023 Ravens, and he gets reunited with head coach John Harbaugh, but this is not the same situation.
While we may question if the awesome Nabers, still on the mend from an ACL tear and other knee concerns, will be ready to perform in Week 1 in September, the Giants have younger, more productive depth lurking in Darius Slayton and newcomer Darnell Mooney. The WR corps also features Calvin Austin III, Malachi Fields and Isaiah Hodgins, as well as JuJu Smith-Schuster and Braxton Berrios, two more veterans that were signed on Monday. It seems unlikely Beckham, even if he had a great opportunity for targets, would shine after so many years not doing so. It’s a fun signing, reminding many of yesteryear, but fantasy managers can ignore it.
Christian Watson brings a big-play element to the Packers’ pass game, but he has missed 20 games in his first four NFL seasons. Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images<>
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