Job Battles: An Early Leader in Green Bay

The previous versions of this article served as a preview and inventory process for the looming training camp battles, but the weekly editions from this point will track anecdotal developments since each prior publication. They will generally descend in order of fantasy significance.

Rishard Matthews vs. Whatever Mystery Injury He Has

I've invested quite a lot into Matthews this best ball season because I consider him the team's Co-No. 1 wide receiver with Corey Davis when healthy, yet his ADP was often four full rounds later than that of Davis. An unnamed ailment first mentioned during OTAs has left Matthews inactive since, and it was disclosed Monday that the veteran wideout is in fact on the PUP list due to the issue. With no information whatsoever to go by and no obviously comparable past cases, it might be best to presume the worst for now, especially if you already have a lot of shares like I do.

To plan for said worst-case outcome, I'm going to immediately look to start adding shares of Taywan Taylor, the previously presumed third wideout in the Tennessee offense. While I'm high on the projections for Davis and Matthews (if healthy), that's not because I'm low on Taylor. I'm a huge fan of Taylor and have full faith that he'll go off if he gets the targets. Based on what we know now, there's a decent chance he'll get those targets, even if by the result of unfortunate circumstances to Matthews.

Taylor was a third-round pick last year out of Western Kentucky, but he was probably a top-40 player to me. Davis was the most dominant wide receiver in college football the four years prior to last, but Taylor was the second-most dominant while anchoring a historically great Hilltoppers passing game. He reminds me a great deal of Stefon Diggs at 5-foot-11, 203 pounds with a 4.50 40, 6.57-second three-cone, and 132-inch broad jump. He finished his Western Kentucky career by totaling 184 catches for 3,197 yards (17.4 YPR) and 34 touchdowns in his final 24 games, and it would be shocking to me if Tajae Sharpe or Michael Campanaro could keep up. I'll be targeting Taylor as a WR6 sort of pick in best ball leagues pending news on Matthews.

Jamaal Williams with early lead in Green Bay

ESPN's Rob Demovsky reported that Williams received the bulk of first-team work to start out training camp, which makes him the early safe favorite to function as Green Bay's starting runner. This makes sense – although Williams is probably the least gifted pure runner between himself, Aaron Jones (hamstring/suspension) and Ty Montgomery, Williams is the only one of the three who has demonstrated the least bit of durability as a pro, and he's a high-motor player who is at least functional as a pass blocker and receiver. Montgomery has otherwise reportedly worked as the primary option in hurry-up drills.

It will be interesting to see where Williams' ADP (83.58 in MFL10s since July 1) goes from here. I don't have many shares of his, which may be a mistake, because the price until now could prove a bargain if Jones and Montgomery stay breakable, and the price from now on could be substantially more painful to pay.

I would caution that he doesn't have as much upside as one might presume for the starting running back in an Aaron Rodgers offense, because his modest elusiveness could dare Mike McCarthy to turn to Jones and Montgomery more often if the Packers offense struggles to move the ball early in games. McCarthy has a history of looking for a new hot hand, followed by fixating on that runner as his primary workhorse until an anecdotal difficulty falls upon them, opening door for the next hot hand to get involved. I also think Jones and Montgomery are legitimately talented runners and receivers – they aren't as steady as Williams, but their explosiveness is difficult to keep on the sidelines.

Expect Williams to maintain this momentum and open the year as starter for Green Bay. Expect him to take what's there and to provide a reliable presence generally, including in passing situations. Just maybe don't expect him to see a traditional starter's workload unless Jones and Montgomery are on the shelf. If they do both get hurt, though, Williams could see all the work he can handle, much like in the second half of last year.

Elijah McGuire injury shakes up Jets backfield

McGuire suffered a broken foot that required surgical repair, setting him back at least six weeks. The Jets had previously planned on designating McGuire as their third-down back, but now he might begin the year on the short-term injured reserve. It's unclear what this means for Thomas Rawls and sixth-round pick Trenton Cannon, but it's safe to say their odds of making the final roster just went up.

This injury is concerning to me because McGuire already has a history of foot troubles. He was 100 percent unstoppable in his first two years at Louisiana-Lafayette, but then he played hobbled for much of his final two years, watching his rushing average drop from 7.9 to 4.9 yards per carry. I can't find any information on which foot he broke, nor which foot was a problem for him at Louisiana-Lafayette. You can't even find a diagnosis for the Lafayette injury. It would be nice to know whether the break was the result of a wilting previous stress fracture, or if it's a new condition entirely – especially if it's on the second foot! But for now this information appears unlikely to be unearthed any time soon.

If McGuire is unavailable for regular season games, it's also unclear how the Jets plan to replace him. Would they simply distribute his snaps to Bilal Powell and Isaiah Crowell? Neither was slated for more than 400 snaps prior to McGuire's injury, so they can probably combine to take up the new workload themselves. Crowell is a reliable grinder between the tackles, and Powell is a well-established passing down option. Rawls would profile more as a grinder like Crowell, whereas Cannon is probably the running back most similar to McGuire on the Jets roster.