All teams have finally played their first preseason game, so it’s time to overreact to what we saw! But in all seriousness, preseason play isn’t something we can use to read how a team will deploy their players, but the trends throughout the preseason can start to shine a light on the team’s intentions. Like last week, I put together six storylines to monitor for the week two preseason games that could have fantasy implications for the regular season.

1. Leader in the Las Vegas Raiders Quarterback Battle?

If you’ve been following the quarterback battle in Las Vegas, Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew have been neck and neck all summer. That might sound encouraging, but most of the reports I’ve seen suggested that it’s neck and neck due to both quarterbacks struggling. Last Saturday, we got to see both of them in games this year, and it was more encouraging than the reports suggested, with O’Connell doing a good job finding open targets and Minshew making plays on the move and pushing the ball downfield.

From my watch, Gardner Minshew stood out more and looked like a more capable starter with his ability to play out of structure, which will be important when teams start to scheme for offenses in the regular season. As I mentioned, Aidan O’Connell did a good job finding an open target, but he also had shaky ball placement and is a more limited player which could hinder his chances of starting. If Minshew does become the starter, he could have some sneaky bye week upside as he was the QB21 in most leagues last year despite not playing in two games and has a lot of weapons to work with in Las Vegas.

2. Is there a New RB2 behind Christian McCaffrey?

To make this clear from the start, Christian McCaffrey will continue to get most, if not all, of the snaps at running back for the San Francisco 49ers until he is either gone from the team or injured. That being said, it’s never a bad idea to plan for handcuffs, especially for a 28-year-old back. Elijah Mitchell has been the backup for McCaffrey the past two seasons, but Jordan Mason has gotten praise from the coaches since he joined the team in 2022 as an undrafted free agent. Mason has impressed the coaches enough that he was able to beat out Trey Sermon and Tyrion Davis-Price in previous sessions despite both being third round draft selections. 

This summer, Jordan Mason has continued to get praise and delivered a really impressive performance against the Tennessee Titans. It’s early to jump to conclusions, but Elijah Mitchell has struggled with injuries and is currently dealing with a hamstring injury. Also, Mitchell is a similar back as McCaffrey, and the team clearly has been in search of a bigger back for the past few years with the draft selections of Trey Sermon and Tyrion Davis-Price, as mentioned earlier. If Mason continues to have a good preseason and Mitchell continues to need time to get back from his injury, Mason could be the handcuff McCaffrey managers will want to target.

3. Will there be a Committee Backfield in Chicago?

Or is the Team Building Trade Value for Khalil Herbert?

I mentioned it on Twitter/X during the Hall of Fame Game, but I still have a hard time understanding the Chicago Bears’ plan for the running back position. Maybe this is a controversial opinion, but I personally view Khalil Herbert as a better running back than D’Andre Swift, and Herbert’s missed tackles per touch and yards after contact both being better than Swift’s last season also aid this belief. Despite what Herbert has shown, the Bears decided to sign Swift to a three-year, $24 million dollar contract this offseason.

Tangent aside, D’Andre Swift expectedly got the first few snaps in the Chicago Bears game against the Buffalo Bills, but then the team turned to Khalil Herbert for the majority of snaps while the starters were still playing. Now, Roschon Johnson didn’t play, which could further complicate things, and Swift got a big gain, which could have potentially let the team see all they wanted out of him. However, I think the shift to Herbert with the starters could mean one of two things. Either the team is actually considering a committee approach, which could make it hard to trust any back, or the team is trying to raise Herbert’s value to trade him. 

If the team does end up going to a committee approach, I would likely recommend avoiding this backfield if you aren’t already, as it’s going to be too frustrating to find a consistent starter. If the team does decide to move Khalil Herbert, that not only would help boost D’Andre Swift’s outlook but could give a good boost to Herbert. Looking around the league, there aren’t a lot of teams that need help at the running back position that didn’t address it in the offseason other than the Dallas Cowboys. However, one injury during the preseason can quickly change that, and the Chicago Bears may be doing their due diligence to be ready to make a move if such an injury occurs.

4. Potential battle for the Packers RB2 Role?

Keeping things in the NFC North, we might also have a potential battle for the RB2 role in Green Bay. MarShawn Lloyd was expected to be the RB2 behind Josh Jacobs after being drafted in the third round of the 2024 NFL draft. However, he struggled with injuries throughout his college career, which limited his playing time, and now he is dealing with his second injury this summer, a hamstring injury that will likely hold him out for the rest of the preseason. In Lloyd’s absence against the Cleveland Browns, AJ Dillon continued to struggle, but Emmanuel Wilson stepped up and looked very impressive. 

As I’ve mentioned all offseason in my articles, I expect to see Josh Jacobs handle the bulk of the workload this coming season. Looking past Jacobs, though, it could be wide open, and Emmanuel Wilson has a great opportunity to push for a roster spot. I still believe that the team re-signed AJ Dillon due to his familiarity with the offense and his pass-protection skills. However, if Wilson can hold up in pass protection and continue to make plays on the ground, I don’t think it’s unreasonable he beats out Dillon for a roster spot. 

With MarShawn Lloyd’s current injury and depending on the severity, I could see the team starting the season with Josh Jacobs, Emmanuel Wilson, and AJ Dillon on the 53-man roster if MarShawn Lloyd has to start the season on the PUP list. If Lloyd doesn’t need to miss much or any time in the regular season, I could see the team cutting Dillon in favor of Wilson. During the regular season, if Lloyd continues to deal with injuries and his fumble issues from college also start to pop up, Wilson could eat into his opportunities and Wilson could provide more upside as a handcuff for Jacobs than people may expect. 

5. Surprise Battle for the New Orleans Saints WR3 Role?

This may not have the biggest impact for fantasy as we aren’t even certain if the New Orleans Saints offense can support two fantasy-relevant receivers, let alone three. However, the battle for the WR3 role for the team is an interesting one to monitor for me. After the conclusion of the season and with the Saints not drafting a receiver in the last draft until the fifth round, it seemed A.T. Perry was likely going to be the clear WR3 for the team after a good end to the year last year.

However, undrafted Mason Tipton has been getting praise from both coaches and beat writers. Cedrick Wilson, Taysom Hill, and even Kevin Austin Jr. had opportunities before Perry in their game against the Arizona Cardinals. Head coach Dennis Allen has gone out of his way to call out players this offseason who he thinks are underperforming, including A.T. Perry.

I think Allen’s frustration with Perry is due to Perry playing better in games and being at the stage where Perry is good enough to perform well against reserves but struggles to consistently win against starter-quality players. This makes it difficult for the team to count on him in regular season games, and his lackluster performance in practice doesn’t give the team more confidence. However, Perry offers more upside at his size than the other options at the WR3 position and could really stand out as a red zone weapon if he starts to put it all together.

6. Taysom Hill at Wide Receiver?

To circle back to Taysom Hill, while I think A.T. Perry will end up winning the WR3 role for the team, I don’t think we can ignore the upside that Hill could offer for fantasy purposes. Depending on the site your league uses, Taysom Hill could be listed as a tight end, but so far, his preseason usage suggests that he could operate more as a wide receiver. If the team continues to use Hill this way, he could be in for another good fantasy season, thanks to the upside of getting receiver volume at the tight end position along with occasional rush and pass attempts. Though Hill could disappoint, I think he’s worth a late-round selection.