Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. is moving in the right direction after a hamstring injury took a chunk out of his training camp. Pittman had not practiced since Aug. 8 before getting back on the field Aug. 24, and he was still participating in team work this week as Pittsburgh began ramping up for the regular season. General manager Omar Khan has said Pittman is expected to be available for the Sept. 13 opener against Atlanta, although head coach Mike McCarthy made it clear the Steelers are still being smart with his workload. That matters after Pittman missed the entire preseason and lost valuable reps in a new offense. Pittsburgh brought him in this spring after he caught 80 passes for 784 yards and a career-high seven touchdowns with Indianapolis last year. DK Metcalf remains the top receiver, but Pittman should have a steady role underneath once he is fully up to speed. His summer took a hit, but the outlook is getting better now that Week 1 appears to be back on the table.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love hasn't been asked to throw nearly as much the past two seasons, but that could change with Josh Jacobs unavailable. Love averaged just 28.8 pass attempts per game across 2024 and 2025 after throwing 579 times in his first full season as the starter in 2023. He still put together an efficient year last season, completing a career-high 66.3% of his passes for 3,381 yards, 23 touchdowns and only six interceptions. Jacobs remains on the Commissioner's Exempt List with no timetable to return, leaving MarShawn Lloyd as the likely lead back entering Week 1. Lloyd has just six NFL carries after spending most of his first two seasons battling injuries, while Chris Brooks and Kaleb Johnson provide the other backfield options. Green Bay doesn't suddenly have to abandon the run, but there is more reason to put the offense in Love's hands. He has also climbed to QB17 in RotoBaller's latest rankings. A bump in attempts would give Love a better chance to push back into the QB1 mix.

Dallas Cowboys running back Javonte Williams is expected to occupy an every-down role once again this season. The Cowboys recently released Phil Mafah and Jaydon Blue, leaving them with a backfield of Williams, Malik Davis, and Emari Demercado. Although Davis and Demercado have both been in the league for a while, they've established themself as depth options and won't sniff the lead-back role as long as Williams is healthy. As a result, the 26-year-old has a legitimate chance to replicate (or even improve upon) last year's RB12 finish in PPR leagues, especially with the Cowboys' offense projected to be effective again this year. Last year, Williams had 1,201 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns, shattering his previous career-high rushing yards (903) and rushing touchdowns (four). At the moment, he ranks as the RB12 in RotoBaller's latest redraft rankings for PPR leagues. He has an ADP of 32.9, which corresponds to the third round of fantasy drafts and makes him the 15th running back off the board.

New Orleans Saints running back Travis Etienne Jr. already looked headed for the bigger share of this backfield, and Alvin Kamara's knee injury could give him even more work out of the gate. Kamara was still absent from the portion of Thursday's practice open to the media as he works back from a sprained MCL. Kendre Miller has also been sidelined this week, which only adds to the uncertainty behind Etienne. The 27-year-old handled most of the first-team early-down work before Kamara was hurt, then finished camp healthy while the rest of the room dealt with injuries. Etienne is coming off 1,107 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 260 carries in Jacksonville, plus 36 catches for 292 yards and six more scores. He now sits at RB15 in the latest PPR rankings. Kamara avoided injured reserve and still has time to make it back for the opener, so this may be a short-term boost rather than a season-long change. For now, Etienne has a clearer path to heavy volume than he did a few weeks ago.