Fantasy Football

With quarterback Peyton Manning on the brink of returning from injury, the Broncos are about to have to make the most important decision of their season, Troy Renck of The Denver Post offers.

The 39-year-old Manning was having a bottom-of-the-barrel season before he landed on the shelf in mid-November with a torn plantar fascia in his left foot, and his loss looked like addition by subtraction as the Brock Osweiler era got off to a solid beginning. Osweiler’s first three starts all ended up as wins for Denver, but some shine wore off two weeks ago in a 17-3 victory over a horrific San Diego team and matters worsened in a 15-12 loss to Oakland last Sunday.

Manning won’t be active for Sunday’s game against playoff-caliber Pittsburgh, but he’s likely to be healthy enough for activation by Week 16. That means Osweiler might be playing for the starting job at Heinz Field. As Renck points out, Denver’s Osweiler-led offense has gone 23 straight possessions without scoring a touchdown, which isn’t going to cut it against a prolific Steelers offense. With another underwhelming showing from Osweiler, head coach Gary Kubiak could turn back to Manning as the playoffs near.

Some other NFL news and notes:

• Tonight is potentially the end of the Matt Cassel era in Dallas. The 33-year-old has fared poorly in place of Tony Romo this season, and he’ll be on a short leash against the Jets, ESPN’s Ed Werder tweets. The Cowboys’ current No. 2 QB, Kellen Moore, got some first-team reps in practice this week and could see his first action since going undrafted out of Boise State in 2012.
• Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright capped off an injury-riddled junior year Saturday by announcing he’ll enter the 2016 draft, Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk reports. A foot injury cost Wright all but three games this season, making it a disappointing follow-up to a highly productive 2014 campaign that saw him earn All-America honors, the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Award, the Jack Lambert Award (nation’s best linebacker), and the Chuck Bednarik Award (nation’s top defender).
• A list of the top 20 failed free agent signings from last offseason reveals predictable names – Dwayne Bowe, DeMarco Murray, Brandon Browner, among others – but also mentions lower-tier additions like Tampa’s Bruce Carter and Arizona’s Sean Weatherspoon, Alex Marvez of FoxSports.com writes. Both Carter and Weatherspoon were beaten out early for starting linebacker jobs.

Sam Robinson contributed to this report.

Bills guard Richie Incognito, who signed a one-year deal worth just $900K in base salary last offseason, has a good chance of inking a lucrative contract in the coming months, The Buffalo News’ Tyler Dunne writes. Incognito missed last season because teams shied away from the 32-year-old after the Dolphins suspended him from October 2013 to February 2014 for bullying former teammate Jonathan Martin. However, he has bounced back this year and is in the middle of his best season. The former third-round pick rates second among guards by Pro Football Focus’ metrics – with only Baltimore’s Marshal Yanda outdoing him – and could make his second Pro Bowl, Dunne offers.

More from the AFC:

• A predictable uproar emerged earlier this week when Mike Pettine refused to characterize Seattle’s Russell Wilson as a top-tier quarterback, but Browns defensive end Desmond Bryant concurs with his coach regarding Johnny Manziel‘s Wilson-esque potential, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes. “Johnny can definitely be that same triple threat guy. Russell is a smart quarterback, he can throw the ball and he can make plays with his feet, so a triple-threat quarterback is always going to be a problem,” Bryant told media, including Cabot. Cabot points out that Manziel, in addition to having an immense journey ahead to reach this plateau, ran considerably slower than Wilson at the Combine (4.68 seconds to Wilson’s 4.55).
• The Colts cut linebacker Daniel Adongo on Thursday. Now the NFL says it’s investigating him under its personal conduct policy, according to The Associated Press. Police have twice been called to Adongo’s house since October – including last week – in response to possible domestic violence incidents, per the Indianapolis Star. However, no charges will be filed against Adongo and the case is closed, Hamilton County deputy prosecutor Amy Summerfield said in a statement.
• The Jaguars were the first team to contact ex-Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall after he went undrafted this year, and the current safety didn’t wait to hear from another club before signing, Vito Stellino of the Florida Times-Union notes. Despite not playing safety since he was a freshman at Florida, Marshall has factored in as a backup in Jacksonville while serving as a consistent special-teamer.

Connor Byrne contributed to this report.

The Raiders sent their second starting left tackle this season to injured reserve, putting regular-season starter Austin Howard on the season-ending list with a knee injury, Scott Bair of CSNCalifornia.com reports (on Twitter).

In a corresponding move, the team brought safety Tevin McDonald back onto the active roster.

Howard was in the middle of a strong comeback season for a resurgent Raiders front despite not being the starter for most of the preseason. Menelik Watson‘s season-ending Achilles injury in August opened the door for Howard to take over at right tackle in Oakland.

The Raiders signed Howard to a five-year, $30MM contract in March of 2014 after the former undrafted free agent established value in three years with the Jets from 2011-13.

Although Howard struggled at guard last season, he returned to play tackle after Watson went down and gave the Raiders one of the top edge pairings in the league. Teaming with impending free agent Donald Penn, Howard rated as Pro Football Focus’ No. 21 tackle. Penn slots 10th on PFF’s hierarchy. Only the Browns, who start Joe Thomas and Mitchell Schwartz, have two tackles rated in the PFF top 20.

Howard has just $4.2MM in dead money left on the remaining three years of his contract, and the Raiders do possess a league-high $61MM worth of cap space if they wanted to upgrade in the offseason. But considering the holes Oakland has on defense and the 28-year-old Howard’s bounce-back campaign, standing pat here makes the most sense.

The Raiders house Khalif Barnes and Matt McCants as second-string tackles. The 33-year-old Barnes has far more experience, starting 117 games with the Jaguars and Raiders.

One of the longest-tenured Raiders, Barnes has been with Oakland since the 2010 season.

A first-round bust label notwithstanding, Blaine Gabbert will likely be the 49ers‘ starter to open the 2016 season, Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com writes.

Colin Kaepernick‘s tenure with the team will have probably concluded by then, and San Francisco will be a candidate to draft underclassmen Paxton Lynch or Jared Goff, should they decide as expected to declare, with its first-round pick. The team, however, may opt for a more pro-ready quarterback like Connor Cook soon after, Maiocco offers.

The 26-year-old Gabbert is far ahead of his former pace with the Jaguars from an accuracy standpoint, completing 63.2% of his passes. The former No. 11 overall pick finished his Jags seasons at 50, 58 and 49% connect rates from 2011-13. Kaepernick finished this season with a 59.0% completion rate.

Here are some other NFC items on the eve of Week 15 Sunday.

• Lions linebacker DeAndre Levy resumed running and lifting after undergoing hip surgery and anticipates an offseason return, Mike Rothstein of ESPN.com reports. The recently extended outside backer said being placed on injured reserve was the right thing for him after injuring his hip during the preseason and re-aggravating it in a 17-snap cameo in Week 5. Levy will be 29 in March.
• Friday’s approval of new stadium financing by the St. Louis Board of Aldermen didn’t necessarily save football in St. Louis, but the proposal not passing may have ended it, Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. The stadium financing package gives the city a boost in adding a replacement if the Rams indeed trek to Los Angeles.
• Stedman Bailey addressed the Rams before their defeat of the Bucs in what could be their St. Louis finale, the Post-Dispatch’s Joe Lyons reports. The 25-year-old receiver talked to teammates, many for the first time since being shot in the head twice Nov. 24, via FaceTime. Jeff Fisher told media, including Lyons, the team’s 2013 third-round pick is making steady progress.
• The Vikings will now contribute $50MM more to their new stadium after winning approval to do so, according to an Associated Press report. The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority approved the new funding. An initial contribution of $477MM, with the city then tabbed for $498MM, for the $1 billion+ U.S. Bank Stadium represented the Vikings’ original cost. But since, their bill has gone up by 31%, and the Vikings portion of the cost could hit $631MM by summer, when the stadium is set for completion.

Earlier this week, Browns coach Mike Pettine said Russell Wilson wasn’t in the top tier of quarterbacks. On Friday, the Seahawks responded.

Defensive end Michael Bennett was quite vocal about Pettine’s comments, questioning the coach’s ability to evaluate quarterbacks. In particular, Bennett was trashing the team’s handling of Johnny Manziel, who the Seahawks will face off against this Sunday.

“Obviously he’s not good at picking quarterbacks,” Bennett said during an interview on 710 ESPN Seattle (via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com). “Maybe he doesn’t know what elite is. I think that Russell Wilson is very elite. He’s been to two Super Bowls. It’s only his fourth year. I don’t think a lot of guys can say that.

“There’s a lot of guys with a lot of passing yards that haven’t had any success and don’t even go to the playoffs, like Philip Rivers and guys like that. Drew Brees hasn’t been to the playoffs in two years. So Russell Wilson is definitely an elite quarterback, and he can lead a team. … I think Russell Wilson has done a great job of proving that he is up there at the top tier of players.”

Let’s take a look at some more assorted notes from around the league…

• After spending more than a decade with the Jaguars, kicker Josh Scobee was traded to the Steelers this past offseason. Despite the surprising move, the 33-year-old wasn’t angry at his former team. “I was very fortunate to have been here for 11 years, and I’m happy I was here that long,” he told Garry Smits of Jacksonville.com. “I’ve never had any animosity to the team. I understand the business end of it and I’m looking forward to the next stage of his career. I’m always going to be a Jaguar at heart.”
• The veteran only lasted four games in Pittsburgh, as the squad cut him loose following an inconsistent start to the year. Scobee blamed his issues on a pair of muscle injuries in his kicking leg, but he acknowledged that he expects to play next season. “I’m just now healthy enough to where I’m open to going to a new team,” he said. “No one really knew about it [the injuries] because I just didn’t talk about it. After I got released, I didn’t talk about it.” The kicker said he’s been in contact with eight teams.
• Former rugby star Jarryd Hayne hasn’t had the best rookie campaign, as three fumbles led to him being demoted to the 49ers practice squad. Still, the running back has been pleased with his progress. “It’s definitely been a great year. I overachieved what I ever expected,” Hayne told Chris Biderman of the Associated Press. “I think what people don’t realize that every day for me is like a month to everyone else because of the way I pick things up and the way I learn…I just feel like in these short six weeks that I’ve been on the practice squad, I learned so much. There was two weeks where I literally took every single rep in the look-card squad. That was huge. The most reps I took in a row (before that) was probably three or four.”