Fantasy football preseason takeaways: Caleb Williams trolls, Anthony Richardson’s injury

Caleb Williams went viral twice during the opening days of Bears training camp — once for an interception and later for a series of misfires toward an unmoving net.

Ideally, the former No. 1 overall pick and franchise cornerstone would generate camp buzz for different reasons. Williams, however, is now trapped inside an unfortunate social media snark-and-doom loop wherein his mistakes are amplified and all highlights are disregarded.

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He clicks, but only when things go wrong.

Plenty of successful quarterbacks have occupied this terrible internet space, of course, but so have guys like Desmond Ridder and Mitchell Trubisky. It’s dangerous territory.

Fortunately, Chicago is not actually experiencing a disastrous camp. You may have been led to believe that every ball leaving Williams’ hand is snatched by a defender, but that’s not the case. Actual reporting on Bears camp isn’t as gloomy as your timeline might suggest.

On Tuesday, head coach Ben Johnson put the team through its hardest-hitting practice in recent memory, a session punctuated by a 40-yard touchdown strike from Williams to Rome Odunze. If you felt some fantasy optimism about that duo back in May and June, there’s no reason to feel differently in August. This team’s offense isn’t broken.

Johnson’s system is simply ponderous and difficult to install, loaded with elements unfamiliar to Williams. He’s now asked to routinely play under center, running play action and pre-snap motion. Playcalls are wordier and more complex than anything he dealt with last year (also more likely to work as intended). Let’s remember that Williams operated under three different offensive coordinators as a rookie, so he may require serious debugging.

Don’t be so quick to dismiss the man who made plays like this and this and this last season:

There’s more to Caleb than various social hellsites are letting on.

Anthony Richardson’s injury

Richardson was dinged on Thursday night, but not seriously.

The Colts quarterback suffered a dislocated finger early in the preseason opener when he was obliterated by an unblocked pass rusher (a sack that was on him more than anyone else).

Let me explain why this is 100% on Anthony Richardson & not on the Line or RB. https://t.co/LwYA8dbB9f pic.twitter.com/M6u9RXKotF — Chase Daniel (@ChaseDaniel) August 8, 2025

He was 2-for-3 before the injury occurred, with his first two attempts targeting camp standouts Adonai Mitchell and Tyler Warren. Richardson was replaced by Daniel Jones, who produced his signature stat line (10-for-21, 144 yards, zero scores).

When asked about the injury following the game, Richardson downplayed the severity. “I’ll be good.” Crisis averted.

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Keenan Allen, back in powder blue

Los Angeles was always the overwhelming favorite to sign Allen, so you shouldn’t see dramatic reshuffling in anyone’s fantasy rankings off the news. You don’t need an expert to tell you that Justin Herbert benefits from the addition of a (very) familiar face.

At 33 years old, the current version of Allen moves like a bubble hockey goalie, even when he’s cooking. He’s a little stiff. His hands failed him at times last season (officially six drops). So while we can’t pretend the 2019 edition of Keenan just joined the squad, the Chargers certainly needed a steadying presence in the receiving room, someone to complement Ladd McConkey. Every other receiver on this team is an agent of chaos.

Travis Hunter playing 80% of the offensive snaps, you say?

To be clear, this is not just some fantasy goof speculating on Hunter’s potential workload. Jacksonville head coach Liam Coen said it in a conversation with Rich Eisen this week.

Hunter is a superhuman athletic talent even by the standards of a league full of freakish athletes. No receiver in this year’s draft class possessed his attack-the-ball ability. If Hunter plays 40-plus snaps per game, there simply aren’t 25 receivers in the league likely to outscore him in fantasy.

Also, absolutely no one wants to hear about Trevor Lawrence’s setup for a monster year, but, well … he is, in fact, a strong candidate for a supernova season. Not many quarterbacks have a pair of weapons like Hunter and Brian Thomas Jr. at their disposal. If we love a team’s receivers in fantasy, by extension, we should probably like the quarterback as well.

Denver’s first unofficial depth chart is rookie hazing

When headlines mention RJ Harvey’s placement on the team’s initial depth chart, understand that the Broncos parked all their rookies at the bottom of the positional hierarchies. Kind of a jerk move, honestly.

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Harvey has been running as no worse than the team’s RB2 in practices. He certainly does have a J.K. Dobbins problem, but he does not have an Audric Estime problem. No worries there. Harvey has been plenty impressive.

If you need further assurances, here’s a camp clip of Harvey cruelly roasting another professional athlete:

RJ Harvey is nasty 😮

pic.twitter.com/quaCdec6ZR — SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) August 1, 2025

Tory Horton hype

Seattle’s rookie fifth-rounder has been having a noisy camp and pushing for a significant early-season role. His performance in the team’s preseason opener certainly won’t derail the hype train. Horton caught three passes for 31 yards against the Raiders on Thursday night, including a tackle-breaking 10-yard touchdown.

Horton had a terrific collegiate career at Colorado State — you might recall his outrageous 16-catch performance against Colorado in 2023 — but a knee injury in his final season depressed his draft stock. Now healthy and thriving, he’s looking like a filthy steal for the Seahawks.

Matthew Golden draws praise

We should be open to the possibility that Golden will quickly emerge as Green Bay’s unrivaled No. 1 receiver. He’s been gassed up by every reporter, fan, coach and teammate who watches him work, including Matt Schneidman, Kyle Malzhan and Ryan Woods.

Green Bay had not selected a first-round receiver in a generation before Golden, so draft status seems unusually meaningful in this case.

Zac Taylor unleashed the varsity offense in preseason opener

The Cincinnati Bengals have been notorious slow-starters in recent seasons — 1-4 last year, 1-3 the season before, 0-2 the prior year — so they are apparently done resting starters in exhibition play. Joe Burrow was nearly flawless on Thursday night, playing two series against the Eagles and going 9-for-10 with two touchdown passes and 123 yards. Chase Brown delivered 48 scrimmage yards, and Ja’Marr Chase caught four balls for 77 yards and one score.

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It’s great to see a Death Star offense look the part at this early stage.

Naturally, after the game, Burrow groused about his play. He is so ready.

Tyler Loop impresses in Ravens debut

Jake Ciely has loudly proclaimed Loop his breakout kicker of 2025, and, well, wow — another great kicking call by Jake. Nobody knows the specialists like Ciely.

Loop was a sixth-round pick out of Arizona, drafted to replace the suspended Justin Tucker. He nailed a 52-yarder in the preseason opener and drilled all three extra-point attempts. He also made a very legit tackle on a kick return, prompting a “LOOOOOOP!” cheer from the crowd.

Tyler Loop YOU are the Ravens newest starting ILB next to Roquan Smith pic.twitter.com/IOexYMlZ1c — Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) August 8, 2025

You truly have to respect a fanbase that loves its specialists.

(Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

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