As preseason goes, the Hall of Fame game, or HOF game for short, is the “preseason” of preseason. Very few, if any, household named players will see any action, and likely not even some of the highly touted rookies will even sniff the field. Last years game between the Cardinals and Cowboys saw only four skill players in total see more than 50 percent of the snaps, with the Cowboys having three of the four players. WR Chad Williams (68 percent) was the only skill player to see more than 50 percent of the snaps for the Cardinals, with TE Rico Gathers (73), RB Rod Smith (55) and QB C. Rush (53) getting the snaps for the Cowboys. I apologize for the “C. Rush”, I honestly don’t know his first name and didn’t care to look it up. The NFL media site I’m using to get snap counts doesn’t give first names.
As you build your HOF lineup, ignore all of the guys you recognize, they likely won’t see the field. Also, on both sites, the positions are “all flex”, so feel free to plug in two or three QBs. Here are some of the guys I like for the HOF game…
Quarterbacks
Josh Woodrum (BAL)
Pre-draft, there was some scuttlebutt over Woodrum being in the running for the No. 2 QB spot behind Joe Flacco. Obviously, after drafting Lamar Jackson and signing Robert Griffin III, the chances of that happening are beyond slim. He has yet to appear in a regular season game but played in all four preseason games last year going 30-for-48 (62%), 324 yards three TDs and two picks.
The popular choice to roster at QB will likely be Lamar Jackson, but I don’t think he will see the field enough in this game. Why would they risk their star rookie in the worst of the worst exhibition game? I’d expect Jackson to get a series or two, then we might see a little of Robert Griffin before the half, the second half will belong to Woodrum who will be looking to latch on to another team before the preseason is done, a good showing in this game could help him in that pursuit.
update I’m reading now that Lamar Jackson is rumored to be getting a bunch of snaps. Personally I’m not ready to buy it, but it is worth noting. I will have at least one lineup with Jackson.
Tyler Bray (CHI)
Bray may be my favorite choice at QB, not because I think he is better than Woodrum but because I think he gets more playing time. Mitch Trubisky is the Bears starter, of that there is no doubt, he won’t even see the field in this game. Chase Daniel is the backup and as a veteran QB, he may get the “veteran treatment”, meaning he may only see a series or two in this truly meaningless game. The only other QB on the roster is Bray. He could see action from the second quarter right up until the end, making him an excellent choice for your MVP spot.
Running Backs
Taquan Mizzell (CHI)
Here is an interesting little nugget about Mizzell, when I was looking up his stats from last offseason, lo and behold, he played for the Ravens in 2017. It’s hard to get excited about a “revenge” game in the preseason of an NFL game, but when you’re playing DFS for preseason NFL, you will look for anything.
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With that said, Mizzell had a pretty good preseason for the Ravens last year with 30 carries for 126 yards (4.2ypc), while also getting 15 targets in the passing game, including a Week 3 preseason game in which he had six receptions for 54 yards and one TD. I don’t think I need to tell you that preseason Week 3 is the “dress rehearsal” for starters, so Mizzell likely saw his stiffest competition in that game and came up huge.
Ryan Nall (CHI)
Nall is a name I’ve been hearing a lot about. If you “twitter search” his name, you will see his names mentioned a lot as a guy that has come to camp to compete. Playing behind Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen won’t afford him too many regular season snaps, but he is a very versatile weapon that figures to be in the mix for a FB or H-back role. He has good hands out of the backfield and is an elusive runner for a 6-foot-2 232 RB.
Gus Edwards (BAL)
Edwards is another guy that comes up heavy on a quick “twitter search”. When Kenneth Dixon went out with a hammy about a week ago, Edwards was the favorite to step into that role. It doesn’t look like the Dixon injury was serious, but it was telling that Edwards, an undrafted free agent, has made enough of an impression to be mentioned as a Dixon fill-in, especially for a 240-pound RB.
De’Lance Turner (BAL)
Turner was also mentioned as a potential Dixon fill-in, though not as heavily as Edwards. I don’t have much to talk about on Turner other than he has been mentioned as having a good camp as an undrafted free agent and could sneak onto a roster in 2018, whether it be the Ravens or someone else.
Wide Receivers
Janarion Grant (BAL)
Grant’s best shot to make the Ravens is as a return specialist. With that said, he has made some noise as a receiver in camp. He has had multiple long TD catches in camp thus far as well as a shoe-string catch and run that caught some eyes of the beat reporters in camp.
Chris Moore (BAL)
Moore is here simply because I saw his name high on the list of snap counts from last preseason. He has two of the best plays from this offseason for the Ravens with two dazzling one-handed catches. He is the favorite to land the No. 4 WR spot at the moment behind Michael Crabtree, John Brown and Willie Snead, but he will need to show well in preseason to fight off a multitude of receivers, including the two other Ravens’ receivers on my list.
Jordan Lasley (BAL)
Lasley had the play of the day in Ravens camp on July 30 as the fifth-round rookie caught a 40-yard TD pass from QB Lamar Jackson in stride down the sideline. Lasley has had a strong camp and as a fifth-round rookie, he should see plenty of snaps in this game.
Javon Wims (CHI)
Wims and Fowler are both battling for a roster spot, and Fowler’s special teams ability may give him a slight edge. On the flip side, Wims has more upside as a receiver and has had a strong camp thus far. At 6-foot-3, he makes for a good-sized red zone threat on the outside, but his lack of long speed will limit him to needing a TD to justify rostering him. I would only recommend him as a boom or bust option.
Bennie Fowler (CHI)
Fowler, playing mostly out of the slot in camp thus far, would be a guy I would look at as a “volume” receiver in this preseason game — if there can be such a thing. He runs a lot of safe routes that his QB won’t be scared to throw, and with both Fowler and his likely QB, Tyler Bray, trying to secure a roster spot — safe is the way to go. Fowler could catch 4-to-5 passes, though he won’t put up a ton of yards unless he is able to make a few guys miss.
Tight Ends
Nick Boyle (BAL)
Both rookie TEs have missed practice time with soft-tissue injuries, and I doubt the Ravens want to risk re-injury in this meaningless game. I expect that both will play some, but not much. Boyle has made some noise in practice while the rookies were out and he has caught a few TDs from Flacco in 11-on-11 drills. He won’t be the sexiest pick at TE, but he might get more playing time than any of the other Raven TEs.
Daniel Brown (CHI)
The Bears re-signed him this offseason for depth as a pass-catching tight-end behind free agent signee Trey Burton and Adam Shaheen. He has done well in camp and has shown good rapport with both of the backup QBs, Chase Daniel and Tyler Bray.
Dion Sims (CHI)
With the aforementioned Burton, Shaheen and Brown on the roster, it’s hard to imagine the Bears’ keeping Sims on the roster much longer. He represents a $6 million cap hit — that’s a bit rich for a tight end that won’t see the field much. The fact that the Bears may be planning to cut him helps Sims two-fold in this game, 1) he probably knows his days are numbered in Chicago and will look to “show out” in what playing time he receives in hopes he can land with another team. 2) the Bears aren’t as worried about him getting injured and even though they won’t come out and say it, an injury would make it easier to cut him. Now, I’m not saying they are going to put him out there hoping he gets hurt, I’m just saying they won’t be as worried about his health as they would another player they plan to keep around.
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