Bucs kicking game unsettled

Sep 01, 2015

Twelve days before the regular season opener, the Bucs had three place-kickers at practice Tuesday — Kyle Brindza, a rookie from Notre Dame who arrived in a trade a day earlier from the Lions in exchange for tight end Tim Wright; Connor Barth, the most reliable kicker in team history who was cut by the Broncos last week; and Patrick Murray, the second-year pro who took Barth's job a year ago but quickly is losing his grip on the gig.

Barth missed his only field goal attempt, from 43 yards, in Saturday's loss to the Browns.

Barth, 29, is an 85.3 percent field goal kicker. His career was derailed in 2013, when he tore his Achilles playing in a charity basketball game. He felt pretty good about things after signing a two-year, $2.75 million contract last week. Then Brindza showed up. "If I don't miss a field goal (Saturday), maybe it's a different story," he said.

Fantasy Impact:

Brindza, 22, would seem to have a leg up on Barth and Murray in this competition. With the Lions, he was perfect on three field goals, connecting from 41, 49 and 51 yards, and made both extra points. Just as important, seven of his eight kickoffs resulted in touchbacks. In an emergency, Brindza could also punt. Barth owners were at least relieved their kicker had a job after getting cut by Denver but that may not be the case again by the start of the season.

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Cowboys "moving away" from RBBC, declaring Rico Dowdle No. 1 RB

Ed Werder

3 hours ago

Mike McCarthy moving away from running back by committee concept, declaring Rico Dowdle the No. 1 RB. “Rico needs to touch the ball,” he said.

Related Players: Ezekiel Elliott, Deuce Vaughn, Dalvin Cook, Hunter Luepke

Fantasy Impact:

This is great and all, but the Cooper Rush-led offense looked beyond miserable last week, and it's hard to see how it's going to get much better moving forward. Consider Dowdle a high-floor/low-ceiling RB3 in Week 11.

WR Jonathan Mingo set to make Cowboys debut in Week 11

Patrik Walker

4 hours ago

Jonathan Mingo is expected to make his debut for the Cowboys this week, per MM.

Mingo was inactive last week following the trade to allow time for ramping up.

Related Players: Jalen Tolbert, KaVontae Turpin, Jalen Brooks

Fantasy Impact:

We wouldn't expect a ton of action from Mingo fantasy-wise, but it's not as if he has a murderer's row of talent standing between himself and a WR2 role. He can be left on waiver wires in most every format, but might be worth checking to see if he ended up on waiver wires in Dynasty leagues.

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