Daily Dose: Bills Claim Enemkpali

There’s nothing quite like the NFL. In what other business could you punch one of your co-workers in the face, break his jaw, get fired, and land on your feet with a new job in less than 24 hours?

This farfetched scenario happens to be IK Enemkpali’s reality. A day after going Mike Tyson on Jets quarterback Geno Smith, Enemkpali resurfaced Wednesday when the Buffalo Bills claimed him off waivers.

Maybe we should have seen this one coming. After all, Bills coach Rex Ryan was the man who drafted Enemkpali in 2014. Plus Ryan is used to taking on high-risk players. He was the only coach brave enough to give disgraced lineman Richie Incognito a second chance. Locker room headache Percy Harvin falls under the same umbrella.

“IK made a mistake, there's no question about that,” said Ryan. “We had IK last year. A lot of us were around IK, and he was a good teammate."

Enemkpali’s teammates don’t seem to be bothered by his reputation. “I frankly don’t care,” said veteran running back Fred Jackson. Quarterback Matt Simms, who played with Enemkpali in New York last year, added, “From the person I got to know in the past year and a half, I would say that IK is a soft spoken gentleman who works very hard.”

So what does Enemkpali bring to Buffalo? Not much. The 24-year-old logged three tackles last season while playing just 40 snaps. Buffalo’s linebacker corps is already well-stocked. Preston Brown and Nigel Bradham both received positive grades from ProFootballFocus last year and won’t cede much playing time to backups.

Meanwhile, the Bills’ quarterback search continues. Buffalo News beat writers Vic Carucci and Tyler Dunne have both anointed Matt Cassel the “clear frontrunner.” That’s kind of like picking your favorite post-Happy Gilmore Adam Sandler movie. There’s no good, just degrees of bad. Cassel will start Friday’s preseason opener against the Panthers ahead of backups Tyrod Taylor and E.J. Manuel.

Given the Bills’ lackluster choices at quarterback, Buffalo will be running it early and often this year. In fact, Ryan predicts LeSean McCoy will total 1,000 yards rushing and receiving this season. No player has done that since Marshall Faulk in 1999. McCoy’s current ADP on FantasyPros is 12.2.

Lions Headed For Timeshare?

The league’s most interesting position battle is heating up. With Joique Bell sidelined after undergoing offseason knee and Achilles surgeries, second-round pick Ameer Abdullah has seen most of the Lions’ first-team reps at running back.

If Bell had been around to steal some of those carries, Abdullah’s talent may have stayed hidden. Unfortunately for Bell, the secret is out.

“We can’t even tackle that guy,” said defensive coordinator Teryl Austin. “He’s like grasping at air.”

Beat writer Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press praised Abdullah’s “uncanny vision” while salivating over his “great lateral ability.” According to the Lions’ website, he’s even held his own in pass blocking drills.

Abdullah is checking off all the boxes. The question is whether the Lions will let him loose this year or wait for the veteran Bell to wear down. Tim Twentyman of Lions.com suggests the Bell/Abdullah tandem could end up being close to a 50/50 split.

That’s the last thing fantasy owners want to hear. The hot-hand approach may work for coaches, but it’s a fantasy nightmare. There’s nothing worse than taking a stab at which running back will score and then guessing wrong. Fantasy owners crave stability and a split backfield can’t offer that.

Abdullah offers the most upside and is obviously the preferred pick in dynasty leagues. On the flip side, Bell (5’11/229) is much bigger and could get most of the goal line work. A similar situation played out in Minnesota last season. Jerick McKinnon (zero touchdowns) routinely carried the Vikings downfield only to be replaced at the goal line by Matt Asiata (nine touchdowns). Basically, McKinnon did all the work but reaped none of the fantasy benefits. That’s a scary thought for owners eying Abdullah at his current eighth-round ADP.

Of course, if Abdullah keeps playing out of his mind like he has all training camp, the Lions can always ditch the committee and hand the reigns over to him. He’ll have a chance to distance himself from Bell in Thursday’s preseason opener against the Jets.

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Gurley Could Miss “First Couple Games”

Another running back battle is being staged in St. Louis. And similar to the one in Detroit, one back is healthy while the other isn’t.

St. Louis staked its future to Todd Gurley this spring by drafting him with the tenth overall pick. Taking a running back in the first round is bold enough but what the Rams did was downright reckless. Instead of going for a healthy back (Melvin Gordon would have fit the bill), they went for the one with a torn ACL. Ninth months after his injury, Gurley is still recovering and won’t be ready for the season opener. In fact, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said Wednesday the Rams expect Gurley to miss at least the first couple games.

That leaves the door wide open for second-year running back Tre Mason. The former Auburn Tiger started last season behind Zac Stacy but quickly leapt to the front of the pack, leading the Rams with 765 yards and four touchdowns. That rushing total was second highest among rookies behind only Jeremy Hill.

Quarterback Nick Foles is an improvement over Austin Davis and Shaun Hill but the Rams’ receiving corps is still in disarray. When underachievers like Kenny Britt and Jared Cook are your best options, you need a strong running game to move the chains.

The Rams drafted Gurley to be their bell-cow, but can he handle the workload? Fantasy owners are waiting to find out.

Quick Hits: Adrian Peterson has sat out the last few practices because of a bruised thigh but he said if it were the regular season he’d be playing through it … Mike Zimmer will coach the Vikings’ preseason game Saturday against the Buccaneers before traveling to Naples, Florida for his father’s funeral on Monday … Michael Vick’s agent spoke briefly with the Jets after Geno Smith broke his jaw on Tuesday. NFL Network’s Rand Getlin said the two sides agreed “it wasn't in their best interests to resume their professional relationship” … ESPN’s Ryan Clark offered some inside info on the Geno Smith controversy while appearing on Mike & Mike. “My report says Geno put his finger in [Enemkpali’s] face and told the guy, ‘well, you’re not going to do anything about it.’” Geno was quite wrong … Josh Norman and Cam Newton got into a scuffle at Panthers practice the other day but there don’t appear to be any hard feelings. Norman said Wednesday that he “wouldn’t want to go into battle with [any] other QB” … Julian Edelman (undisclosed) won’t appear in Thursday’s preseason game against the Packers. He hasn’t participated in team drills since August 2 … Tom Brady appeared in court Wednesday to plead his case against the NFL in the Deflategate scandal. Nothing much happened, but courtroom sketch artist Jane Rosenberg got a lot of flak for her less than flattering depiction of Brady. Rosenberg apologized afterwards: “If I didn't make him look good enough, I'll try harder next time” … Brady texted an apology to Peyton Manning after an insulting email leaked last week. Manning said there was no need to apologize: “The fact his emails got revealed, that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me” … Manning will not suit up for Friday’s preseason game against the Seahawks. It’s the first time he’s missed a preseason opener since 2012 … The Steelers officially placed kicker Shaun Suisham on injured reserve. He tore his ACL in Sunday’s Hall of Fame game against the Vikings … Free agent guard Evan Mathis is close to signing a contract. The Jets and Dolphins have both been linked to Mathis … Colin Kaepernick refuted a report that former teammate Aldon Smith smashed up his Mercedes after an altercation at practice last week. Kaepernick said he doesn’t even own a Mercedes … Cardinals linebacker Sean Weatherspoon suffered a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury that could sideline him for another week … Patrick Peterson was stunned to receive a signed jersey from Michael Jordan in the mail. Peterson plans to hang the jersey in his game room … Vince Wilfork showed off his basketball skills on Tuesday’s premiere of Hard Knocks. The former Patriot was money from three-point range … The Texans are still targeting August 17 for Jadeveon Clowney’s return to practice but coach Bill O’Brien said the team isn’t going to rush him if he needs more time. The No. 1 pick in last year’s draft is still recovering from knee surgery … Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports said Melvin Gordon’s pass protection remains “a work in progress.” La Canfora attended Chargers practice on Wednesday … Browns receiver Terrelle Pryor won’t compete in Thursday’s preseason game against the Redskins. He tweaked his hamstring at practice last week … You don’t know pain like Joe Thomas knows pain. The Browns tackle said he’s played through three MCL tears and two high ankle sprains since entering the league in 2007 … Jaguars receiver Marqise Lee is still out with a hamstring strain but is hoping to be back for the team’s third preseason game August 28 against the Lions … Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said Zach Ertz has improved his blocking this offseason. It’s about time … Redskins tight end Logan Paulsen went to North Carolina Tuesday to have his injured toe looked at by Dr. Robert Anderson. That’s probably not a great sign … Eric Berry is good to go for Saturday’s preseason game against Arizona. He spent most of the offseason recovering from Hodgkin’s lymphoma.