Quarterback

I’m going to keep this strictly about football. At this point we won’t know until the weekend, likely Saturday at the earliest whether Aaron Rodgers will be able to take the field this week. All signs point to that being the case, and you should proceed as such. 

Regardless of what Arizona says about Kyler Murray not being able to practice, it’s not a good sign that Murray didn’t return action on Thursday as he still works through his ankle injury. Even if we take out the rushing portion of Murray’s game, he still uses his legs to make things happen. Keep an eye on what Murray does this weekend, but be prepared to pivot once again. Depending on your alternatives, I would potentially look elsewhere even if he does take the field this week. 

For now, Russell Wilson is still on Injured Reserve but that is just paper work as he was a full participant in practice on Wednesday. All indications are that Wilson’s finger is healed even if his impending return against Green Bay is coming a little earlier than expected. If he does the field this Sunday I have no issues inserting Wilson back in the starting lineup, but it’s still dependent on how you filled the gap in your roster while he was sidelined. 

Missing practice on Wednesday and Thursday is nothing new for Ben Roethlisberger, but we still need to keep an eye on him over the weekend. It hasn’t been the best of seasons for the Pittsburgh signal caller, but the matchup doesn’t get much better than Detroit this week. 

Indianapolis took things easy with Carson Wentz on Thursday due to an illness (non-COVID), but there doesn’t appear to be any concern regarding his status from that standpoint. Despite his thoughts to the contrary, Wentz’s wife is set to give birth at any moment, and while he said he wouldn’t miss the game on Sunday, I would still have a backup plan in place. Of course, this comes at a time in which Wentz is coming off one of his best performances of the season with 272 passing yards and three touchdowns against the Jets last week. 

Baker Mayfield, once again, appears to be unaffected by the injury to this non throwing shoulder. Of greater concern is the potential lack of a running game for Cleveland and it remains to be seen what the Browns’ passing game will look like with Odell Beckham out of the picture. Apparently, there was a foot injury in play as well, but that appears to be past Mayfield too. 

Matthew Stafford came out of last week’s game with a minor ankle injury, but he is off the Injury Report and there is nothing to worry about from a health perspective this week. What we do have to be concerned about though is a tough match-up against a strong San Francisco passing defense. 

All signs are point towards Trevor Lawrence taking the field on Sunday after coming out of last week’s game with an ankle injury. Lawrence got beat up against Buffalo, and despite emerging victorious, it wasn’t much of a fantasy day for him. Things should be easier against Indianapolis, and while his ankle shouldn’t hold him back, we are looking at a QB2 here. 

Zach Wilson is back in practice this week, but the Jets are going to take it slow with the rookie signal caller and go back to Mike White this week. White has performed well when given the chance, over five quarters, but it will be a tough match-up this week against Buffalo. Perhaps sitting back and watching will benefit Wilson once he returns, but he will only be as good as his offensive line and running game. 

Running Back

At this point, Ezekiel Elliot really doesn’t need to practice in order to have success on Sunday, but we do want to make sure that he is ready to take the field on Sunday. For now, limited reps in practice don’t appear to be impacting his status as a lower end RB1, but it is something to keep an eye on as he might be a fade in DFS this week and if Dallas does continue to limit his reps, Tony Pollard might end up with some value as well. 

Alvin Kamara missing two days of practice, Wednesday and Thursday, is not a good thing. For now, New Orleans has expressed optimism as it relates to Kamara’s knee injury, but at this point, I am having my doubts. Mark Ingram should be locked and loaded here. 

Additions to the injury report, especially on a Thursday, are never a good thing. After practicing in full on Wednesday, Najee Harris was limited on Thursday with a foot injury and this is something to add to our list of concerns heading into Sunday. What happens on Friday will be critical here as the rookie has been essentially been the be all, end all, in Pittsburgh’s backfield. Benny Snell is likely our best bet if Harris is in fact forced out of action, but watch the practice reports here. 

It shouldn’t be a surprise, but Antonio Gibson is still dealing with his shin injury. The bye week didn’t do much to change Gibson’s situation, and it’s something to keep an eye on as J.D. McKissic has been more valuable at times. It’s turned into what is close to a 50/50 split, but McKissic gets the boost in PPR leagues and gets all of the passing down work. 

Until further notice, we have to proceed as if Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson will be sidelined on Sunday as they have yet to practice as of Thursday and they are still both in the concussion protocol. That means get ready for J.J. Taylor and Brandon Bolden to be fantasy relevant this week. 

It’s unclear if the Chiefs intend to activate Clyde Edwards-Helaire for this week, but he did look good in practice. I wouldn’t have any issues returning the second year back into my starting lineup and fantasy managers who were relying on Damien Williams will have to look elsewhere; either this week or next. 

At this point, it’s safe to assume that we are going to move forward with Chase Edmonds for the next few weeks. That gives a nice boost to James Conner with Eno Benjamin gaining some value in a supporting role. 

I’m not sure if it is more difficult to manage concussion protocols or COVID protocols, but at this time there is still a chance that Nick Chubb will clear the latter in time to return on Sunday. The same can be said for Demetric Felton which means that there is the potential for D’Ernest Johnson to be quite busy this week. 

Initially Devin Singletary was shaping up to be a popular play this week with Zack Moss dealing with a concussion. Neither running back is especially dominant, but both are solid and if one is getting all of the work, the situation becomes attractive. But with Moss a limited participant in practice on Thursday, he is trending towards returning on Sunday although he still needs to clear concussion protocol. 

Alex Collins continues to follow the same practice schedule as he did in Weeks 7 and 8 as he deals with a groin injury, but all signs point to him taking the field as normal once again this week. The bigger concern from the perspective of Collins though, is whether or not Chris Carson makes his return from a neck injury. If does, this situation might turn into a fade.

With San Francisco not playing until Monday night, it does make roster decisions a little more difficult. JaMycal Hasty was out held out of practice on Thursday with an ankle injury, but he shouldn’t be on anyone’s fantasy radar except as a handcuff to Elijah Mitchell. The rookie has emerged as the clear number one back with the 49ers but he is also questionable with his rib injury continuing to hang out in the background, although his status for Monday doesn’t appear to be in doubt. What we do have to keep an eye on though, is whether Jeff Wilson will touch the ball this week after we saw nothing from him last week despite being active. 

After missing Week 8’s game with a thigh injury, it’s not a good sign for Jamaal Williams that even after the bye week he was still unable to practice on Thursday. All this means is a busier day for D’Andre Swift with Jermar Jefferson picking up some value as well. 

We have gone into this week expecting to James Robinson be ready to go on Sunday after missing last week’s game at the last minute with a heel injury. He returned to practice on a limited basis Thursday as he prepares to take control once again of the Jacksonville backfield. 

Wide Receiver

It’s now been two thirds of the season that DK Metcalf has gotten a practice per week off as he continues to manage a foot injury. It hasn’t impacted Metcalf on game day, and you shouldn’t read into it either as it is just business as usual. 

Another good sign is that Deebo Samuel isn’t even on the Injury Report as he practiced in full on Thursday. It’s even better as Samuel has one of the better matchups of the week against the Rams as he continues to be one of the best receivers in the league this season. 

After missing practice on Wednesday with a knee injury, Keenan Allen was back on the field Thursday; albeit on a limited basis. Unless we see otherwise over the weekend, there’s no reason not to expect Allen to be one of the better receivers (especially in PPR leagues) of the week. 

After how A.J. Green ended Arizona’s Thursday night game a few weeks you could argue that he has missed more than one game, but the veteran receiver appears set to be ready to go for this week’s game. With that being said, Green does have a chance to have some value this week depending on what happens with DeAndre Hopkins and Rondale Moore. And at this point, it’s possible the Arizona receivers this week will be Green and Christian Kirk as both Hopkins and Moore didn’t practice on Thursday. Seeing Hopkins miss practice isn’t generally alarming as he is working to manage a hamstring injury, but he didn’t play last week, things are a bit more concerning. Moore is in the concussion protocol, so it is perhaps more concerning that he was unable to practice on Thursday, so we should prepare as if he will be sidelined this week, and don’t forget that Arizona is also without Chase Edmonds who has a role in the passing game. Eno Benjamin could see a nice boost here by default. 

The air attack is now the name of the game for Tennessee as they go at it without Derrick Henry. It only makes sense that A.J. Brown would have been targeted 11 times in each of the last two weeks so it’s a good sign that he practiced in full on Thursday as his knee issues appear to be status quo. Julio Jones has yet to catch a touchdown pass this season or distinguish himself, so seeing his name pop up with a hamstring injury shouldn’t have too much of an impact on most fantasy managers plans, but that could mean Brown sees another slight volume boost. 

I wouldn’t read much into Antonio Brown now being without his walking boot, as he has yet to return to practice and it appears he will have to miss another week due to his ankle injury. It could be an interesting week for the Tampa Bay receiving corps as Chris Godwin had yet to return to practice on Thursday as he is dealing with a foot injury. This could be a more critical situation to monitor as it could be a very busy week for Mike Evans with Tyler Johnson and Jaelon Darden both being busy in a supporting role. 

Following a limited practice on Thursday, Amari Cooper appears to be trending towards taking the field on Sunday, while managing a hamstring injury, after a game everyone would like to forget last week against Denver. The Dallas receiving corps will also get a little more crowded on Sunday, which will also stretch secondaries a little thinner, as Michael Gallup is trending towards making his return from his calf injury and will likely take the place of Cedrick Wilson who is on the path to missing this week’s game with a shoulder injury. 

Everything about DeVonta Smith’s matchup against Denver looks juicy this week as the rookie comes off a game last week that saw him catch five passes for 116 yards and a touchdown. Don’t read anything into Smith being limited in practice on Wednesday as nothing about his elbow is slated to hold him back. 

The good news is that Chase Claypool’s toe injury isn’t going to end his season. However, he has yet to practice through Thursday and that would give me some doubts about his status for this week in what is a favorable matchup against Detroit. It does mean that we should elevate James Washington though. 

It sounds crazy to say about a steady, PPR, volume-based option, but for whatever it’s worth Hunter Renfrow has emerged as the number one receiver for the Raiders. I know that it is all relative to the team and it means 32 different things across the league, but there has only been one week in which Renfrow has caught less than five passes. So, it is a good sign that he practiced in full on Thursday so we don’t have to worry about his ankle injury in a favorable matchup against the Chiefs this week as Renfrow looks to build on his seven receptions for 49 yards and a touchdown performance from last week.

We know how tricky concussions can be, but T.Y. Hilton appears to be out of protocol as he practiced in full on Thursday. Hilton has dealt with a few injuries this season so he hasn’t done much, and the major takeaway here is the emergence of Michael Pittman. At this point, I can’t see Hilton taking much away from Pittman, and instead Zach Pascal will likely be impacted more but I also don’t know how much we can trust Hilton on Sunday although he did catch four passes for 80 yards in the one that he saw a normal workload this season. 

Prior to missing two games with a hamstring injury, the short week last week didn’t help Corey Davis, the Jets’ receiver appeared to be finding his groove. Davis is slated to return this week, and with Mike White having some success under center, we could see a strong performance from the receiver. 

Jarvis Landry is the only game in town when it comes to receiving options in Cleveland, unless we believe in Donovan People-Jones, so it’s a good sign that his knee injury doesn’t appear to be holding him back. Now about that three reception for 11-yard performance last week?

Cole Beasley continues to be a volume option in Buffalo’s offense, and it appears that there is nothing to worry about when it comes to the rib injury he has been dealing with. While Beasley has 51 receptions on the season, he has just one touchdown so his value really is limited to PPR leagues. 

We will have to continue monitoring this situation, but all signs point towards Tim Patrick continuing on the right path towards taking the field on Sunday. 

At this point the Washington receiving situation is really Terry McLaurin, the tight end, and J.D. McKissic. Even after the bye week, Curtis Samuel still doesn’t appear likely to return as he continues to deal with a groin injury and it’s unclear what, if anything, we will get out of Cam Sims and Dyami Brown as both were limited Thursday. 

Tight End

After we saw George Kittle catch six passes for 101 yards last week I wouldn’t read anything into the tight end being limited in practice on Thursday as it’s just San Francisco managing his workload. 

Dawson Knox practiced in full on Thursday, so all signs point to him returning to action this week and continuing what looked like a breakout season. 

Noah Fant was activated off the COVID-19 list this week, so can expect to see him pick right back up where he left off with 37 receptions for 320 yards through his first eight games of the season. 

Based on his current status, it appears that Logan Thomas’ hamstring is still not healed enough to allow him to return to the field so we will get another week of Ricky Seals-Jones in Washington. 

Tampa Bay might be down a few key receiving threats this week, and one of them is Rob Gronkowski who was unable to return to practice on Thursday. It doesn’t mean he is for sure on Sunday, but things are trending towards O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate being busier. 

At this point it appears that Eric Ebron will be back in action on Sunday after he missed the last two games with a hamstring injury. It remains to be seen how that will truly impact Pat Freiermuth but with just seven receptions on the season, we can’t expect Ebron to be too big of a factor, and that is good news for the rookie.