Well NFL and Fantasy Fans…Week 6 is here. Every week I work on this article, it feels like it is becoming more and more depressing for fantasy fans. This year feels almost unlike any other when it comes to the amount and severity of injuries that have decimated the fantasy landscape. There was no effective draft strategy this year, they have all been significantly impacted by injury. If your fantasy team has avoided major injury so far this year, you probably weren’t very happy with your team coming out of the draft. As we get deeper into this crazy season, it is becoming clear to me that the winner of our fantasy leagues will not be the manager that drafted the best team…it will be the last team standing. Anyway…let’s dive into this weeks practice/injury reports shall we?!?!

Quarterbacks

The fantasy gods have decided that we cannot have nice things this year, and in that trend we lost Anthony Richardson for at least 4 weeks. Gardner Minshew steps in for him, and the Indianapolis offense changes dramatically. With bye weeks really starting to come on, there may be a week where Minshew might be a streaming option, but this week is not that week. Daniel Jones has been dealing with a neck injury this week and is trending toward not playing. This puts Tyrod Taylor into the starting role against Buffalo, and once again I cannot recommend using Taylor this week unless there are no other options available. Deshaun Watson is an interesting case this week. He is still recovering from a shoulder injury and may not be able to go this week. If he cannot go, it is going to be PJ Walker, and once again he is a guy that should just stay on your waiver wire. In positive news, Derek Carr was removed from the injury report and is expected to be 100% for this weeks game.

Running Back

Let’s start with some positive news for the running back position for a change! Austin Ekeler was a full participant in practice today…He’s back, baby! For an offense that was already doing well, getting one of their best players back is a great omen going into this weekend. More positive news, Saquon Barkley was a limited participant in practice this week, but he is trending toward playing. Not the best matchup for him, but if you have Saquon, it is unlikely that you have an option good enough to consider benching him if he plays. For the Bears, it certainly looks like D’Onta Foreman is going to be the guy on Sunday, Khalil Herbert is going to miss a few weeks and Roschon Johnson is still working his way through the concussion protocol. He still has time to clear, and if he does he is expected to be the starter, but as it stands now we just don’t know. For the Panthers, Miles Sanders has been a DNP in practice this week, and is trending toward missing the game. Chubba Hubbard is the backup here, and I think he could be a decent play if the Panthers can find a way to keep it close. Jahmyr Gibbs is trending toward missing the game, and if he does David Montgomery is in for an even bigger workload. Fire him up with confidence. The worst news of the week came out of Miami where the football gods decided to take Devon Achane away from us for at least 4 weeks with a knee injury. In his stead, Jeff Wilson returned to limited practices this week. Raheem Mostert should be the lead back there in an absolute smash spot. In Arizona we also lost James Conner to injured reserve, but his expected backup Keontay Ingram returned to limited practice. This backfield will likely be a committee in Conner’s absence, but the Cardinal offense is predicated on having a run game, so you should be able to use them if you need them, although I’m not sure how much confidence I would have in them. In Santa Clara, CMC is fine, but Elijah Mitchell continues to be a DNP in practice, so Mason continues to be the primary handcuff for our one true RB King.

Wide Receiver

This week was tough for us as we lost the consensus 1.01 in Justin Jefferson to IR. This will be a situation to monitor closely moving forward because the Vikings don’t currently look to be competitive and Jefferson is beginning to be on the lookout for a new contract. If the Vikings aren’t in a winning position there will be no reason for Jefferson to try and rush back from injury and risk hurting himself again. In his absence, KJ Osborn in Jordan Addison will attempt to fill the void, although Jordan Addison is working through an ankle injury of his own this week. Tee Higgins has been a limited participant in practice this week, and has a chance to play on Sunday. I don’t have a high level of confidence in him this week even if he goes, but I understand the need to play him for some teams. Mike Evans began the week with a DNP, and coming out of the bye week he does not appear to be trending in the right direction for being able to go this week. This is bad for the Bucs, but good for Chris Godwin owners. Zay Jones is dealing with a knee injury and was a DNP on Wednesday. He is technically being considered day-to-day, but I would be cautious with him for this week. Amon-Ra St. Brown was upgraded to a full participant in practice on Thursday, and appears to be primed to play on Sunday, barring setback put the sun god in your lineups with confidence. Rookie sensation Tank Dell is still working his way through the concussion protocol, and does not appear to be making the needed progress to be available for Sunday. Nico Collins becomes the man in his absence, but Robert Woods should see an uptick in targets and usage as well. In New York, Wan’Dale Robinson was a DNP on Wednesday with a knee injury and his status for Sunday is uncertain.

Tight End

Saving the best position for last! Everyone loves the quagmire that is the tight end position for fantasy football, especially when we begin to deal with bye weeks and injuries. In Dallas, Peyton Hendershot has been placed on IR, so Jake Ferguson becomes the unquestioned number one tight end, although we may begin to see rookie Luke Schoonmaker worked into the offense a bit more. For the Saints. Juwan Johnson has been a DNP in practice this week, and it seems unlikely that he would be available for Sunday. Darren Waller is not trending in the right direction toward playing on Sunday, so our fears around him may come to fruition. In Cleveland, David Njoku has been a DNP in practice this week, and I would not count on his availability for Sunday. Standout rookie Sam LaPorta was added to the injury list on Thursday as a DNP with a calf injury (haven’t we seen enough of these this year). This is a situation that bears monitoring because mid-week additions to the injury report do not tend to be good news. Dalton Kincaid, another rookie tight end that many people have high hopes for, is working through the concussion protocol and has gotten in a couple of limited practices, but he has not cleared protocol yet. This week, more than others so far this year, seems like a great week to stream a tight end if you don’t have one of the elite options.

Okay y’all, that was a lot. I hope that this wrap-up helps you get a handle on the major injuries as it pertains to your fantasy line-ups. I am trying to work in a few alternatives as I go through the injuries, but as always if you need help with roster construction please reach out to me on X(Twitter) @2fatguysff