Well everyone, here we are again at the beginning of another NFL Weekend. I’d love to start with some good news, but unfortunately it’s looking like it is going to be another miserable fantasy week on the injury front. In addition we have four teams on bye which could lead to some putrid looking rosters this week. I hope you have been able to navigate this rough season, and are in position to compete for the playoffs in your league. Let’s get right into it.

Quarterbacks

This position is a lot more of same old, same old this week. We do have some new interesting situations, but for the most part it’s a lot of the same guys with the same injuries. 

In Chicago we are going to be without Justin Fields for at least one more week, as the coaching staff has already announced Tyson Bagent as the starter.

In Cleveland Deshaun Watson was able to get in a limited practice session on both Wednesday and Thursday. While no announcement has been made regarding his status for Sunday, I am operating under the assumption that Chick-Fil-A Watson is going to be out again and we are going to have another week of PJ Tucker.

In Arizona Kyler Murray is nearing a return, but we have reports that it is going to be Clayton Tune this week. 

In Minnesota we had a trade for a quarterback in the wake of Kirk Cousins’ injury. They went out and acquired Josh Dobbs from the Cardinals. He is not expected to play this week, and the Vikings are expected to start Jaren Hall. If you are forced to play any of these four quarterbacks this week, I empathize with you. I don’t think any of them have much upside. 

For the Rams, Matt Stafford has not been ruled out with a thumb injury, but I would be shocked if he played. In his absence it looks like it’s going to be Brett Rypien. This puts a cap on the expected value of the rest of that offense. 

In Las Vegas we had a regime change, and in turn a quarterback change. Jimmy G is heading to the bench and we are going to see Aidan O’Connell. He is going to have some significant growing pains, but I actually think this could lead to some increased production for Davante Adams. 

In Atlanta they also announced a quarterback change, opting to send Desmond Ridder to the bench in lieu of Hospital Ball Heinicke. I actually like this move for fantasy. Heinicke has proven to be a gunslinger, and I expect the value of his skill position players to rise. You could do much worse if you needed a streaming option this week. 

In “positive” news, Daniel Jones looks likely to return this week for the Giants. I don’t know what to think about this move. He looked putrid early in the season for all but one half of football before his injury. I’d like to think he learned something watching from the sidelines the past few weeks, but I really don’t know.

Running Back

In a week with four teams on bye, one would hope that we might be able to have a light injury week. Nope, that is simply not the case. 

In Baltimore, Gus Edwards started the week off with a DNP for a toe injury but says he is okay to go. 

In Arizona Emari Demercado has been a DNP with a toe injury this week. If he ends up missing this week, that becomes a messy situation for fantasy, and I want no part of it. 

For the Packers, Aaron Jones has been a limited participant in practice but says he is fine. I certainly hope that is the case, that offense simply hasn’t been the same since he has been dealing with this hamstring injury. If he is finally healthy it would be a boon for both the Packers and his fantasy owners. 

In Houston, Dameon Pierce has been a  DNP so far this week due to an ankle injury. If he can’t go that likely means a full workload share for Devin Singletary which could be good for fantasy. 

In Miami, Raheem Mostert was a DNP on Wednesday, but I am not concerned because this has been a fairly normal occurrence. It seems like a veteran maintenance move more than anything. Saquon Barkley has been a limited participant in practice, but this seems more like maintenance for him rather than a threat of him missing the game. The same can be said for the Bengals and Joe Mixon and his limited practice participation.

Due to the state of the running back position this year, I feel like it is a matter of if these guys are playing you almost have to play them because there simply aren’t a whole lot of other options.

Wide Receiver

Of the positions we have looked at so far, wide receiver gives us the most injury relief. We are still not out of the woods, but the situation isn’t quite as dire as it is in other spots.

In Houston Robert Woods has been a DNP so far in practice this week and is not expected to play this week. This is good news for both Nico Collins and Tank Dell.

In Atlanta Drake London has logged a couple of DNP’s to start the week and his status for Sunday is in doubt. If he doesn’t go, I’m not sure that I could trust another receiver in Atlanta, but I might be more confident in Kyle Pitts, Jonnu Smith, and Bijan Robinson.

In Washington Curtis Samuel was a DNP on both Wednesday and Thursday, and doesn’t appear to be trending in the right direction for Sunday. He has been a nice find for fantasy owners this year, but if he is out I think we might see Jahan Dotson have another nice week.

For the Rams Puka Nacua has been limited in practice this week dealing with a knee injury. This coupled with the uncertainty at QB has me tempering expectations for the exciting rookie this week.

In New Orleans, the ghost of Michael Thomas has been limited in practice this week with an illness. I don’t think it is anything that will impact his game status, but it is worth noting.

For the Cardinals, rookie receiver Michael Wilson has been a DNP in practice this week with a shoulder injury. Given the total uncertainty in Arizona I would look elsewhere if I needed a lottery ticket receiver this week.

In New England Davante Parker has been a DNP this week as he works through concussion protocol and is not likely to play. Coupled with Kendrick Bourne being placed on IR it looks like we might finally see Tyquan Thornton, but the big “winners” are Pop Douglas and Hunter Henry as they are the most likely options to inherit the vacated targets.

In Carolina deep threat receiver DJ Chark was a DNP on Wednesday, but did log a limited practice on Thursday and looks like he is on track to play.

Tight End

For Tight Ends, there is really only one notable injury this week and that is Darren Waller for the Giants. He said this week that it could be “some time” before he is ready with his hamstring injury. For a 31 year old player with a history of similar injuries, a statement like this is worrisome. He knows his body better than anyone, and if he thinks it could be some time, that could mean that we might not get any more usable weeks out of him before we reach the fantasy playoffs. Fantasy players who drafted him knew that an injury like this was likely, we just hoped that the timing wouldn’t be so unfortuitous. The position as a whole has kind of been a crap shoot this year anyway, and losing a guy who is 5th in points at the position is going to hurt. Even though it didn’t feel like he had produced at quite that level anyway. If you have him, you are likely going to have to start looking at streaming TE options for a while. If Trey McBride is still available in your league, he is a guy that I might look to pick up for next week and moving forward. If you need a starter for this week I might look at Hunter Henry as a viable option.

Okay friends, that is going to do it for this week’s practice wrap-up. I hope this helps you make some of your tough roster decisions. As always, if you need assistance with your weekly rosters feel free to reach out on X(Twitter) @2fatguysff