Colts WR Josh Downs (knee) did not practice on Wednesday. He seems unlikely to play vs. the Patriots this weekend after aggravating that knee injury last Sunday. Isaiah McKenzie will step in as Indianapolis' slot receiver if Downs is out. McKenzie would be a desperation fantasy play.
Patriots WR DeVante Parker (concussion) returned to a limited practice on Wednesday. We'll see if he can get cleared for Sunday morning's game vs. the Colts. Parker isn't a fantasy option, but his return would mean a bit more target competition for WR Demario Douglas.
Panthers WR D.J. Chark (elbow) missed practice all week and is listed as doubtful for Thursday night's game vs. the Bears. His absence should elevate WR Terrace Marshall into a top-3 role. When Chark missed Week 1, Marshall ran a route on 96% of Carolina's pass plays and drew six targets for a 15.8% share. He turned that action into just two catches for 23 yards, though, and is really only in play in one-game DFS contests. Chark's absence could mean an extra target or two for WRs Adam Thielen and Jonathan Mingo.
Bears RB Khalil Herbert (ankle) is listed as questionable for Thursday night's game vs. the Panthers. He was a full participant in practice all week, so he seems likely to play. But the questionable tag is an indication that Herbert still isn't at 100%. Don't be surprised if he falls short of the 10.2 carries per game he averaged before going down -- especially considering how well RB D'Onta Foreman played over the past few weeks. Herbert is still worth considering as a RB3 or flex play vs. Carolina's 31st-ranked RB defense.
Bears QB Justin Fields is doubtful for Thursday night's game against the Panthers with his right thumb injury. He continued limited practice participation this week after returning to that level last Friday. We'll see whether he can take the next step and return to game action in Week 11. QB Tyson Bagent will get his fourth straight start against Carolina. His presence has meant shorter passing than what the Bears have done with Fields this year. But the rookie has also completed passes at a higher rate (67.3% vs. 61.7%). The switch has lowered the fantasy ceiling for WR D.J. Moore and produced a lower passing-TD rate. But it otherwise doesn't seem to be negatively impacting the Chicago passing game.
The Vikings on Wednesday designated WR Justin Jefferson (hamstring) to return from IR. That means he can return to practice any time, though it doesn't necessarily mean we'll see him on the field in any way this week. Minnesota has three weeks to either activate the wideout or rule him out for the season. Reports have already said we shouldn't expect Jefferson to play in Week 10. But this designation should mean that return is approaching. We'll continue updating whenever there's news on one of fantasy's (and the NFL's) biggest stars.
Giants HC Brian Daboll announced Wednesday that QB Tommy DeVito will start Sunday at Dallas. It's the announcement we all expected and yet no one was waiting for. The Giants' offense has been terrible even with experienced NFL QBs. The only player worth any fantasy consideration there is RB Saquon Barkley, and we have him projected to disappoint vs. expected production this week. QB Matt Barkley will back up DeVito.
The Cardinals have officially designated RB James Conner to return from IR. That allows Conner to practice with the team this week. Arizona now has three weeks to decide whether to return him to the active roster. Signs have pointed to Conner returning to game action this week against the Falcons. We'll watch the RB's status throughout the week.
The Panthers are adding LB Blake Martinez to their practice squad. You should expect this move to go like Julio Jones' addition in Philadelphia and Darrell Henderson's with the Rams, in that the veteran should move quickly to the active roster. Martinez retired from the Raiders last year. We'll guess he didn't end that retirement to play practice dummy for a 1-7 Carolina squad. The Panthers, of course, sport a significant need at LB. Despite multiple minor injuries, LB Frankie Luvu has led all Carolina defenders at 89.4% snap share for the season. The nearest non-edge LB to him is Kamu Grugier-Hill (45.2%). He got starter-level time the two games after LB Shaq Thompson went down before Panthers coaches realized/remembered he's not very good. Don't be surprised if Martinez steps into the No. 2 LB role over the next few weeks. How much playing time that could mean remains to be seen. Martinez isn't worth a waiver pickup in most IDP formats.
Titans HC Mike Vrabel has announced that QB Will Levis will start the rest of the season. "Going forward, Will is going to be our quarterback," he said Tuesday. "We think that's the best opportunity for our football team right now, and see where he's at." The move makes sense, of course, Tennessee sits just 3-5 and needs to know what it has in Levis before the 2024 draft. Fantasy wise, it's also too early to know what we have. Levis opened with a QB6 finish in Week 8 against a soft Atlanta D. then he went QB20 in a tougher spot against Pittsburgh. Over the past two weeks, Levis ranks 24th in Pro Football Focus passing grade among 37 QBs with at least 20 dropbacks. He also carries the 10th-highest percentage of turnover-worthy throws. Combine that with a thin crew of Tennesssee pass catchers and it's tough to like Levis in 1-QB leagues at the 10- or 12-team level. He carries some upside in deeper formats, however, and can be intriguing for multi-QB formats. A Week 10 matchup with the Bucs -- who just allowed C.J. Stroud to break the rookie record for passing yards is intriguing. Levis will also get the league's third-best QB schedule from Week 13 on, according to our adjusted fantasy points allowed.
NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reports that the Vikings don't expect to get WR Justin Jefferson back from his hamstring injury this week. Jefferson is eligible to return for Sunday's game against the Saints after missing the past four contests. But it sounds like he'll need at least one more week of recovery time. That obviously leaves targets available for the other Minnesota pass catchers, albeit in a more difficult matchup than last week's vs. Atlanta.
The Bears listed RB Khalil Herbert (ankle) as a full practice participant both Monday and Tuesday after designating him to return from IR at the beginning of the week. They'll still need to officially activate him to make Herbert eligible to play Thursday night against the Panthers, but things seem to be trending in that direction. If Herbert does return after four games down with the ankle sprain, it'll set up a crowded backfield situation -- with D'Onta Foreman and Roschon Johnson -- for a high-ceiling RB matchup. That would lower the floor for every player involved. We'll keep an eye out for hints at Chicago's RB usage ahead of Thursday night's game.
The Panthers have ruled Edge Brian Burns (concussion) out for Thursday night's game against the Bears. That leaves Carolina with DJ Johnson and Amare Barno as basically the only two true edge players for the matchup. This isn't a situation to mine for Week 10 IDP options or a team defense.
The Cowboys are signing WR Martavis Bryant, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. Bryant recently got reinstated by the NFL after multiple suspensions under the league substance-abuse policy. Bryant last played for the Raiders in 2018 and will turn 32 in December. He did, at least, catch 14 passes for 154 yards over eight games with the XFL's Vegas Vipers this past summer. It's tough to envision Bryant getting all the way back to fantasy relevance, especially when you consider he barely got there as a young NFL player. Bryant thrived off deep catches and high TD rates over his first two seasons, averaging 17.3 yards per catch and score on 18.4% of his receptions over that span. We'll bet against him playing a similar style game 8+ years later, or becoming a high-volume possession receiver.
When asked about Jaguars WR Zay Jones (knee) on Monday, HC Doug Pederson said that the wideout "is getting better and is day-to-day" but would not rule out possibly sending him to IR if the injury continues to hold him back. Jones has been effective at times (17% target share, 2 TDs in three games played), though he hasn't been active for a game since Week 3 vs. the Colts. Landing on IR ahead of Sunday's game against the 49ers would knock Jones out until at least Week 14. There's not much to do with the veteran WR in fantasy until we know more.
The Rams are signing Carson Wentz. What's this mean for the QB situation? It likely means that the team saw enough of Brett Rypien in Sunday's ugly loss to the Packers. The Rams waited until Sunday to officially rule QB Matthews Stafford out, so we can only assume his injured right thumb will be ready for game action after the Week 10 bye. That would leave Wentz as ostensibly the new backup. Frankly, we're wondering why some other team with a shaky QB situation didn't take this shot earlier. Wentz can be stashed in deeper superflex leagues, just in case there's any setback with Stafford's thumb.
Rams HC Sean McVay says he expects RB Kyren Williams (ankle) to be ready when he's eligible to return from IR, according to multiple reports. Williams has missed three games, so he'll remain out at least through Week 11 -- on the other side of the team's bye. But we should have him back for fantasy lineups from Week 12 on. Darrell Henderson and Royce Freeman have combined to take over the backfield in Williams' absence. We'd guess some version of that duo will hold on to a little more work after Williams' return than any other Rams RB had before he went down. That's not because they've outplayed Williams, but rather because few RBs dominate backfield touches the way Williams was pre-injury. That said, we'll certainly assume a controlling share for Williams upon return until/unless the team shows otherwise.
Chargers WR Keenan Allen caught 8 of 9 targets for 77 receiving yards in Monday night’s win over the Jets. The veteran also surpassed the 10,000-yard mark on a long catch in the third quarter, becoming the 51st WR in NFL history to eclipse that milestone. Allen now ranks as the WR5 in PPR points per game (20.6) and seventh among wideouts in receiving yards (720). Unfortunately, the only other Chargers’ pass-catcher to exceed 20 yards in this contest is RB Austin Ekeler. Rookie wideout Quentin Johnston struggled (2-14) but did, however, register a 94.5% route participation rate without teammate Joshua Palmer (knee) active, by far a season-high (68.9% in Week 7 closest). Perhaps Johnston can improve upon these efforts. Unfortunately, the road doesn’t get much easier for the Chargers. Their remaining strength of schedule ranks as the fourth-toughest for WRs in our adjusted fantasy points allowed. Allen should be treated as the only reliable receiver in this offense.
Chargers RB Austin Ekeler tallied 70 total yards on a combined 16 touches in Week 9’s win vs. the Jets. Monday night was not the veteran’s most efficient showing. Going 14-47 on the ground isn't awful, but one 20-yard run from Ekeler accounts for 28.5% of his final count in the contest. But let’s not be too persnickety; he also scored 2 rushing TDs in the game. Ekeler has now recorded back-to-back games of 20+ PPR points and four straight weeks of 16 or more touches since his Week 6 return from an ankle injury. Fantasy managers should expect good production from Ekeler moving forward, as the Chargers’ remaining schedule ranks as the single-easiest for RBs in our adjusted fantasy points allowed.
Chargers QB Justin Herbert completed 16 of 30 passes for 126 yards with 0 TDs or INTs in Week 9’s victory over the Jets. He also added 17 rushing yards in the contest, but Herbert’s 7.1 fantasy points on Monday night are firmly his lowest in a game this season. Herbert being sacked five times doesn’t help matters either. Fantasy managers should expect him to be able to return much better production than this for the rest of the season, but don’t get too excited. The Chargers’ remaining schedule ranks fifth-hardest for QBs in adjusted fantasy points allowed. Don’t take this as an “abandon ship” warning for Herbert, though. Two of those remaining games are against the Broncos (32nd in pass defense DVOA). It’s just something to be mindful of moving forward.
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