Every Saturday morning, I'll take a quick look at all the week's games, offering my own take on what I think will happen, as well as touching on significant injury news since our Weekly came out. I'll check in every so often over the course of the day to answer questions, too.
Here's the drill: our official rankings and projections are in Fantasy Index Weekly. That's the content you're paying for. My goal here is to answer questions on players who are close, and on occasion I will have opinions that clash with the rankings -- sometimes I like a player a little more than Ian. Or a little less. If you ask me Who to Start? between Player A and Player B, and Player A is 15 spots higher in the rankings, then I will probably skip the question; answer is right there. OK, on to the games!
Cardinals at Bills: Sounds like Sammy Watkins isn't going to play, and to be honest I had already removed him from consideration anyway. He and for that matter John Brown (who's healthy but not involved) are just players I'm sticking on my bench and will not use either one until I see them play an entire game healthy and productive. Beyond that, Arizona's offense looks good and I'd use LeSean McCoy.
Vikings at Panthers: Adrian Peterson on IR, so I guess if you're in a bind you consider Jerick McKinnon, but the matchup is tough and Matt Asiata will also play. Similar uncertainty with Carolina; Cameron Artis-Payne will start, but Fozzy Whittaker and Mike Tolbert will also get snaps and the favorite to score is Cam Newton. Stefon Diggs didn't practice Friday; he's got a groin injury, so start lining up other candidates to start. Not clear how serious it is at the moment; if healthy, you want to use him.
Broncos at Bengals: Broncos fans were no doubt chuckling at Brock Osweiler's struggles last night. Fair enough but Denver was going to pay Osweiler a pretty penny, and let's see how Trevor Siemian or whoever is starting come Week 15 fares when they play the Patriots. As for this game, I'm expecting more defense than offense. Sounds like Denver won't have Virgil Green. Inevitably questions come up about Bengals committee backs. If you think they'll win, Jeremy Hill looks better than Giovani Bernard, otherwise the reverse is true. Either way those guys face a tough defense. A.J. Green is the lone appealing Bengal.
Lions at Packers: Green Bay's defensive front looks really good, the secondary (minus Sam Shields) not so much. So Lions passing game rather than running game, as usual. I'm somewhat intrigued by Dwayne Washington long-term, but Theo Riddick is the only back I'd actually start this week. Green Bay offense looks promising, although I'm currently sitting down Aaron Rodgers for Philip Rivers versus the Colts, in defiance of the rankings. We'll see if I change my mind.
Ravens at Jaguars: Good matchup for both passing games, so that's where I'd be looking. Not either running game, which should be a committee of lesser players facing what seem to be solid run defenses. Maybe Jacksonville's isn't, Melvin Gordon did fine, we'll see. But not good enough reason to use Forsett or West. I seem to see a few "should I drop Kenneth Dixon for X" questions each week. Nothing has happened to hurt Dixon's value; it's only strengthened in. If you have him, wait it out, he'll reward you eventually. I think.
Browns at Dolphins: This is the runaway pick in our suicide pool, for many reasons. One, how many chances will you get to feel good about picking the Dolphins? And two, the Browns seem not only to be bad by design but snakebit; how else to explain their top two quarterbacks suffering shoulder injuries the first two weeks? And their top pick wideout getting his hand broken in practice. Crazy. I'm using Isaiah Crowell because I have to, but not happily. Better him than a Miami running back, because no one knows how that committee will be used (just that Arian Foster won't be part of it). Miami passing game looks good.
Washington at Giants: I'm going to this game, which means I'm dropping a small fortune for a worse view and poorer reception and food than I'd have in my living room. But hey, live football! I didn't have the guts to pick the Giants in our pool (didn't want to be stressed out all during the game), but I do think they'll win and their passing game should be great. I'm steering clear of both backfields. DeSean Jackson not on the Friday injury report, so I guess he's good to go.
Raiders at Titans: Should be a higher-scoring game; Vegas thinks so, I do too. Delanie Walker is apparently banged-up so you need to check those Sunday morning reports before counting on him. Nothing out of the ordinary otherwise. I'm using Tajae Sharpe somewhere and he'll look even better if Walker can't go.
49ers at Seahawks: Used the Seahawks as my suicide pool pick and don't feel great about it, but gotta go with somebody, and I can't see Seattle's defense letting up much or their offense struggling as much as it did last week. Russell Wilson says he feels better and that's good enough for me. Sounds like Thomas Rawls won't play, so fire up Christine Michael. I have no interest in anything connected with the 49ers.
Rams at Bucs: Rams are going to try to get Todd Gurley going here and I'm giving him one more chance. But the players I really like are in Tampa, Mike Evans and Charles Sims with Doug Martin out. Cameron Brate is worth a flier with ASJ kicked to the curb. Rams have scored 9 points this season so they don't really have much to recommend them in any kind of fantasy format. Gurley because he's really good and their defense I guess.
Chargers at Colts: San Diego players are dropping like flies, but I still like who's left against the Colts barely there defense. Picked up Dexter McCluster and am considering using him in PPR over Jeremy Hill, but I'm not quite there yet on that move. Gates iffy and if he's out I'm intrigued by Hunter Henry. Donte Moncrief out so I really like Phillip Dorsett. Not afraid to use the running backs based on matchup, but I like the passing games a little more, just because of how these offenses tend to operate.
Jets at Kansas City: Eric Decker and Quincy Enunwa should be fine. Brandon Marshall is a little iffy but I'm thinking he'll be out there. If NOT, the other guys look great. Will be watching Sunday morning. For Kansas City, passing game looks better than running game, but since they do use Spencer Ware in the passing game, he looks fine. And Maclin and Kelce. Matt Forte looks like a nice free agent signing.
Steelers at Eagles: One more game without LeVeon Bell, well until he gets hurt I guess. I hope he doesn't, don't get me wrong. Just don't drop DeAngelo right away. As for this one, Steelers offense should be OK, it's much better than what the Eagles have seen thus far. For Philly, Zach Ertz (ribs) doesn't sound like he's healthy enough to play, the running backs are in a committee, eventually Carson Wentz will struggle. I'll go with Jordan Matthews and not much else.
Bears at Cowboys: So Jeremy Langford is struggling and KaDeem Carey is hurt, so there's a bit of Jordan Howard buzz. I think Howard is a guy you maybe pick up and wait and see with, but I don't view John Fox as a particularly aggressive coach when it comes to getting young running backs into the lineup, and the whole Bears offense looks like a disaster anyway. Bad line, Jay Cutler hurt, etc. I considered making the Cowboys my pool pick, I do think they're going to win and it's going to be a really nice game for Elliott and possibly Dez Bryant, too. For the Bears I'd steer clear of anyone I could, excepting Alshon Jeffery.
Falcons at Saints: We've got a couple of worrying injury issues with this one. Julio Jones (calf) hasn't been practicing, and neither has Willie Snead (toe). Since this is the Monday game, practice participation today will be key. My guess right now is that Julio is safer to use than Willie, but it might be worthwhile to see if you can add somebody else playing in the game (Justin Hardy, Michael Thomas or Brandon Coleman last). I stuck Snead in my flex spot so I can use somebody at any position. As for the game, as discussed in the Weekly, on occasion these teams play lower-scoring affairs, but the smart money still seems to be on the offenses.
Some stuff going on today, but I will check back to answer questions by this evening. Enjoy the games.
--Andy Richardson