Every Saturday morning, I'll take a quick look at all the week's games, offering my own brief take on what I think will happen, as well as touching on significant injury news since our Weekly came out. I'll check in over the course of the day to answer questions, too.
The official rankings are the ones in the Weekly. Those take precedence. But sometimes players are very close, and in those cases I'm glad to offer opinions on how I'd approach those situations. If I don't answer your question, either I missed it (it happens) or the rankings are very clear. An important note: I have more agency with the rankings than in the past. What this means is that if one guy is ranked 4-5 spots over another, it's very unlikely I'll sabotage the rankings by recommending the lower player. But I will offer thought processes on why one guy is higher or lower. OK, on to the games!
Colts and Commanders across the pond: Some questions here. Most notable is Terry McLaurin apparently picking up a hamstring injury in practice. Risky to use, but Stefon Diggs and Antonio Williams look a little better. Keenan Allen is questionable with a groin injury. Him I'm a little more comfortable using. And Rachaad White is out, so Austin Ekeler should be that passing downs back. Maybe worth a desperation shot in PPR leagues. No Jayden Daniels.
Titans at Ravens: Zay Flowers, I'd use, but I think this is a Derrick Henry against his original team game. And one of my two Survivor picks, for what it's worth, though it's been a tough year in Survivor leagues. Tony Pollard fine to use, albeit probably not great.
Patriots at Bills: Drake Maye taking a lot of heat, but who knows, maybe that's when he'll come out and have a great game. Or not, but the Bills will lose eventually. DJ Moore, I'm comfortable using him. Productive last week with the injury and should be healthier now.
Jets at Bears: Tyson Bagent expected to start. Could be Case Keenum, so the announcement (tomorrow evidently) must be monitored. Jets won't have Breece Hall, I'm using Braelon Allen somewhere. They also won't have Adonai Mitchell, but I'm not going to recommend Isaiah Williams. Kenyon Sadiq comes off a breakout game. He's questionable with a back injury. I'm expecting he'll play and the injury is just the Jets being detail oriented, but it will need to be confirmed that he's active.
Jaguars at Bengals: Should be a high-scoring affair. I respect the Jags defense and maybe Cincinnati's is improved, but I'm using regular starters from both teams.
Cowboys at Texans: Nico Collins returns, and I'd use him as usual. Some risk I guess in aggravating injury and departing early, but there's risk with everyone, as well as not using them and have them go off.
Cardinals at Giants: Teams are healthy, other than Jaxson Dart obviously. Hoping for a good game from Jameis Winston, who I'd like to see keep starting, but there hasn't been much good so far. In general, I'm in on the offenses, including Cam Skattebo, Malik Nabers, Michael Wilson (who I regrettably benched and cautioned against last week, apologies) and the starting TEs.
Rams at Eagles: Rams won't have Aaron Donald. Seems bringing stars out of a couple of years old retirement maybe not working. No Terrance Ferugson, maybe not Colby Parkinson, I like Tyler Higbee as a fill-in. Oh yeah, the big news: Puka Nacua is playing, DeVonta Smith isn't. If I drafted Puka, I'm using him. I can't fully recommend Dontayvion Wicks, but he's going to have to be their No. 1 with Makai Lemon the other starter, so I'd use those guys as ranked. I can't make anyone actually feel better about putting Wicks into a lineup over bigger names, but opportunity counts for something.
Packers at Bucs: Hard to know what to expect from these offenses. Packers have offensive line injuries and bad running back committee, Bucs have an undrafted rookie at quarterback. I'm expecting a lower-scoring game, but Love-Watson-Golden-Kraft should be busy. Egbuka, well, Jalon Daniels was good in the preseason and the Packers secondary got ripped up by Drake London in the last game.
Dolphins at Vikings: Other Survivor pick. I know some Dolphins fans, I feel for them, what can you say. Not much to latch onto. I would indeed use Jaylen Wright before Ollie Gordon, but you've seen the rankings -- I don't want to use either of them. Any Dolphins. Minnesota won't have Justin Jefferson, making Jordan Addison look very promising. No. 1 wideout against a lesser opponent.
Kansas City at Raiders: Big game between undefeated teams atop the AFC West. My general feeling is the Raiders come back to earth here against the best team they've faced this year. Obviously in on Bowers and Jeanty, but that's pretty much it. Kansas City, starters look good.
Chargers at Seahawks: No Jadarian Price. An Emanuel Wilson-George Holani committee against a good defense, Wilson should be the main back, as rankings suggest, he's the one to try. Ladd McConkey dealing with an injury, will need to be confirmed he's active. Chargers will win eventually, but probably not here.
Broncos at 49ers: Mike Evans the key question here. You know he wants to play, even if it's just red-zone snaps and stuff, but broken ribs (if that's the case) are tough to play through. Late afternoon game so might not be certain he's playing until after the early games have started. Deebo Samuel looks very good, should be a good game.
Lions at Panthers: High-scoring Sunday night game coming up. Panthers moving the ball well and Lions can't stop anything through the air. Problem is that Jalen Coker is questionable, so there's risk in expecting full snaps (I do think he's playing). I'd probably chance him unless I'm debating a similarly ranked option. Both QBs looks good, both RBs too.
Falcons at Saints: I believe Saints will win this game, although their defense hasn't been good and the Falcons very impressive with Michael Penix in last game. Should be higher-scoring, and the NFC South is pretty interesting right now. No Travis Etienne, so an Alvin Kamara and Kendre Miller committee. Kamara is the one I'd trust, but can't rule out Miller ending up being better. Good Monday night game.
Got some family stuff going on today and I may not be timely with responses. Will try to answer this evening if I don't get to stuff during the day. If I miss your questions, apologies. Please go with the rankings, and best of luck.
Enjoy the games.
