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!
Jaguars and Texans across the pond: 9:30 a.m. start on this one, I'm not a huge fan, but it worked out well for those of us with the Trevor Lawrence-Parker Washington stack a week ago, hopefully it will again. Houston will have Woody Marks as its main back, some combo on Dare Ogunbowale and Jawhar Jordan behind him, and oh yeah Marvin Harrison Jr. as the No. 2. Should be a good game, presumably its finish won't be quite as insane as last week's Jaguars-Eagles game.
Bears at Falcons: No Kyle Monangai, but D'Andre Swift is apparently OK, and Roschon Johnson will be the No. 2. Atlanta has Michael Penix back, Chicago has Caleb Williams back, and I though the over-under seemed unreasonably high for this game, but I guess we'll see. Bijan of course, Swift, and Drake look good. Bears wideouts, well, there seem to be three of them equally involved, but maybe Caleb returning will make a couple of them stand out.
Ravens at Browns: No Lamar Jackson again, so it will be Tyler Huntley leading the offense, probably handing if off plenty to Derrick Henry. Browns running backs...welp, Quinshon Judkins is questionable after getting in one limited practice on Friday. If he plays, I don't much want to use him. If he doesn't play, I'm still not high on the Jaleel McLaughlin-Audric Estime backfield. I suppose McLaughlin would be the back to consider, but he's not great and neither is the Browns running game.
Titans at Colts: Considered the Colts for a Survivor pick. Tennessee's new coaching staff doesn't seem likely to have a much longer tenure than its last one. Colts should be better and probably put up decent numbers here. It feels like these teams have already played a couple of this year, but maybe it's because all Titans games have a dull sameness to them.
Jets at Patriots: Went with New England as my Survivor picks. Jets are fine but picking against them seems OK, we'll see. No Breece Hall or Adonai Mitchell. This is now Mitchell's fourth straight absence, is New York aware of the short-term IR spots? They are I guess because they're getting Omar Cooper back from one of them, and he could conceivably be the No. 2 right away. For New England, TreVeyon Henderson is questionable after being supposedly diagnosed with a high ankle sprain early in the week. I don't know if the diagnosis was bad, the source was bad, the reporting was bad, or if Henderson isn't going to play. Because of the high ankle sprain. But I'd use Rhamondre. A.J. Brown may play. On that one, we'll see if he's activated today. My lean is to use him if active, but there's a little risk.
Saints at Giants: Giants offense should be good here, especially the ground game. Skattebo ranked favorably, and so is Najee Harris, expected No. 2, because there should be a lot of running to go around. Chris Olave missed some practice time due to illness. Usually those guys are fine on Sunday and play. But not always, so I guess he'll need to be confirmed. If he's active, I'm using him.
Panthers at Eagles: Any news involving Philly this week? Honestly, I'm using Goedert and DeVonta (if active) as normal. Hurts hasn't been playing well, so it's not necessarily a big drop for the passing game. I'm using Dameon Pierce where I have him, because he's a starting running back against a bad defense, and I don't know what your teams are like, but I've had a hard time coming up with a healthy second running back who's actually starting in several leagues this season. Panthers offense should be very good.
Steelers at Bucs: Kind of like Pittsburgh's offense this week, especially the passing game. Bucs defense did play well in Dallas, but they won't surprise Pittsburgh. Germie Bernard a decent fill-in as the No. 2 I think. Tougher matchup for Jalon Daniels and company this week. Rico Dowdle probably returns, no I'm not starting him, it's Jaylen's gig right now.
Cardinals at Rams: Should be higher-scoring. I considered the Rams for Survivor, I'm pretty sure they won't let this one get away, the Arizona defense won't offer much resistance. But you know, puncher's chance and all. No Jeremiyah Love, making Tyler Allgeier look legit, looking at the rankings, maybe a little too legit, but he's going to be playing a ton in a high-scoring game. Rams are healthy and probably in a sour mood.
Chargers at Kansas City: At the risk of dwelling on Survivor pools, do the Chargers give much impressing they're going to be winning a game anytime soon? It's a mess. Ladd McConkey returns, that helps, but it's a committee backfield, a line that can't protect a quarterback, and a quarterback that doesn't have enough time or mobility or anything to put up a Hail Mary attempt against a three-man rush. Kansas City won't have Rashee Rice or Tyquan Thornton. They'll manage. I would start Xavier Worthy as ranked. And Travis Kelce. I'm not sure the Chargers have a good starter these days.
Bills at Raiders: I may be a little cool on the Bills offense here. I guess I'm expecting a slightly more conservative game plan (I bet the under, we'll see how that goes). DJ Moore may or may not play. but Ashton Jeanty is fine and dandy. James Cook looks a little low, but he's within a point of the handful of guys ahead of him, I'm not down on Cook, start the guy. Though it'd be nice if he stopped fumbling.
Cowboys at Packers: A Sunday night game I'm looking forward to, moreso than Ravens-Falcons and Panthers-Lions anyway. Teams are comparatively healthy. I've seen talk about Josh Jacobs. I guess he’s eligible to come off the exempt list even with legal stuff still ongoing, I'm not confident Jacobs will be any good. Or stay healthy, or whatever. I like MarShawn Lloyd this week, and maybe going forward. Someone else can chance Jacobs. Anyway, should be a good game.
Commanders at 49ers: I saw some ex-player weighing in that Jayden Daniels got Dan Quinn fired by his brainlock at the end of last week's Giants game. I think Quinn has done a fine job on his own the past couple of years of deserving to be fired. They fired everyone else this past offseason and the team is still awful, eventually they'll get around to dumping the head coach. So many injury questions in this game. Jacory Croskey-Merritt (groin) hasn't practiced, so maybe a Rachaad White and Austin Ekeler backfield. Stefon Diggs (hamstring) may return. So may Christian Kirk (calf), hurting the Brandin Cooks appeal. But then Mike Evans (Achilles, rib) hasn't practiced the first two days. I think we're gonna need to wait for the final injury report to answer questions on this game, but I'll get to them tonight/tomorrow morning if need be.
Got a drive to do this morning and may not get some answers up right away. Apologies, I will get to them eventually, either afternoon or evening. Good luck this week, and enjoy the games.
