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!
Bengals vs. Falcons in Madrid: Cincy offense has been killing it and I'm not about to bet against those guys. Cincy defense is still giving up some production (e.g., Titans last week) so Drake and Pitts and obviously Bijan look fine too. I have Gesicki and might be using him somewhere, problem is he does sometimes gets left out of the fun if he doesn't score. But he sure has been scoring a lot.
Broncos at Panthers: I like Jonah Coleman. I don't know if the Broncos trading for Jonathan Taylor talk is valid, but I'm about 90 percent sure they ain't trading Coleman in the deal. Most deals involving veterans at this point involve picks, period. Trading away Coleman in a Taylor deal looks bad if Taylor gets hurt, as running backs often do. Anyway, little worried about a Denver letdown here, but offense should be good. Carolina should be coming up with some yards, it's points that can be hard to come by against Denver at times.
Cowboys at Colts: Speaking of Taylor. I guess it makes sense that the Colts want to keep him healthy for a trade. I don't know that will happen, but it might. Can't use Seth McGowan unless Taylor actually inactive or traded. If you use Taylor, you might get burned. But you almost might get burned holding him out against a terrible run defense. Tough call and I try to give advice but this is one people need to decide for themselves on. No "expert" can tell you how much Taylor actually plays this week. I am fine using Warren and probably Keenan and Downs (although he's probably going to be traded). With the Cowboys, George Pickens (hamstring) is questionable, so the inactives will need to be watched. Ryan Flournoy a viable fill-in if no Pickens, because the Colts are in full falling off the map stage here. Jake Ferguson unlikely and not a great choice even if he plays these days.
Jets at Kansas City: Breece Hall returns and probably gets 60 percent of the work, Braelon Allen the rest. No Garrett Wilson, however, making both Adonai Mitchell and Omar Cooper starters, albeit against a good defense. I love KC's offense here because they are pretty good and will be in ticked off mood after the loss in Denver. Rashee, Mahomes, Kelce, Walker obviously.
Lions at Dolphins: Detroit offense should be its usual very good, but don't assume the Dolphins will just get walked all over, we've got a month-plus of evidence that their defense is closer to average than terrible and they're not mailing it in. I think Malik Willis, Caleb, Ollie and even Greg Dulcich have value this week, perhaps Washington too. Amon-Ra St. Brown is questionable, I think he's playing, but snaps could be limited. I'm not benching him unless there are scary morning reports.
Browns at Saints: Kudos to Deshaun Watson for delivering some decent yards and stuff (plus all the sacks to opposing defenses). I don't think the drop to Shedeur Sanders is huge, and would still consider usual skill guys. Saints defense pretty leaky. For New Orleans, apparently Travis Etienne needs another week before he's ready to return, so Alvin Kamara and Kendre Miller have one more modest week ahead. Game might be lower-scoring, but then again, neither defense is great.
Giants at Eagles: Giants starting a guy who wasn't on their roster at the start of the year and are happy about it, Eagles not so much. Or maybe they don't care much, they're thinking about next year primarily. No DeVonta or Wicks again. Wouldn't want to start Joe Milton but I'm interested. Devin Singletary the big beneficiary of Cam Skattebo missing this game. I'm starting him as ranked.
Rams at Commanders: No Treylon Burks for the Commanders, possibly no Colby Parkinson for the Rams. Or he'll play hurt, maybe he just doesn't line practicing. Hard to sign off on the TE's who would be left, Tyler Higbee hasn't done anything for a while. But Antonio Williams should be busy for Washington.
Texans at Chargers: No David Montgomery, so Woody Marks busy. Chargers offense, I don't think we want to use any of these guys too much. Ladd, I guess.
Raiders at 49ers: San Fran short on wideouts, but McCaffrey is playing. Kittle and I think Jordan Watkins is the wideout I’d be interested in, but Demarcus Robinson might return. Raiders healthy, possible running back committee a bit troubling. I was going to use Mike Washington in a league but have pivoted to Devin Singletary.
Packers at Patriots: Place in my heart for this matchup, fun history when I still liked the Packers. Should be a good game here, teams mostly healthy, I don’t imagine anyone was starting TreVeyon Henderson. And since he’s apparently got a significant health concern I apologize for making light of him being out sick last week. Rhamondre and Jacobs should be featured, Patriots might have to go without Hunter Henry, but also decent shot he guts it out.
Cardinals at Seahawks: Drew Lock starts, and as noted it’s not necessarily a big downgrade for the offense. Arizona, meanwhile, doesn’t have Love or Knight, so Tyler Allgeier should be pretty much fulltime and pretty decent. Although, Seattle defense sort of good.
Bucs at Bears: Will the Bucs complete a pass this week? I think they’ll have to, but they will at least try to run. But Chicago more vulnerable to the pass, and their offense should also have some success. Interesting matchup though. Sounds like Monangai won’t play again, so Swift features, but Bucs also better against the run. I’m comfortable Bears passing game will be better than Atlanta last week.
Bills at Vikings: Was painful to slot Josh Allen 3rd at quarterback this week. I think it's fair to say no one is actually benching him (and shouldn't), but putting him facing a great defense below Joe Burrow and Brock Purdy (facing lousy ones) seems fair. Anyway, I still like Allen and James Cook and probably DJ Moore and Dalton Kincaid, but the matchup is really tough. For the Vikings, I like Justin Jefferson and T.J. Hockenson, would prefer not to wade into the running back committee. Really should be the Vikings trading for Taylor.
Got some stuff going on today and answers may not be timely, but I will do my best to answer them tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest. When in doubt, please go with the rankings. And enjoy the games.
