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!
Patriots and Lions in Munich: A couple of uncertain Patriots here. A.J. Brown might play; if he does, I kind of feel like you need to chance him given the way the Detroit has neglected to cover opposing passing games. If he's inactive, DeMario Douglas is a lot more appealing. Tricky situation, and then there's the Corey Kiner and Rhamondre Stevenson one. If Stevenson out, I want to use Kiner; if Stevenson active, I do not. Lions mostly healthy, I'm using Amon-Ra despite the questionable listing.
Kansas City at Falcons: So Kenneth Walker didn't practice on Friday and is questionable with a tight groin. If Walker plays, you start him, if he doesn't, you start Emmett Johnson. I don't have the former anywhere but do have the latter, so selfishly I'm hoping it's Johnson. We'll find out tomorrow. Otherwise, I'm interested in KC's passing game, a little wary of Atlanta's, but I think London is a start but Pitts an underused maybe.
Texans at Browns: Denzel Boston the questionable player here, one limited practice on Friday with a toe injury. Interested if he checks out OK, very interested in KC Concepcion if he doesn't. For Houston, the possible return of David Montgomery is a negative for Woody Marks; I think Marks will be better, but not a full-time guy. No Marvin Harrison, Tank Dell looks usable regardless.
Vikings at Packers: Someone dropped Jordan Addison in my big money league, before the Cousins trade. I spent big in FAAB to pick him up, having just lost Michael Wilson. Then Addison "dings" his thumb in Friday's practice and is questionable. Really don't know what the likelihood of him playing is, but I'd like to use him, particularly with T.J. Hockenson out. Green Bay running backs...yeah, I don't want to start any of these guys this week. Lloyd or Kaleb could be best, Strong or even Chris Brooks could get most passing downs work. Tough matchup but I think you're using Love-Watson-Golden if you got em. Kraft too.
Dolphins at Colts: Picked up Kyle McCord in dynasty. What the heck. Could be a better passer than Malik Willis (I'm using Caleb Douglas in a couple of leagues, Greg Dulcich too). For the Colts, well, 20-target game for Tyler Warren? Mebbe. Ollie Gordon and Jonathan Taylor both look good. (I'm not expecting the Colts to limit Taylor or anything, but I accept the possibility of them going that route. If I had him, I'd start him.)
Panthers at Saints: Carolina starters look fine. For New Orleans, I'm expecting Travis Etienne to play and he's the back I'd use, sorry to all who picked up Audric Estime this week. I like Estime fine if Etienne winds up being held out another week. Olave yes, Tyson sure.
Bills at Jets: Adonai Mitchell apparently picked up an injury in practice on Friday. If he's out, Omar Cooper more appealing. Bills offense looks fine, I assume they'll have plenty of fans in the stands.
Jaguars at Titans: Jags are healthy, some concern with Bhayshul Tuten but he's not on the injury report so I guess he's fine. Titans don't have Carnell Tate, and when he missed the Bengals game, both Chimere Dike and Gunnar Helm put up good numbers. Problem here is that Cam Ward probably isn't throwing for 304 yards again, but I can see chancing Dike if necessary (Wan'Dale the receiver I'd most want to use).
Rams at Cardinals: It's not often you have an NFL game where I can't recommend a single wide receiver from either team. But this is the one. Trey McBride, a couple of Rams TEs, several running backs, those are the guys ranked as potential options. Just kind of weird. Some wideout will end up going for 70-80 yards but he won't be in any of my lineups.
Seahawks at Raiders: Two tandem backfields, some value, with both teams probably at least trying to run the ball. You notice I haven't been talking about my Survivor pool, I got bounced like most others, and I suppose those alive have used Seattle, but I do expect their defense to make for a long day for Fernando Mendoza. Charbonnet the highest ranked running back in this game I think, and I don't love him either, but the matchup is good.
49ers at Cowboys: Ah yes, early '90s championship game matchup. Both starting running backs, both QBs probably, Kittle and Deebo and Lamb and Pickens. I wouldn't want to use Keenan this week, despite the matchup, but maybe he picks up things quickly. Should be a higher-scoring game, so there's that.
Steelers at Bengals: Also probably higher-scoring? Last meeting was and offenses are playing even better right now. Cautious on the three notable tight ends since they could be busy or could be left out of the fun. Think I'm using Metcalf and Bernard somewhere. When we were telling everyone to draft Joe Burrow a year ago, we were just a little early, but I'm glad to have him in a best-ball league this year too. Bengals should win the AFC North and could be playoff force, if they stay healthy.
Chargers at Ravens: I'm using Derrick Henry this week, recent slump and all. Would probably use Zay Flowers too. And the Ravens D. I think that might be it. Yes, no Chargers, with Ladd McConkey iffy and frankly unusable after last week's late scratch leading to zeroes in lineups. There have been worse Monday night games over the years, but this one is in the discussion.
Enjoy the games.
