The Market Report is your one-stop Monday shop for all the movement from a big weekend of NFL football.
These are the players who stood out for fantasy-relevant reasons — the good reasons, the bad reasons, and the in-between.
This column will be posted every Monday afternoon.
UPGRADES
Players about whom we’re feeling more optimistic based on recent play or news.
Quarterbacks
Kyler Murray (Ari) — Fantasy’s overall QB1, Murray might have played his most impressive game of his NFL career so far in Week 9, posting 21/26 passing for 283 yards with 3 TD, adding 11/106/1 rushing to the ledger against the Dolphins. While Murray’s costly ‘fumble-six” early in the game was perhaps the decisive play in the entire contest, he rebounded with an utterly immaculate performance otherwise, against perhaps the NFL’s most underrated defense. Murray now is averaging 12.8 FPG as a runner alone — that’s 2.0 FPG more than Lamar Jackson posted in his MVP season last year. Murray’s supplementing that with a passing performance that has been incredibly impressive in recent weeks, as the Cardinals have been stretching the field on a more consistent basis, and Murray continues to show off his top-five arm strength. He’s run for at least 1 TD in seven of eight games this year, and in the game in which he didn’t, he threw 3 TD passes. Can this continue? Maybe not at this pace, but Murray’s talents are special, coach Kliff Kingsbury is doing a great job utilizing them, and the talent around him is high-end. (Joe Dolan)
Josh Allen (Sea) — The Bills had no plans to run the ball against the Seahawks and correctly identified their defense as a massive pass funnel. And boy, did it work. Josh Allen threw the ball 38 times for a career-high tying 415 yards and three touchdowns in what was a consistent demolition of the league’s worst secondary. Allen also added a rushing score en route to 36 fantasy points, which was second-most among QBs on Sunday behind only Kyler Murray (38.9). After a few bad games against the Chiefs and Patriots in recent weeks, this was as good of a bounceback performance you could have hoped for. Allen and the Bills will be in another shootout next week against the Cardinals before their Week 11 bye. (Graham Barfield)
Running Backs
Aaron Jones (GB) — Jones returned to the lineup in Week 9 after a two-week layoff for a calf injury and he didn’t have any limitations against the 49ers, posting 15/58 rushing and 5/21 receiving on 61% of the snaps. Jones didn’t suffer any setbacks so he should sit in that 18-22 touch range going forward with Jamaal Williams getting his fix of touches behind him. Jones is an RB1 option in one of the league’s best offenses, especially this week against the Jaguars. (Tom Brolley)
Mike Davis (Car) — Davis played 31% of the snaps in Christian McCaffrey’s return to the lineup in Week 9, posting 3 yards rushing and 5/34 receiving on 6 targets. But while he didn’t split snaps the way some thought he might prior to the game, his role is likely to increase in coming weeks — according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, it appears McCaffrey is going to miss at least one game with a shoulder injury suffered late in the loss to the Chiefs. Our Dr. Edwin Porras thinks the injury is likely to his AC joint, which could cost CMC two to three weeks. We hope you didn’t drop Davis — if you did, go pick him up again. He has a tough matchup with the Bucs in Week 10, but he can make up for it in the passing game. (JD)
D’Andre Swift (Det) — Look, we have to treat some upgrades as unequal to others — Swift played just 40% of the Lions’ offensive snaps against the Vikings in Week 9, as Detroit seemed committed to getting Adrian Peterson his revenge against his former team. It was Swift’s lowest snap share since Week 6. However, his 13 carries and 64 yards were the second-most of his rookie campaign, while he also tied his season-high mark with 5 targets (3/33 receiving). We have absolutely no idea why the Lions are so committed to Peterson (27% snaps) and Kerryon Johnson (33% snaps), neither of whom have looked half as good as Swift has this year. We would hope Swift’s explosiveness — which the Lions lack literally everywhere else — would be enough to get him on the field more. He’s an RB2, but the upside is held back by the bozos calling the shots. (JD)
Miles Sanders (Phi) — The Eagles went on bye in Week 9, and it was a well-timed bye as it not only allowed Sanders (knee) to get healthy, but a couple of offensive linemen (RT Lane Johnson, LG Isaac Seumalo) are getting healthier as well. It’s expected that Sanders will play in Week 10 against the Giants, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. He will be a low-end RB1 if so. (JD)
Wide Receivers
Michael Thomas (NO) — Thomas made it through his first game of the season unscathed, which is a small victory for his fantasy owners. He posted 5/51 receiving on six targets in New Orleans’ 38-3 victory over the Buccaneers in Week 9, which was his first game action since he suffered his high-ankle injury at the tail end of their Week 1 showdown with Tampa Bay. Drew Brees and company were busy spreading the rock around as 12 different receivers registered receptions against the Buccaneers. Thomas easily led the league with 184 targets and 11.5 targets per game last season, but he’s unlikely to be the ball-hog he was in 2019 with Alvin Kamara healthy and with Emmanuel Sanders and Jared Cook commanding weekly targets. Thomas at least looked healthy, which is a small victory at this stage in the game, so some top-12 performances could be coming in the future for those who waited for Thomas to return to the field. (TB)
Christian Kirk (Ari) — After posting 5/123/1 on 8 targets against Miami in Week 9, Kirk now has 5 TD over his last three games, and he has become the main beneficiary of Cardinal QB Kyler Murray throwing the ball more aggressively down the field, and with pinpoint accuracy. Perhaps the tough matchup with Miami’s man coverage led to DeAndre Hopkins’ quietest game of the 2020 NFL season so far (3/30 receiving), and Kirk took advantage by taking the top off the defense. He and Murray are in the zone right now, and with Hopkins working the intermediate areas and Larry Fitzgerald working the short areas of the field, the Cardinals have a lethal three-level passing attack from their group of WRs. He’s pretty much impossible to sit right now given his upside. It’s possible he has another big game next week if the Bills choose to shadow Hopkins with Tre’Davious White. (JD)
DeVante Parker (Mia) — Parker didn’t have a huge game against the Cardinals and CB Patrick Peterson in Week 9, posting 6/64 on 7 targets, but QB Tua Tagovailoa played really well — which obviously was exciting to see — and WR Preston Williams (foot) went down with what looks like a pretty serious injury. Nobody is going to get overly fired up about Parker, but he now might be the only reliable target Tua has on the perimeter, and if Tua is going to look anything like he did in Week 9, that should mean consistent WR3 production from Parker, at a minimum. He has the Chargers next week. (JD)
Jerry Jeudy (Den) — Jeudy’s breakout performance against the Falcons just solidified what we’ve been seeing from him all year. He has been getting open at will — just like he did at Alabama — but the production just hadn’t really popped yet. Well, in a dream matchup against the Falcons, Jeudy finally broke out for a big day (7/125/1 on 14 targets). Drew Lock and the Broncos offense was sluggish in the first half and most of Jeudy’s production came in the third and fourth quarter when they were in catch-up mode, but those points still count. We now have a five-game sample of Lock and Jeudy together and even though the duo has not had much time to develop chemistry, Jeudy is getting fed the ball. In five full starts with Lock at quarterback, Jeudy leads the team in both targets (8.4 per game) and air yards (35% share). For reference, both of those figures would rank in the top-15 among receivers over the full season. With Noah Fant banged up and Albert Okwuegbunam (ACL) out for the year, Jeudy’s role may continue to rise. And more good news: The Broncos next three matchups aren’t overly imposing (Raiders, Dolphins, and Saints). (GB)
D.J. Chark (Jax) — Sometimes the squeaky wheel actually gets greased. After complaining a few weeks ago that Gardner Minshew couldn’t get him the ball, the Jaguars came out of their bye and made it a point to pepper Chark early and often with Jake Luton making his first start in place of the injured Minshew (thumb). Luton’s first throw of the day was a deep bomb to D.J. Chark that went for a highlight-reel 73-yard score. Luton routinely went Chark’s way against the Texans, targeting him 12 times en route to a 7/146/1 monster line. Chark is going to see a lot of Jaire Alexander next week when the Jags’ take on the Packers, but Jacksonville is certainly going to have to throw a ton to keep up with Aaron Rodgers and their offense. The Packers opened up as massive 14-point favorites for Week 10. (GB)
Tight Ends
None of note.
DOWNGRADES
Players about whom we’re feeling less optimistic based on recent play or news.
Quarterbacks
Tom Brady (TB) — The Buccaneers inserted Chris Godwin (finger) and Antonio Brown into the lineup against the Saints in Week 9, and yet the Buccaneers managed arguably the most disappointing performance of the entire season through nine weeks. Brady completed 22/38 passes for 209 yards (5.5 YPA) and three interceptions in an embarrassing 35-point loss to put them in a big hole for the NFC South division race. Brady was off even with his full complement of weapons at his disposal, but he certainly wasn’t helped with Rob Gronkowski dropping a touchdown pass and with his O-line struggling to protect him all game long. Bruce Arians did call out Brady after the game for not throwing to Mike Evans more in Week 9. We’ll see how Brady responds to that criticism, especially with the added dynamic of Brown in the fold. Brady has now failed to reach 20+ FP in four of his last five games after scoring 22+ FP in three of his first four games. His one down game early in the season came against this week’s opponent, the Panthers. He managed just 217/1 passing against the Panthers in a 31-17 victory back in Week 2. (TB)
Matthew Stafford (Det) — Stafford posted 23/32 passing for 211 yards with a TD and 2 INT against the Vikings in Week 9, before leaving the action with a concussion. While in general we feel Stafford has played pretty well overall this season, he’s now crippled by an offense that has little explosiveness on the perimeter, an overcommitment to running the ball on early downs, and a coaching staff that has no idea how to maximize the talent — or lack thereof — around him. Stafford’s status with the concussion must be monitored, but if Kenny Golladay (hip) isn’t going to play, this offense is completely in the dumps. And even when Golladay does play, OC Darrell Bevell can’t get out of his own way when it comes to playcalling and sequencing. Stafford is droppable. (JD)
Lamar Jackson (Bal) — The Ravens scraped out an ugly win against the Colts, but this offense is in dire straits. Sure, the Colts are a tough secondary to beat — but we’ve now seen six-straight games where Jackson and this offense has struggled. After two easy opening matchups against the Browns and Texans bottom-10 secondaries in Week 1-2, Jackson has finished outside of the top-16 weekly quarterbacks in four of his last 6 games and is completing just 58.5% of his passes for 6.3 yards per attempt in this span. Jackson’s rushing ability is the only thing keeping him afloat in fantasy. The good news? The Ravens have an amazing playoff schedule in Week 13-16 (vs. Cowboys, Browns, Jaguars, and Giants), but Jackson’s struggles go beyond matchups right now. (GB)
Running Backs
Christian McCaffrey (Car) — McCaffrey had a massive game in his return from a high ankle sprain, with 28 touches, 151 yards, and 2 TD. Unfortunately, late in the game as he was fighting to get out of bounds to give kicker Joey Slye a chance to beat the Chiefs, he injured his shoulder. According to NFL Network, the injury is bad enough that CMC is “in doubt” for Week 10, and our Edwin Porras believes it could be an AC joint injury, which could cost him two to three games. CMC is a stud, but he’s been snakebitten this season, which is a shame because the Panthers are a better team than almost everyone thought. We hope you didn’t drop Mike Davis. (JD)
Ezekiel Elliott (Dal) — Fantasy owners drafted Zeke as third overall player in fantasy drafts this summer. He’s now the second-best option in the Cowboys backfield just three short months later. Elliott struggled through a hamstring injury in Week 9 against the Steelers as he finished with 18/51 rushing and 2/18 receiving on three targets, which gives him three straight games with fewer than nine FP. He’s fallen below 4.0 YPC in each of those three games after averaging 2.8 YPC last week, and he’s now easily averaging a career-low 3.8 YPC. Meanwhile, Tony Pollard continues to look like he’s been shot out of a cannon when he gets the rock after he posted 9/57 rushing against the Steelers to bring his YPC average up to 4.4. Pollard will play more next to Zeke coming out of their Week 10 if the Cowboys are serious about contending for the NFC East title. (TB)
Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Le’Veon Bell (KC) — The Chiefs have run the ball on 54 of 166 plays since Bell’s debut three weeks ago (32.5%). In that time span, no Chief back has topped 8 carries in a single game. Edwards-Helaire reached that mark in Week 7, but has games of 6 carries and 5 carries in the two games since. Now, CEH could survive that kind of usage if he was getting big-time work in the passing game, but because he is splitting snaps with Bell (and even Darrel Williams, who played 29% of the snaps against Carolina in Week 9), that work isn’t necessarily coming. If we were Andy Reid with this explosive pass game, we wouldn’t run the ball either. But Bell’s presence has made CEH a low-end RB2 without Bell doing anything to warrant fantasy usage for himself. (JD)
Jonathan Taylor (Ind) — There are no two ways about it: This has been a disaster rookie season so far for Taylor. Even with Marlon Mack (Achilles) out, Taylor hasn’t been able to separate from Jordan Wilkins and Nyheim Hines for playing time. This past week, Taylor scored for the first time since Week 5 but lost a fumble in the late-first quarter that ended up getting returned for a touchdown that cost the Colts the game. After fumbling, Taylor saw two more touches throughout the rest of the game that resulted in a five-yard catch and a one-yard run. Taylor’s snap rate has been trending downwards for now three-straight games (59% > 34% > 31%) and he may have put himself deeper into the doghouse after fumbling this past week. HC Frank Reich has given Wilkins 31 carries to Taylor’s 17 over their last two games. (GB)
J.K. Dobbins, Mark Ingram, and Gus Edwards (Bal) — Even though this offense is struggling, the Ravens still lead the NFL in rushing (1,361). Remarkably, exactly zero of their running backs are trustworthy in fantasy. It’s incredible. The Ravens are just going to go with a full-blown timeshare regardless of who is healthy. Even with Mark Ingram (ankle) out this past week, J.K. Dobbins (12/30 rushing; 2/5 receiving) and Gus Edwards (11/23/1 rushing; 2/11 receiving) split touches evenly against the Colts. With Ingram possibly back in Week 10, we’re looking at the same three-headed monster that was impossible to predict earlier in the year. You’re still stashing Dobbins because he has the most upside of this bunch, but none of them are more than RB3 options moving forward. (GB)
Wide Receivers
Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson (Min) — The Vikings are living Mike Zimmer’s dream right now, as they’ve run the ball on 68 of 104 plays the last two weeks (65.4%, a number unheard of in the NFL these days). And they’ve been successful at it, with Dalvin Cook putting up absolutely titanic numbers the last two weeks, with the Vikings winning two impressive games over division rivals. Of course, this has really hurt Thielen (5/65 on 9 targets) and Jefferson (6/90 on 8 targets) over that two-week span. Meanwhile, the two receivers have combined for just a single red-zone target the last two weeks, while TE Irv Smith scored 2 TD in Week 9 against Detroit, establishing himself as a useful goal-line option. The matter is frank — unless teams start slowing down Cook, Thielen and Jefferson are little more than WR3s. (JD)
DJ Moore (Car) — Despite the Panthers putting up a massively spirited fight against the Chiefs in Week 9, Moore wasn’t a significant part of it, catching just 2 passes for 18 yards on 3 targets. Moore’s struggles to produce coincide with the Panthers and OC Joe Brady really figuring out how to get the most out of WR Curtis Samuel — Samuel had a season-high 12 opportunities in Week 9, gaining 118 yards from scrimmage. Samuel has 25 targets and 11 rush attempts in his last four games. In those four games, Moore has just 19 targets. And Moore’s 11-target outing in Week 6 came in a game that Samuel missed. Moore is part of an offense that has a ton of weapons with Teddy Bridgewater distributing the ball effectively, and Brady has had a lot of fun calling plays for Samuel. That makes Moore a WR3, and not the WR2 he was drafted as. (JD)
Darius Slayton (NYG) — The Giants suspended Golden Tate for their Week 9 matchup with the Football Team, which figured to benefit Slayton some with one less mouth in the passing attack. Instead, UDFA Austin Mack stepped into the lineup and posted 4/72 receiving on five targets while Slayton caught his only target for six yards. Slayton actually caught the first pass of the game before getting blanked for the final 60 minutes despite playing 84% of the snaps. Sterling Shepard has established himself as Daniel Jones’ #1 receiver with 6+ catches and 8+ targets in three straight games since he returned to the lineup off of his foot injury. Evan Engram is also coming on strong with 9+ targets and 5+ catches in that same span, leaving Slayton to settle for scraps with 8/88 receiving on 13 targets in the last three weeks. Slayton will be an uninspiring WR4 option this week in a matchup with Darius Slay and company, whom he posted just 2/23 against in Week 7. (TB)
Corey Davis (Ten) — LOL. Davis’ resurgence (or, “surgence?”) has been one of the underreported stories of the NFL season so far — he has put together a really nice contract year, with his worst PPR output in five games so far coming with 11.9 FP in Week 3 (before COVID wreaked havoc on the Titans’ season). So of course once the fantasy community takes notice, he puts up a goose egg against Chicago in Week 9. We’ll see if it’s just a fluke, given the Bears have a strong defense and Ryan Tannehill completed just 10 passes, but this is not a great way for Davis to endear himself. He has another tough matchup upcoming with the Colts in Week 10. (JD)
Marquise Brown (Bal) — With Lamar Jackson regressing as a passer and OC Greg Roman not running as hot as he was last season, this entire Ravens offense has been a massive disappointment so far. It has been rough to watch. Even after complaining last week’s 1-catch performance, Brown didn’t see an uptick in targets this week against the Colts and turned in another flop performance (3/38 receiving). There is no other way to say it: Brown has been a massive bust so far and is now tied with Randall Cobb as the WR50 in fantasy points per game (10.5). Yikes. The thing is you can’t drop Brown, either, because his stretch run schedule is so nice in Week 13-16 (vs. Cowboys, Browns, Jaguars, and Giants). That’s the only hope for salvaging what has been a completely lost season for the Ravens offense. (GB)
Tight Ends
Robert Tonyan (GB) — Tonyan has primarily been a small factor in the Packers offense since his blow-up game against the Falcons in Week 4 when he scored three touchdowns. He managed just a five-yard catch on his only target against the 49ers in Week 9, which gives him six or fewer FP in three of his last four games. Tonyan led the Packers TEs in snap share in Week 9 at just 62% as Marcedes Lewis (48%) and Jace Sternberger (27%) are also playing plenty. Tonyan isn’t a player that needs to be started at this point with Allen Lazard likely rejoining the fold this week, but he does at least have a spot to potentially produce against the Jaguars this week. (TB)
Mark Andrews (Bal) — After finishing last year as the TE5, this has been a disaster start for Andrews through the Ravens first eight games. Andrews is averaging just 10.7 fantasy points per game — which is just ahead of Jimmy Graham (10.6). Ironically, both tight ends are just TD or bust options. To be fair, Andrews’ underwhelming 2020 campaign so far isn’t all his fault. With Lamar Jackson struggling badly as a passer, Andrews has now been held under 50 yards in five of his last 7 games and his short-term outlook isn’t looking up. The Ravens face the Patriots and Steelers in two of their next three games and both of those defenses rank in the bottom-6 in fantasy points allowed to TEs. (GB)
WATCH LIST
Players whom we’re not ready to upgrade or downgrade, but their situations demand monitoring based on recent play, injuries, or news.
Quarterbacks
Ben Roethlisberger (Pit) — Big Ben gave every Steelers fan a heart attack when he injured his knee near the end of the first half in Week 9. He left for the locker room early, which led to a Mason Rudolph sighting in the final minute after a Minkah Fitzpatrick fumble recovery. Roethlisberger played the entire second half and he led a Steelers comeback by completing 29/42 passes for 306 yards and three TDs against the Cowboys. It appears that Big Ben avoided a serious knee injury, but we’re likely to see him miss some practice time early in the week as they let their 38-year-old rest before their AFC North showdown with the Bengals. (TB)
Running Backs
Josh Jacobs (LV) — Jacobs missed some practice time before Week 9 because of an illness and because of a knee injury, which was notable since Jacobs played on just 56% of the snaps against the Chargers. He finished with 14/65/1 rushing and he caught his only target for three yards as his receiving production continues to underwhelm in recent weeks. Devontae Booker saw a season-high 26% snap share and he turned his additional playing time into 8/68/1 rushing. The Raiders could have three backs involved going forward since Jalen Richard already sees snaps in passing situations so we’re a little concerned about Jacobs even though he found the end zone in just his third game this season. (TB)
James Conner (Pit) — Conner loves to go down in flames when he fails to come through for fantasy. His Week 9 performance against the Cowboys was reminiscent of his season-opening dud against the Giants on national TV as he managed just 9/22 rushing and 2/-2 receiving against the Cowboys. He posted just 4 FP against the Cowboys, which snapped a six-game streak with 14+ FP in Weeks 2-8. Conner had registered 57% of the snaps or better in each of his last six games before playing just 48% of the snaps against the Cowboys with the Steelers playing from behind most of the game. We’re not going to panic too much about Conner’s performance just like after Week 1, and he has a great spot to rebound against a Bengals defense that’s allowing the third-most rushing yards per game (124.1). (TB)
Chase Edmonds and Kenyan Drake (Ari) — As expected with Drake (ankle) out in Week 9, Edmonds dominated the backfield in Arizona, playing 96% of the snaps and getting 28 opportunities (25 carries, 3 targets). Of course, he gained only 88 yards with those opportunities, but the usage was staggering. Drake didn’t practice last week, so he still seems to be a little bit of a ways off from returning, though coach Kliff Kingsbury called him “day-to-day” on Monday. We’ll see if Drake has a shot to suit up against Buffalo’s struggling run defense in Week 10. (JD)
David Montgomery (Chi) — Montgomery’s usage is hammer RB1 usage — he’s 7th in carries and 6th in targets among RBs. But he’s just 14th in total fantasy points among RBs, and 26th in fantasy points per game. Now, he’s dealing with a concussion suffered late in Week 9’s loss to the Titans, a game in which Montgomery posted 14/30 rushing and 3/12 receiving. Montgomery isn’t helped by a dysfunctional offense with poor QB play, and especially one of the league’s worst offensive lines. But he also isn’t the kind of player who can make up for a poor offensive line with explosive plays — he just doesn’t have a second gear. The Bears play on Monday night against the Vikings, so Montgomery has an extra day to get ready. But at this point, does it matter? (JD)
Raheem Mostert and Jerick McKinnon (SF) — HC Kyle Shanahan said after Week 9 that Mostert, who is currently on the IR with an ankle injury, could play against the Saints this week. The 49ers are on bye in Week 11 so they could elect to give him a couple of extra weeks of rest, but San Francisco does need to stack some wins or they won’t have the chance to defend their NFC title in the playoffs. McKinnon would go back to his change-of-pace/passing role if Mostert returned to the lineup after operating as the bell-cow back (at the expense of JaMycal Hasty) against the Packers in Week 9. (TB)
Justin Jackson (LAC) — The Chargers backfield is an absolute mess after Jackson left after just three snaps (and no touches) against the Raiders because of a knee injury in Week 9. Kalen Ballage came off the practice squad to lead the Chargers with 17/84/1 scrimmage after Jackson’s injury while Joshua Kelley played second fiddle with 14/59 from scrimmage. Jackson appeared to be knocking on the RB1 door with his recent performances as he had emerged over Kelley and the rest of these Chargers RBs. We’ll monitor his status in practice this week, but he may be looking at an absence since he never returned to their Week 9 contest with the Raiders. (TB)
Chris Carson (Sea) — After missing his second-straight game with a sprained foot, Carson is questionable at best for the Seahawks Week 10 date against the Rams. This past week, the Seahawks went with a full-blown three-man committee with Carson and Carlos Hyde (hamstring) both out, giving Travis Homer the lead in snaps (48%) ahead of DeeJay Dallas (31%) and Alex Collins (20%). After the game HC Pete Carroll said that the Seahawks backfield came down to, “wanting to see Homer and get a couple shots from Collins. That’s kind of what we did. Just mixing guys.” After their run game plodded to 3.1 yards per carry in a great matchup against a struggling Bills run defense, the Seahawks desperately need Carson back to form. They’re likely (wisely) just playing it very safe with their No. 1 back. Carson is the RB7 in fantasy points per game (17.5) this year and will be a locked-in RB1 if he plays this coming week. (GB)
David Johnson (Ind) — Unfortunately, D.J. suffered a concussion on a short dump-off pass from Deshaun Watson where Johnson was left out to dry and took a big hit. Johnson didn’t return and immediately went into the league’s protocol. Duke Johnson filled in for D.J. and got a workhorse role, turning 21 touches into 73 scrimmage yards and a short score. We’ll see if David can clear the league’s protocol in time to play in Week 10 against the Browns. If not, Duke will be a strong RB2 play in a revenge game. (GB)
Wide Receivers
Chris Godwin, Mike Evans, and Antonio Brown (TB) — Brown joined the Buccaneers receiving corps in Week 9 and he had a much bigger role than HC Bruce Arians let on last week (shocker!). Brown played on 78% of the snaps in his Tampa debut, posting 3/31 receiving on five targets in Tampa’s shocking 38-3 loss to the Saints. Godwin posted 3/41 receiving on six targets but he led the group with a 94% snap share despite his recent finger surgery, while Evans led them with 4/64 receiving on six targets on 86% of the snaps. Tom Brady and his O-line should play better in the future but these WRs will be frustrating fantasy assets since they figure to cannibalize each other from week to week. Arians and Brown aren’t best friends dating back to their days in Pittsburgh and it was at least eyebrow raising to see Arians call out Brady after the game for not throwing to Evans more in Week 9. Godwin and Evans are WR2 options with Tampa’s new WR configuration while Brown will be a WR3 option for the time being. (TB)
Terry McLaurin (Was) — Washington lost Kyle Allen for the season with a nasty dislocated ankle injury, which will leave this offense in Alex Smith’s hands for the time being. McLaurin still posted his third straight game with seven catches, which was his fifth game with 7+ catches in eight tries. He finished with 7/115/1 receiving on eight targets against the Giants in Week 9, and he turned a deep crosser into a 68-yard touchdown by slipping two tackles and racing to the end zone. Smith and McLaurin connected on five of their six attempts for 87 yards, with their lone failed connection coming Smith’s game-sealing interception on Washington’s final drive of the game. McLaurin will likely be in better shape with Smith over Dwayne Haskins going forward, but he’s likely to lose some steam as a WR1 option with Allen out of the lineup for the rest of the season. (TB)
Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk (SF) — Richie James went wild against the Packers in Week 9 with Deebo (hamstring/COVID-19 list), Aiyuk (COVID-19 list), and Kendrick Bourne (COVID-19 list) out of the lineup. Aiyuk will be back for Week 10 after being forced to sit out after Bourne’s false-positive test and Samuel will also be eligible to return. HC Kyle Shanahan said Deebo has a chance to play against the Saints off of his hamstring, which has sidelined him the last two weeks. They’ll be needed down the stretch with George Kittle (foot) potentially done for the season, and they’re on the WR3 radar playing with Nick Mullens. (TB)
Mike Williams (LAC) — Williams is heating up with Justin Herbert at quarterback as he’s posted 80+ receiving yards with five catches in three of his last four games with the rookie quarterback. He posted 5/81 receiving on seven targets against the Raiders, and he just missed hauling in the game-winning touchdown on an end-zone fade in the final second of the game. Williams did come down in a heap on the play and he needed medical assistance before leaving the field before the game’s final play. We’ll monitor Williams’ status this week but he’s trending in the right direction as an upside WR3 option, including this week against the Dolphins. (TB)
Calvin Ridley (Atl) — This is just a note that Ridley gets another week to rest his injured foot after missing Week 9. The Falcons are out on bye this week and never really seemed close to putting Ridley on I.R., so he should be back for Week 11’s likely shootout against the Saints. Ridley is currently the WR10 in fantasy points per game (18.3).
Tight Ends
Noah Fant (Den) — After a big 32-yard catch and run early in the first quarter, it looked like Fant was well on his way to a big day against the Falcons but he tweaked his ankle on the play and missed the Broncos next series. Fant later came back into the game and got his usual snaps, but Drew Lock looked elsewhere to Jerry Jeudy, Tim Patrick, and K.J. Hamler as his main options. Fant only had two targets after he returned. With Albert Okwuegbunam (ACL) out for the year, the Broncos are going to have to rely on Fant even more — but we’ll have to monitor this ankle issue all week since he re-injured it. (GB)
