Dynasty Insider (Updated)
Running Back
JK Dobbins/BAL: Despite his obvious talent, Dobbins is only averaging 7 carries and 8.9 touches per game. Because of this, you might be able to steal him away from a frustrated fantasy owner. Dobbins will almost certainly be their main RB next year, so go get him now.
Cam Akers/LAR: Unfortunately, it has been a struggle for him this season and he has been mired in a RBBC. However, let's keep in mind Akers was drafted to be a 3-down RB and that should happen next season. He badly needs a full off-season of work (OTAs, training camp, pre-season).
UPDATE 12/13: Well, don't say I didn't warn you. He finally had his breakout game against the Patriots, so it's going to be tough to trade for him now. But if the price is reasonable, go get him.
Zack Moss/BUF: He dealt with a lingering toe injury for several weeks, so Moss got off to a slow start, but at least he's evened himself up with 2nd-year RB Devin Singletary. Moss is a better fit for their running game than Singletary, so look for him to take over the starting job next year.
Rashaad Penny/SEA: ADDED 12/13: He has been mostly an underachiever and is coming off a multi-ligament knee injury, but could factor in a big way next season. And you might recall he started to look really good before his injury last season.
LaMical Perine/NYJ: He's on IR and wasn't used enough before he got hurt, but with better coaching next season, the team will be able to take advantage of Perine's versatility.
Benny Snell/PIT: If James Conner isn't re-signed, Snell would likely be the next man up.
A.J. Dillon/GB: His rookie season has been a washout, but Dillon could factor heavily next season and beyond if the team does not re-sign RBs Aaron Jones or Jamaal Williams.
Wide Receivers
Michael Pittman/IND: He got off to a very slow start and then had leg surgery, which helped to curtail the first half of his rookie season. However, since returning from his surgery, Pittman has shown that he's going to be a factor as their "X" WR for now and the future. Because his numbers have been up and down in the 2nd half, you might be able to steal him away for a decent price.
Gabriel Davis/BUF: The team loves him and while he hasn't put up big numbers, Davis has already shown he can handle a variety of roles (X, Z) in their passing game. He has a good chance to be their starting "X" WR next season over veteran John Brown.
Michael Gallup/DAL: ADDED 12/13: Don't blame him for the low numbers. He's really talented and will be really good next season with a healthy Dak Prescott.
Bryan Edwards/LVR: He was dealing with a high ankle sprain for several weeks, so he has been trying to make up for lost time. Edwards was drafted to be their "X" WR and that will happen beginning next year. You might as well go get him now when he should be cheap to acquire.
Jalen Reagor/PHI: It has been a struggle for him as Reagor has battled 2 different injuries which have contributed to a disappointing season. And it doesn't help that his QB has been struggling mightily. He'll benefit from better coaching and a lot more work with Carson Wentz starting in next year's OTAs. Reagor will eventually be one of the better "Z" WRs, but it's going to take some time.
Mecole Hardman/KC: ADDED 12/13: He should take over as the starter for veteran WR Sammy Watkins, whose contract will expire in March. I want any starting WR for the Chiefs who runs well in my fantasy lineups and Hardman does just that.
Darnell Mooney/CHI: ADDED 12/13: He's already their starting "Z" WR and was impressive beginning during the first week of training camp. He's a good QB and OL away from being an every-week fantasy starter in the future.
Denzel Mims/NYJ: He missed just about all of training camp injuries to both hamstrings, but Mims has shown to be a big-play WR (16.7 yards per catch).
Henry Ruggs/LVR: He has been surprisingly quiet this season and he has dealt with some minor injuries along the way. However, Ruggs will be a big factor in the future as the team figures out a better way to get the ball in his hands.
Darius Slayton/NYG: He has only had a small handful of good games this season, but that's because the timing has been off between him and QB Daniel Jones. They'll get that fixed in the next off-season.
K.J. Hamler/DEN: As one of the top speed threats for this year's NFL Draft, Hamler is incredibly explosive. He just has to show that he can stay healthy and he'll also benefit from a full off-season of work.
Andy Isabella/ARI: He'll take over their slot position as early as next season and he's a vertical threat from that area.
Josh Reynolds/LAR: He likely will be starting for another team next season and Reynolds has intriguing size and speed for the position.
Quintez Cephus/DET: He could start as early as next season if the team does not re-sign veteran WR Marvin Jones. Cephus was one of the smartest rookie WRs for this year's NFL Draft.
Tre'Quan Smith, Marquez Callaway/NO: One of them will start eventually for veteran WR Emmanuel Sanders.
Tight Ends
Dallas Goedert/PHI: The Eagles drafted him to eventually replace veteran TE Zach Ertz and that should happen next season. Goedert's talent is obvious and he could easily be a top-5 to top-7 TE if the coaches do a better job of getting him the ball.
Noah Fant/DEN: He does get hurt a lot and QB Drew Lock is inconsistent, but Fant is a mismatch for defenses. He'll easily be a top-10 TE for the future if relatively healthy.
Cole Kmet/CHI: He's taking over the starting job now over veteran Jimmy Graham and the team is very high on him for the future.
Adam Trautman/NO: He's the future at the position and with Sean Payton calling the plays, Troutman could be a big piece of the passing game starting as early as next season.
Dawson Knox/BUF: He's dealt with a bunch of injuries this season, but the 2nd-year pro is a vertical threat at the position and the team remains very high on him.
Week 14 Injury Notes
The Following Players have no injury designation (questionable, doubtful, or out), but are still dealing with an injury.
Players on the list below are generally considered to be probable to play. A few times per season, players with no injury designation will wind up not playing due to a setback in pregame warm-ups, so there are no guarantees with any player listed with an injury, but if they don't carry an injury designation, they almost always play.
Also: Teams do not remove players from the injury report during the game week anymore (meaning once they are listed that week they aren't removed a few days later). When they are removed, they are generally removed from the injury report before the practice week begins.
Removing players from the injury report after the practice week began went away years ago when teams were no longer required to have to use injury designations on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Now teams only have to list an injury designation on Friday (for a Sunday game), Saturday (for a Monday night game) or two days before the game that week.
So, if you see it reported that a player was removed from the injury report before the game after being listed with an injury on the first day of practice that week, it's almost certainly incorrect (with rare exception). An injury doesn't magically disappear in a day or two (unless the team made a mistake in listing the player with an injury in the first place, which rarely happens).
QB Josh Allen/BUF (knee, ankle)
QB Tua Tagovailoa/MIA (left thumb): Took all of the first-team work on Friday, which is why he's not listed as questionable.
QB Philip Rivers/IND (toe)
QB Drew Lock/DEN (back)
RB James Robinson/JAX (knee): New injury coming out of last week's game, but he's ready to go.
RB Todd Gurley/ATL (knee): Same issue he has been dealing with for several weeks.
RB Duke Johnson/HOU (illness)
RB Ito Smith/ATL (neck)
RB Chris Carson/SEA (mid-foot sprain): Practiced more this week than he has since he first suffered the injury last month.
RB Latavius Murray/NOR (knee)
RB DeAndre Washington/MIA (hamstring): Same lingering injury.
RB Carlos Hyde/SEA (toe)
RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire/KC (illness): He was active for last week's game, but DNP and was only available in an emergency situation. However, he was fine to practice this week.
RB Phillip Lindsey/DEN (knee)
RB Kerryon Johnson/DET (knee)
WR Mike Evans/TB (hamstring)
WR A.J. Brown/TEN (ankle): I'm told the team decided to take it easy with him, but knew all week that he wouldn't practice until Friday. The positive here is that he is no longer listed with the knee issue that goes back to August.
WR Michael Thomas/NOR (ankle)
WR Nelson Agholor/LVR (ankle): Same injury as last week, but he came out of the game well and took his first-team reps in all 3 days of practice this week.
WR Tyreek Hill/KC (illness)
WR Tyler Lockett/SEA (hip)
WR Deebo Samuel/SF (foot): He was listed previously with a hamstring injury.
WR Jarvis Landry/CLE (hip): Same lingering issue he has dealt with for most of the season and always plays through it.
WR Chris Godwin/TB (finger): Dealing with the same injury for which he had surgery last month.
WR Terry McLaurin/WAS (mild high ankle): Same injury I'm told he has been dealing with for a while, but he continues to practice and play through it.
WR Allen Robinson/CHI (knee)
WR Chase Claypool/PIT (illness)
WR Allen Lazard/GB (core muscle surgery)
WR Jerry Jeudy/DEN (ankle)
WR Laviska Shenault/JAX (thumb)
TE Hayden Hurst/ATL (ankle)
TE Jonnu Smith/TEN (knee)
K Chris Boswell/PIT (right hip)
Game Notes
HOU-CHI
Bears: The good news here if you have Allen Robinson or any of their WRs is that QB Mitch Trubisky had his best game of the season by far last week. The Bears were very impressed with Trubisky's accuracy and ability to process information. And for the first time in several weeks, their OL actually protected well.
Word from coaches I've spoken to who have done scouting on the Texan defense is that they're generally undisciplined, go in wrong gaps frequently and rarely execute well, which might help to explain their struggles on that side of the ball this season. So this is all good news for the Bear offense today.
KC-MIA
Dolphins: They're down to DeAndre Washington (hamstring), rookie Lynn Bowden, E.J. McGuire (added from their practice squad), and Patrick Laird at RB for today's game after starter Myles Gaskin was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Saturday.
Washington did participate in all 3 days of practice this week and does not carry an injury designation for this game. However, he only had 1 full practice, which was on Friday.
While no one should be using the Dolphin fantasy defense today based on the matchup, you might want to add them to your roster as they face the struggling Patriot offense next week in Miami.
ARI-NYG
Giants: QB Daniel Jones (hamstring-questionable) took in all the first-team reps in Friday's practice and is trending toward starting today, which is good news for their passing game.
He has way better arm strength than veteran QB Colt McCoy and that was clearly evident last week when McCoy only completed one pass over 20 yards.
DEN-CAR
Broncos: TE Noah Fant is finally over his injured (high ankle, ribs) and has not been listed on the injury report the past two weeks.
The athletic pass catcher will face a Panther defense that gives up the 7th most fantasy points per game (13.9).
Part of their issues on the back end is that they're running a new defensive scheme this season and from time to time they've had communication errors, which is generally good news if you have a TE going up against them.
IND-LVR
Colts: Veteran WR T.Y. Hilton has not been listed on the injury report with an actual injury since Week 11 (was dealing with a lingering groin injury) and he's coming off his best game of the season (8-110-1) and has scored in his last two games.
The timing has been an issue with QB Philip Rivers at times this season, but the two players were certainly in sync last week and they'll face an injured Raider secondary later today.
The Raiders will be without two starters on the back end: CB Damon Arnette (concussion, neck-out) and SS Jeff Heath (concussion-IR).
NYJ-SEA
Note: Rain is in the forecast all game (71-38%), but the wind won't be a factor (7 to 6 mph).
Seahawks: I'm told RB Rashaad Penny (knee) looks even better than he did before he suffered his multi-ligament injury last season. And the team plans to have him playing as soon as next week, so he might be worth an add especially in a keeper or dynasty league for the future.
GB-DET
Packers: QB Aaron Rodgers has at least 3 TD passes in 6 out of 7 games. And he'll face an injured defense that will be without their remaining best pass rusher DE Everson Griffen (placed on reserve/COVID-19 on Saturday). I'd be almost shocked if he didn't throw at least 3 TDs today. The Lions have no pass rush and are well below average at CB.
NO-PHI
Eagles: RB Miles Sanders seems to think having rookie QB Jalen Hurts starting will help their running game based on how the coaches plan to use Hurts (RPOs). At this point, anything different on offense could potentially be a positive for their running game.
This is a brutal matchup for their offense, but at least they face the struggling Cardinals defense next week and even worse Cowboys defense in Week 16.
