DFS Alerts
T.Y. Hilton (groin) listed as doubtful for Sunday; WR Ashton Dulin (knee) ruled out
Hilton was unable to practice the entire week, and he’s officially been listed as doubtful on the Colts’ injury report for Sunday’s Week 9 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens due to a groin injury he sustained in the first half this past Sunday’s win. The Colts will also be without Ashton Dulin because of a knee injury, but with the return of Daurice Fountain, his absence won’t have any impact on the receiving corps. Zach Pascal marginally led the remaining wide receivers with 27 routes run in Week 8, but since he runs a large number of those routes from the slot, there will be plenty of opportunity for one, or both, of Marcus Johnson and Michael Pittman to take on larger roles in this Indianapolis passing game on offense. Johnson has had the more consistent target share of the two when utilized as one of the top three wideouts for quarterback Phillip Rivers, so he’s likely the preferred value wide receiver to consider in tournament formats around the daily fantasy industry, assuming the projected ownership remains inefficient.
As reported by: Mike Chappell via Twitter Other tagged players: Ashton Dulin
Devonta Freeman (ankle) officially ruled out for Sunday
Despite being limited in practice on Thursday, the Giants have opted to be cautious with Freeman and have officially ruled him out of Sunday’s Week 9 matchup against the Washington Football Team due to an ankle injury that’s now forced him to miss two games. In his absence, Wayne Gallman was able to work as the lead back once again, but he found himself in much more of a three-way timeshare than he was back in Week 7 when Freeman exited the game early with the aforementioned injury. Gallman logged a concerning 43.9% snap rate and ceded eight carries to practice squad call-up, Alfred Morris, which essentially removes him consideration in daily fantasy formats with Dion Lewis also siphoning away passing game usage on third downs. This appears to be a situation to avoid for the time being and may even remain a fantasy wasteland once Freeman is cleared to return to game action.
As reported by: Art Stapleton via Twitter Tim Patrick (hamstring) and Phillip Lindsay (foot) expected to play on Sunday
Patrick and Lindsay were both limited in practice all three days this week, but head coach Vic Fangio told reporters on a conference call that he expects both players to play in this Sunday’s Week 9 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons despite their questionable designations on the Broncos’ injury report. The likely return of Patrick puts a major damper on the projected volume that DaeSean Hamilton and KJ Hamler might see from quarterback Drew Lock since Patrick has largely been the de facto number one wider receiver since Cortland Sutton went down with a season-ending injury all the way back at the start of the season. Meanwhile, Jerry Jeudy commanded his largest target market share of his young career in last Sunday’s win at 26.3%, so it’ll be interesting to see if he can emerge as the alpha wide receiver in this offense even with Patrick back and remains priced at a discount around the daily fantasy industry.
As reported by: Zac Stevens via Twitter Other tagged players: Phillip Lindsay Chris Godwin (finger) will play on Sunday
After being a limited participant in practice for two consecutive days, Godwin finally caught some passes on Friday, and head coach Bruce Arians confirmed that Godwin will play in Sunday night’s Week 9 matchup against the New Orleans Saints after missing one game due to a broken finger. Godwin has been quarterback Tom Brady’s clear number one target in his healthy games this season, but the Buccaneers debut of Antonio Brown this weekend will likely throw a wrench into Tampa Bay’s existing target tree and there’s reason to be concerned that Godwin will be relegated into a more secondary role within the offense moving forward and will be unable to sustain his current 21.0% share of the targets in the passing game.
As reported by: Greg Auman via Twitter 49ers WR Richie James (ankle) officially active Thursday night
James was a limited participant in practice all week and is officially active for Thursday night’s Week 9 matchup against the Green Bay Packers after previously being listed as questionable on the 49ers’ injury report due to an ankle injury that forced him to miss one game. Even before Kendrick Bourne and Brandon Aiyuk were placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list yesterday afternoon, the Niners were slated to head into Week 9 decimated at multiple offensive skill positions with Deebo Samuel, Raheem Mostert, Tevin Coleman, and Jeff Wilson Jr. all still sidelined with their respective ailments as well. With James returning from his most recent one-game absence, San Fransisco is down to a receiver group consisting of James, Trent Taylor, River Cracraft, and Kevin White, the latter two just being elevated from the practice squad to the active roster earlier this afternoon.
As reported by: Kyle Madson via Twitter Aaron Jones (calf) officially active Thursday night
Jones has been a limited participant in practice all week, but he’s officially active for Thursday night’s Week 9 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers after previously being listed as questionable on the Packers’ injury report with a calf injury forced him to miss two games. With AJ Dillon testing positive for COVID-19 and Jamaal Williams deemed as a close contact, Green Bay is in a precarious situation with there still being some pessimism within the organization about how much of a workload Jones will be able to handle on Thursday evening. If Jones is severely limited, Tyler Ervin and Dexter Williams would be in line for a significant increase in workload, though Dexter Williams would likely be the frontrunner to lead the two in carries since Ervin profiles more as a gadget running back that plays primarily on passing downs.
As reported by: Rob Demovsky via Twitter Aaron Jones (calf) expected to be active Thursday night
Jones has been a limited participant in practice all week, but he’s expected to be active for Thursday night’s Week 9 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers after previously being listed as questionable on the Packers’ injury report with a calf injury forced him to miss two games. With AJ Dillon testing positive for COVID-19 and Jamaal Williams deemed as a close contact, Green Bay is in a precarious situation with there still being some pessimism within the organization about how much of a workload he’ll be able to handle on Thursday evening. If Jones is severely limited, Tyler Ervin and Dexter Williams would be in line for a significant increase in workload, though Dexter Williams would likely be the frontrunner to lead the two in carries since Ervin profiles more as a gadget running back that plays primarily on passing downs.
As reported by: Adam Schefter via Twitter Jordan Reed (knee) activated from injured reserve, will play Thursday night
As expected, the 49ers will activate Reed from injured reserve prior to the deadline, and he will play in Thursday night’s Week 9 matchup against the Green Bay Packers after missing five games with a knee injury. It’s highly unlikely Reed will see a full complement of snaps, but the last time he was supposed to be limited when George Kittle was sidelined, he accumulated eight targets and found the end zone twice in the Niners’ Week 2 win. Even before Bourne and Aiyuk were placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list yesterday afternoon, the Niners were slated to head into Week 9 decimated at multiple offensive skill positions with Deebo Samuel, Raheem Mostert, Tevin Coleman, and Jeff Wilson Jr. all still sidelined with their respective ailments as well. If Richie James, who remains questionable, is unable to play following his most recent one-game absence, San Fransisco would be down to a receiver group consisting of Trent Taylor, River Cracraft, and Kevin White, the latter two still needing to be elevated from the practice squad to the active roster.
As reported by: Ian Rapoport via Twitter Sony Michel (quad) designated to return from injured reserve on Thursday
The Patriots officially designated Michel to return from the injured reserve list, which initiates his 21-day practice before needing to be added to the active roster. Obviously, this doesn’t mean that Michel is guaranteed to return in Monday night’s Week 9 matchup against the New York Jets, though it is something to monitor as the week and season progress. It’s difficult to imagine Michel stepping back into his former first and second down role with the emergence of Damien Harris with a similar workload in recent weeks, but if Michel does find his way on to the 53-man gameday roster once healthy, it would be a significant hit to Harris’ already volatile floor in daily fantasy formats since he’s rarely been used in the passing game since being activated from injured reserve back in Week 4.
As reported by: Doug Kyed via Twitter Matt Breida (hamstring) doesn't practice again Thursday
Breida was a non-participant in practice for a second consecutive day and it appears that his status for this Sunday’s Week 9 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals is in serious doubt. In fact, head coach Brian Flores seemed to hint on his Zoom conference this morning that the Dolphins are planning to be without both Breida and previous lead back Myles Gaskin, who was just placed on injured reserve, for this weekend’s contest. This would leave Miami with a running back group consisting of Jordan Howard, Patrick Laird, and Salvon Ahmed, potentially along with a couple of gadget players like Malcolm Perry and Lynn Bowden Jr., depending on which positions the Dolphins prioritize for the 53-man active roster on game day. On the surface, it appears Howard would be in line for at least a large portion of the first and second down work while Laird would seemingly be the passing-down specialist that also has the upside to siphon carries away from Howard in the ground game.
As reported by: Jos Schad via Twitter Brandon Aiyuk placed on Reserve/COVID-19 list, ineligible to play Thursday night
Aiyuk was deemed a high-risk, close contact to Kendrick Bourne, who tested positive for COVID-19 early Wednesday morning, so he’s officially been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list and is ineligible to play in Thursday night’s Week 9 matchup against the Green Bay Packers due to the NFL’s current protocols. Even before Bourne and Aiyuk were placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list earlier this afternoon, the Niners were slated to head into Week 9 decimated at multiple offensive skill positions since George Kittle and Jimmy Garoppolo are now injured reserve candidates with significant injuries, while Deebo Samuel, Raheem Mostert, Tevin Coleman, and Jeff Wilson Jr. are all still sidelined with their respective ailments as well. If Richie James is unable to play following his most recent one-game absence, San Fransisco would be down to a receiver group consisting of Trent Taylor, River Cracraft, and Kevin White, the latter two still needing to be elevated from the practice squad to the active roster prior to the deadline tomorrow afternoon.
As reported by: Mike Garafolo via Twitter 49ers WR Richie James officially listed as questionable for Thursday night
James was a limited participant in practice during the short week and has officially been listed as questionable on the 49ers’ injury report for Thursday night’s Week 9 matchup against the Green Bay Packers due to an ankle injury that already forced him to miss one game. Even before Kendrick Bourne was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list earlier this afternoon, the Niners were slated to head into Week 9 decimated at multiple offensive skill positions since George Kittle and Jimmy Garoppolo are now injured reserve candidates, while Deebo Samuel, Raheem Mostert, Tevin Coleman, and Jeff Wilson Jr. are all still sidelined with their respective ailments. If James is unable to play following his most recent one-game absence, San Fransisco would be down to a receiver group consisting of Brandon Aiyuk, Trent Taylor, River Cracraft, and Kevin White, who would need to be elevated from the practice squad.
As reported by: Nick Wagoner via Twitter Matthew Stafford placed on Reserve/COVID-19 list, officially ruled out for Week 9
The Lions announced Wednesday afternoon that they have officially placed Stafford on the reserve/COVID-19 list, putting his status for this Sunday’s Week 9 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings in at least some jeopardy. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, there has yet to be a positive test for Stafford himself, but he was deemed as close contact with someone outside of the organization that did test positive for the virus. Per the NFL’s current protocols, Stafford must remain isolated from the team for five days as long as he continues to test negative, which would put him on track to be able to participate in Saturday’s walkthrough practice since his most recent contact with the COVID-positive individual was at some point Monday. If Stafford does end up testing positive and is unable to clear protocols, the Lions will be forced to turn to Chase Daniel at quarterback against an exploitable Vikings pass defense.
As reported by: the Detroit Lions via Twitter Aaron Jones (calf) officially listed as questionable for Thursday night
Jones has been a limited participant in practice on this short week, and he’s officially been listed as questionable on the Packers’ injury report for Thursday night’s Week 9 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers due to a calf injury that’s already forced him to miss two games. With AJ Dillon testing positive for COVID-19 and Jamaal Williams deemed as a close contact, Green Bay is in a precarious situation with there still being some pessimism within the organization that Jones won’t be ready to return from a calf injury by Thursday evening. If Jones is still sidelined, Tyler Ervin and Dexter Williams would be the lone running backs left on the entire active roster and practice squad, setting each up for a significant workload. However, Dexter Williams appears to be the frontrunner to lead the backfield in carries since Ervin profiles more as a gadget running back that plays primarily on passing downs.
As reported by: Adam Schefter via Twitter Kendrick Bourne tests positive for COVID-19, ruled out for Thursday night
The 49ers received the results of Bourne’s positive COVID-19 test early Wednesday morning, and he has immediately begun his mandatory isolation from the team. This effectively makes him ineligible to play in Thursday night’s Week 9 matchup against the Green Bay Packers, and he’ll more than likely be placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list prior to the deadline as the Niners will need to make several roster moves to field a competent team tomorrow evening. Even before this news, the Niners were slated to head into Week 9 decimated at multiple offensive skill positions since George Kittle and Jimmy Garoppolo are now injured reserve candidates, while Deebo Samuel, Raheem Mostert, Tevin Coleman, and Jeff Wilson Jr. are all still sidelined with their respective ailments. If Richie James is unable to play following his most recent one-game absence, San Fransisco would be down to a receiver group consisting of Brandon Aiyuk, Trent Taylor, River Cracraft, and Kevin White, who would need to be elevated from the practice squad.
As reported by: Cam Inman via Twitter