DFS Alerts
Giants CB Janoris Jenkins (hand, ankle) and LB B.J. Goodson both inactive Monday night
Jenkins was expected to shadow Marvin Jones tonight, his absence is a big boost for the receiver’s fantasy outlook. With the Giants digging into their bench at corner, it’s an upgrade for Matthew Stafford as well. Goodson was off to a hot start this season, earning a solid 84.6 PFF grade against the Cowboys in Week 1. New York will now start undrafted rookie Munson in his place, which is an obvious downgrade for their defense. Munson has yet to log a snap at the NFL level but didn’t earn very high marks in run defense or pass coverage when in college. Goodson’s absence could open things up for Detroit’s running backs, particularly in the passing game. Beat writer Jordan Raanan believes they’ll use linebacker J.T. Thomas in passing situations – he missed all of last season after suffering a knee injury in Week 1 and earned a poor 49.4 PFF grade in his 2015 season across 13 starts. Given the strength of the Giants’ defensive line, Stafford may need to target Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick quite a bit through the air, and their matchup is much better without Goodson on the field.
Other tagged players: Marvin Jones, Matthew Stafford, Theo Riddick, Ameer Abdullah
Odell Beckham (ankle) officially active Monday night
Beckham looked fine in warmups and New York’s medical team has cleared him to play tonight. He’ll have a difficult matchup with Darius Slay, who could potentially shadow him, and it’s possible he’s limited in some capacity after hardly practicing for the past month. Sterling Shepard is a potential pivot option tonight. He’ll get plenty of run out of the slot against Quandre Diggs, a matchup that earned one of the highest scores this week in our WR/CB model. He’ll likely lose some snaps after playing all 56 in Week 1 and picking up eight targets, but the Giants used three wide receivers on 41-of-56 plays last game.
Odell Beckham (ankle) says he's playing Monday night
Beckham told reporter Josina Anderson he’s playing Monday night.
As reported by: Josina Anderson Giants CB Janoris Jenkins "not looking so hot" in warmups
Several Giants beat writers have voiced concern over Jenkins in warmups Monday night, with Ralph Vacchiano adding that it didn’t appear he passed his pre-game test. His absence would be a big boost for Marvin Jones and Matthew Stafford.
As reported by: Mike Garafolo Other tagged players: Marvin Jones Schefter: Odell Beckham "looks like someone who is planning to play" Monday night
There are two million videos of Odell Beckham running warmup routes on twitter at the moment and by all accounts, he looks fine. Adam Schefter seems to believe Beckham will be active for tonight’s game against the Lions. New York will make his game status official around 7 pm eastern. It would be surprising if he didn’t play at this point.
As reported by: Adam Schefter Chiefs C Mitch Morse (foot) won't need surgery, will miss a few weeks
Morse suffered the injury Sunday against the Eagles. Fortunately, it isn’t too serious and he’ll only miss a few games, per Ian Rapoport. Although Morse has struggled in pass protection this season, earning a 31.5 PFF grade, he’s been an enormous help to Kareem Hunt and the running game, scoring the fifth-highest run-blocking grade through two weeks (77.6). Zach Fulton will now man the center position, he scored a decent 71.6 in 2016 across 12 starts and 16 appearances.
As reported by: Ian Rapoport Will Fuller (collarbone) returned to practice Monday
Fuller has made solid progress in his rehab, which is good news for Houston’s depleted group of pass-catchers. The Texans got thinner this morning when they released current WR3 Jaelen Strong. It’s highly unlikely Fuller returns for their Week 3 game, but getting back to the field Monday indicates he has a decent shot at suiting up in Week 4, although the initial timetable had him sidelined until around Week 5. He should immediately step into a solid workload if his injury allows it.
As reported by: Sarah Barshop Andrew Luck (shoulder) ruled out for Week 3
The quarterback isn’t ready to return yet, Jacoby Brissett will start under center for Indianapolis. Brissett didn’t do well on paper in his first start with the Colts, but it was against a formidable opponent and he had a limited playbook. He posted a 27.7 QBR but earned an 84.38 PFF QB rating, which is good for 16th among QBs this season with at least 25% of their team’s dropbacks. Brissett finished with 216 scoreless yards and a pick but he should have an easier time against Cleveland in Week 3. Plus, he’ll have another week of practice with the first-team under his belt. It doesn’t make him a very appealing fantasy target but his pass-catchers could benefit. He showed excellent chemistry with tight end Jack Doyle, who caught all eight of his targets for a team-high 79 yards in Week 2. It doesn’t get much better for tight ends than a meeting with the Browns. Jesse James scored on them twice in Week 1 and 36-year-old Benjamin Watson caught all eight of his passes for 91 yards this past weekend. The Colts currently have an implied total of 19.75 points as 1-point underdogs.
As reported by: Ian Rapoport Other tagged players: Jacoby Brissett, Jack Doyle Texans released Jaelen Strong on Monday
The Texans have parted ways with the third-year receiver and signed Andy Jones to take his place. Jones is an undrafted free agent who hasn’t played an NFL snap since coming out of college in 2016. He’s an impressive athlete who posted a 41.5” vertical at his pro day with 4.5 40-yard speed. He won’t be on the fantasy radar though. Houston will continue to provide DeAndre Hopkins a huge workload as Braxton Miller operates as the second receiver. It appears they could get tight end Ryan Griffin (concussion) back this week as well.
Other tagged players: Andy Jones John Brown (quad) appears doubtful for Week 3
Head coach Bruce Arians said it “doesn’t look hopeful” when discussing Brown’s game status for their upcoming matchup with the Cowboys. While Brown was sidelined for their Week 2 matchup with the Colts, J.J. Nelson broke out for 120 yards and a score. It was Jaron Brown who led the team in targets though; he received 11 to Nelson’s 7. Although Jaron only finished with four receptions, his lack of efficiency is a little misleading as he was only tossed four catchable balls from Carson Palmer. Without John Brown and David Johnson, Jaron Brown and Nelson will continue to see an uptick in targets. They face the Cowboys in Week 3, a team that allowed Trevor Siemian to throw four touchdown passes Sunday. If cornerback Orlando Scandrick (hand) remains sidelined, rookie Chidobe Awuzie would likely get another start at right cornerback and line up across from Jaron Brown the most. It looks like a good spot as outside receivers Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders combined for a 12/133/2 line against Dallas in Week 2. Jaron’s Week 2 aDOT of 16.6 yards is good for 12th this season and he accounted for 40.2% of Arizona’s air yards this week, which was eighth, per Next Gen Stats. Jaron is a sneaky GPP option as most of the attention will go to Nelson.
As reported by: Darren Urban Other tagged players: J.J. Nelson, Jaron Brown Jordan Reed (chest contusion), Rob Kelley (rib cartilage), and Josh Norman (shoulder) considered day-to-day
As of now, Reed and Norman should be considered questionable and Kelley doubtful. Following Kelley’s early exit against the Rams, Chris Thompson exploded for 116 yards and two scores. He’s better suited for full PPR formats as he picked up seven targets while Samaje Perine took the lion’s share of the carries, racking up 21 for 67 yards to Thompson’s three. They play Oakland in Week 3, a team that’s allowed 4.8 yards per carry over two games, the seventh-highest rate in the league. Reed is dealing with a lingering toe issue on top of the chest contusion and he’s averaged a 5.5/7/42/0.0 line through two games. It could potentially be a good spot for him this Sunday as Oakland allowed Delanie Walker to lead the Titans in receptions (7) and yards (76) in Week 1, but it’ll be worth monitoring his progress this week. On the defensive side of the ball, Norman’s absence would be a big upgrade for Amari Cooper.
As reported by: Master Tesfatsion Other tagged players: Robert Kelley, Washington Commanders, Amari Cooper Report: Giants LB Brian Goodson (leg) ruled out for Monday night, rookie Calvin Munson expected to start
Goodson was off to a hot start this season, earning a solid 84.6 PFF grade against the Cowboys in Week 1. New York will now start undrafted rookie Munson in his place, which is an obvious downgrade for their defense. Munson has yet to log a snap at the NFL level but didn’t earn very high marks in run defense or pass coverage when in college. Goodson’s absence could open things up for Detroit’s running backs, particularly in the passing game. Beat writer Jordan Raanan believes they’ll use linebacker J.T. Thomas in passing situations – he missed all of last season after suffering a knee injury in Week 1 and earned a poor 49.4 PFF grade in his 2015 season across 13 starts. Given the strength of the secondary and defensive line, Stafford may need to target Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick quite a bit through the air; they now have a solid spot to succeed in the area.
As reported by: Jordan Raanan Other tagged players: Theo Riddick, Ameer Abdullah Corey Coleman (hand) out 6-8 weeks
It’s the second season in a row Coleman has suffered a broken hand. He missed six games due to the injury in 2016 and it looks like he’s on a similar timetable this time around. Rashard Higgins ending up leading the wideout group with 54 snaps in Week 2, picking up a team-high 11 targets in the process, and finished with a 7/95/0 line. They don’t seem to like Kenny Britt too much (42 snaps, two targets), which could lead to Higgins becoming a sneaky GPP fantasy target against the Colts this weekend. After facing Todd Gurley and the collection of Cardinals running backs sans David Johnson, the Colts have limited runners to 2.5 yards per carry, the third-best mark in the league. At the same time, they’ve allowed the fourth-most passing yards per game (308) and second-most yards per attempt (9.8). At the moment, they look like an ideal pass-funnel defense to pick on.
As reported by: Ian Rapoport Other tagged players: Rashard Higgins, DeShone Kizer Broncos LT Garett Bolles suffered high ankle sprain Sunday, will miss a couple of weeks
Denver feared he had a broken ankle, so this is a better diagnosis than originally anticipated. He’s expected to miss a couple of games as he rehabs the injury, which is bad news for the Broncos. Backup tackle Donald Stephenson will likely start in his place and he’s posted nothing but poor grades since entering the league in 2012. Last year, he scored an abysmal 31 across 12 starts, per PFF. Bolles had been off to a solid start in his rookie season, checking in as PFF’s 24th-best tackle in run blocking out of 66 qualifiers and 36th in pass blocking. Quarterback Trevor Simien’s blindside will be very vulnerable against the Bills as left guard Max Garcia has earned a 40.9 pass blocking grade, which is 52nd among 67 qualifying guards. Buffalo’s right defensive end, Jerry Hughes, has already picked up two sacks this season and he checks in as PFF’s 20th-best edge defender out of 88 qualifiers. On top of that, their right defensive tackle, Kyle Williams, has earned PFF’s 16th-best run defense grade out of 105 qualifying interior defenders. As a team, they’ve limited opposing running backs to 2.7 yards per carry, the fourth-best rate in the league. It looks like a tough spot for C.J. Anderson.
As reported by: Mike Klis Other tagged players: C.J. Anderson, Trevor Siemian Terrance West considered day-to-day with a soft-tissue injury
Buck Allen out-snapped West 43 to 15 Sunday and this injury may explain that distribution. As long as West is banged up, it’ll be a boost for Allen, who racked up 101 yards and a score on 19 touches against the Browns in Week 2. He’ll face a stout Jaguars defense in Week 3 but they showed some vulnerabilities against the rush this past weekend – they allowed Derrick Henry to pick up 94 rushes and a touchdown on just 14 carries. Although Henry wasn’t used in the passing game, a week prior, Jacksonville allowed running backs Lamar Miller and Tyler Ervin to combine for six receptions and 49 receiving yards. That bodes well for Allen, who will be tasked with running the football and have an active role in the passing game. Against the Browns, he was second on the team with six targets and found paint through the air.
As reported by: Jeff Zrebiec Other tagged players: Javorius Allen