DFS Alerts
Texans have three WRs active Saturday
Injuries to Braxton Miller and Jaelen Strong have left the Texans with limited options at receiver. Wendell Williams was promoted from the practice squad in December and had four targets last week, but he’s been scratched today. DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller should play almost every snap Sunday with Keith Mumphery operating as the third receiver. Tight ends C.J. Fiedorowicz and Ryan Griffin should get plenty of run as well. Fiedorowicz has received at least seven targets in all but two games after Week 4, he seems to have a nice chemistry with Brock Osweiler. Hopkins and Fuller will mostly deal with corners Sean Smith and David Amerson, both of whom have a 78.6 PFF grade or higher. The Raiders rank 23rd in TE DVOA though, which means Fiedorowicz will have a more favorable matchup. Considering Osweiler’s struggles to throw the ball downfield, he may be the safest bet on the Texans side outside of Lamar Miller. He projects as our TE2.
As reported by: Houston Chronicle Other tagged players: Will Fuller, Keith Mumphery, C.J. Fiedorowicz, Ryan Griffin
Cooper, Crabtree, and all three RBs active for Raiders, as expected
QB Matt McGloin, SS Karl Joseph, and DE Mario Edwards are also active. LT Donald Penn is officially inactive. Penn’s absence will be a blow to the Raiders offense. Their offensive line ranked first in adjusted sack rate this season but with Penn unavailable, Cook could be exposed to some extra pressure. Given it will be his first NFL start, he’ll also lack the quick release Derek Carr provided. Penn was Pro Football Focus’ third-highest graded run blocker, which means Latavius Murray, DeAndre Washington, and Jalen Richard all take a bit of a downgrade. Murray had been Oakland’s clear lead back since Week 7 but struggled the final two weeks of the season, averaging 2.5 yards per carry. He had a virtual split with DeAndre Washington in terms of touches (23 to 22 in favor of Murray) but was out-gained 174 to 76 in total yards. Washington even scored two touchdowns in Week 16 against the Colts while Murray didn’t score in the final three games. Murray is expected to start and lead the backfield today, but Washington will get some work and could get the hot hand. He may be worth a tournament flier on the small wildcard slate in order to differentiate a lineup. We’re projecting his ownership at 2% and 1% on DraftKings and FanDuel, respectively. Amari Cooper may be shadowed by A.J. Bouye, who has an excellent 91 PFF grade this season. Michael Crabtree will have a more favorable matchup, relatively speaking, but he’ll have to deal with Jonathan Joseph, who has been solid this season (73.2 grade). Of course, they’re both going to have Connor Cook throwing to them, so they’ll be risky options. Plus, as a team, Houston boasts the fifth-best pass defense in terms of DVOA.
As reported by: Oakland Raiders Other tagged players: Michael Crabtree, Latavius Murray, Jalen Richard, DeAndre Washington Paul Perkins expected to start Sunday
He’s clearly the best back on the team but the Giants are still going to get Rashad Jennings a bunch of work. We can reasonably assume Perkins will out-snap and out-touch Jennings against the Packers on Sunday but Jennings will likely get a good portion of the passing down plays. Over their past five games, he’s caught 13 passes while Perkins has hauled in two. That makes a difference in this matchup as Green Bay allowed the 11th-fewest rushing yards (87.5) over the final four weeks of the season but allowed the second-most receiving yards to running backs (56.25) during the same stretch. There’s always the chance Perkins gets the hot hand and the Giants ride him, but it seems their plan will force Perkins to earn most of fantasy points on the ground. The good news is New York doesn’t want to get in a shootout with Green Bay, they want to burn clock and keep their defense well rested throughout the game. That means even in a committee, Perkins should get a nice volume of carries and if they string together some drives against the vulnerable Packers defense, he should get the goal line work. Although may not be safe enough for cash, Perkins is definitely in play for tournaments this weekend.
As reported by: NorthJersey.com Other tagged players: Rashad Jennings Pete Carroll says he wants to get Thomas Rawls the football "20 times this week"
While the number itself is coachspeak, it’s important to note that Rawls will remain the primary back for Seattle against the Lions on Saturday. Rawls has really struggled over the past three weeks, rushing 37 times for 56 yards (1.5 ypc) during that stretch. Collins as been more effective, rushing 21 times for 106 yards (5.0 ypc). He’s also caught eight passes in those games while Rawls had two receptions. Naturally, there were some rumblings that Rawls could lose some work or there could potentially be a full-blown committee. While Collins will definitely get some touches, Rawls will be the featured back. Detroit ranks 23rd in rush DVOA this season, but they allowed the eight-fewest fantasy points per game to running backs this season. They’re much weaker defending the pass as they’ve allowed the third-most fantasy points per games to quarterbacks. Seattle, with a healthy Russell Wilson, will likely attack through the air, but if they can get up early, they could turn to Rawls to burn the clock. Rawls currently projects as our RB5 this weekend.
As reported by: ESPN CB Byron Maxwell officially doubtful, not expected to play Sunday
Maxwell sounded very pessimistic when discussing his chances of playing against the Steelers Sunday, saying he’ll “be out there in spirits.” Maxwell, who had a stellar 85.3 PFF grade prior to the injury, often shadows top receivers and due to his success, Miami ranked 4th in WR1 DVOA this season. His absence would be an obvious upgrade for Antonio Brown, who held to a 4/39/0 line against Miami earlier this year. He’d primarily face a combination of Tony Lippett, the Dolphins’ second corner who doesn’t normally shadow receivers, and Xavien Howard, who had a 59.9 PFF grade through Week 16.
As reported by: Palm Beach Post Other tagged players: Antonio Brown CB Quinten Rollins ruled out for Sunday
Rollins and Ladarius Gunter were responsible for Odell Beckham Jr. when these two teams met in Week 5 and they were pretty successful. Beckham only caught five of 12 targets for 56 yards, although he was able to score on a late hurry-up drive when the game was nearly out of reach. With Rollins down, Damarious Randall will start opposite Gunter. ESPN’s Rob Demovsky believes that Gunter could shadow OBJ this time around. Gunter has been solid this season and while he can’t match the speed of Beckham, he’ll use his size and physicality against him and try to push him off his routes. Rollins spent a lot of time in the slot, his absence will be a nice boost to Sterling Shepard, who is nearly an every-down player and runs 86% of his routes from the slot. Shepard is normally in the 6-8 target range but he’s hit 11 targets twice this season. He’s also scored eight times. Should Gunter get the best of Beckham, Eli Manning may take advantage of Shepard’s mismatch quite a bit; he’s a very interesting tournament pivot on this short slate. Currently, Beckham projects as our WR1 and Shepard is our WR11 on DraftKings.
As reported by: ESPN Other tagged players: Odell Beckham, Sterling Shepard Raiders LT Donald Penn ruled out for Saturday
Losing Penn (knee) is a big blow to Oakland’s offense. With Penn, Oakland’s offensive line ranked first in Football Outsiders’ adjusted sack rate metric (3.4%). His absence could allow Houston to get more pressure on Connor Cook. Another thing that allowed the Raiders’ offensive line to be successful was Derek Carr’s quick release, which is something he’s become known for. Cook, who was sacked twice on 23 dropbacks in Week 17, will likely be a step or two behind Carr’s speed, exposing himself to more pressures, hits, and sacks. Latavius Murray and the rest of the running game takes a downgrade without Penn as well. The left tackle was PFF’s third-highest graded run blocker this season.
As reported by: Jimmy Durkin Other tagged players: Connor Cook, Latavius Murray, Houston Texans Russell Wilson will play without knee brace Saturday
Wilson will play without a brace for the first time since spraining his MCL in Week 3. His 2016 rushing statistics were the lowest of his career in terms of attempts (72), yards (259), and yards per carry (3.6). Prior to this year, he averaged 102.75 attempts, 607.5 yards, and 5.9 ypc over four seasons. Seattle was forced to decrease their use of bootlegs and play-actions as well. Although he’s been slowly adding those fundamental pieces back into his game over the past few weeks while sporting a lighter version of the brace, losing it completely could make a big difference. Wilson has a great spot against the Lions this weekend, who allowed the third-most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season. While game flow may be a concern with the Seahawks favored by eight, Wilson averaged 25.43 fantasy points when favored by seven or more at home this season (six game sample). Out of that split, he averaged 17.3 points. His projected ownership has trended upwards on FanDuel this week, it now sits at 18%, which is the third-highest on the slate. Our model still shows him at 10% on DraftKings though, which is less than Roethlisberger (25%), Rodgers(20%), Manning (14%), and Moore (14%), making him a sneaky option on DK this weekend.
As reported by: Ian Rapoport Ladarius Green doesn't practice Friday, looking unlikely for Wild Card Round
Green had practiced both Wednesday and Thursday, which gave people a lot of reason to expect him back in the lineup against Miami. It looks like he’ll likely have to wait at least another week, as he’s still yet to clear the NFL’s concussion protocol. The team (and the team doctors) apparently didn’t get what they had expected from Green during Thursday’s practice, which led to Friday’s DNP and could very well lead to another appearance on the inactives sheet on Sunday. Jesse James would pick up the slack at the TE spot, making him a viable GPP punt play that likely won’t be more than 5-8% owned in tournaments, and Eli Rogers also gets a slight uptick in value with Green off the field.
As reported by: Pro Football Talk Other tagged players: Jesse James
Giants CB Janoris Jenkins has a limited practice Thursday
He missed Week 16 and was limited to a half in Week 17 with a back injury. Although he was sore following their win over the Redskins last Sunday, Jenkins is fully expected to play against the Packers this weekend. He’s also expected to shadow Jordy Nelson, whom he held to four receptions, 38 yards, and a touchdown on 13 targets when these two teams met in Week 5. It’s undoubtedly a tough matchup for Nelson and it won’t get much easier for the rest of the Packers receivers. The Giants rank 5th in WR2 DVOA and 7th against “Other WR” according to Football Outsiders. Nelson, the league’s leader in touchdown receptions (14), has managed to find the end zone against some of the toughest defenses this season. Aside from the Giants, he scored once against the Texans (5th in pass DVOA), two touchdowns against the Seahawks (13th), and the three total against the Vikings (8th) over two games. Point being, he can score against anyone and Aaron Rodgers goes out of his way to find Nelson in the red zone. While he may struggle to catch a high percentage of his passes and accumulate a lot of yards – Jenkins has held A.J. Green, Antonio Brown, and Dez Bryant (twice) under 68 yards (per Adam Levitan) – he’ll still receive plenty of targets and has an excellent shot at scoring this weekend. Overall, he projects as our WR3 on the four-game slate.
As reported by: NFL.com Giants will continue to use running back committee
This is a bit of a bummer from a fantasy perspective. Rookie Paul Perkins has been much more effective than Rashad Jennings this season, especially down the stretch. Over the past four weeks, he’s averaged 4.4 yards per carry while Jennings has averaged 3.0 ypc. In Week 17, when Perkins rushed for 102 yards in his first start, he became the only running back on the team to eclipse the century mark this season. ESPN’s Jordan Raanan reported earlier this week that Perkins is expected to start against Green Bay this weekend and he also speculated that his role would grow, which would make sense given his performance. However, it seems the coaching staff isn’t as enthralled with their rookie and Raanan now expects Jennings to get a “good amount” of work on Saturday. New York believes the duo complement each other well, which seems to imply Jennings will continue to get the majority of the passing down work. Over their past five games, he’s caught 13 passes while Perkins has hauled in two. That makes a difference in this matchup as Green Bay allowed the 11th-fewest rushing yards (87.5) over the final four weeks of the season but allowed the second-most receiving yards to running backs (56.25) during the same stretch. There’s always the chance Perkins gets the hot hand and the Giants ride him, but it seems their plan will call for a pretty even split between the two backs – the split was 37-32 favoring Perkins during their final two games. Unfortunately, without a secure workload, Perkins will be a risky tournament play.
As reported by: Jordan Raanan Other tagged players: Rashad Jennings Malcolm Mitchell returned to practice Thursday
Mitchell (knee) will be ready to go for the divisional round. The rookie demonstrated some upside over a four-game span from Week 11 to Week 14, he averaged a 5.25/65.75/1.0 line. During that stretch, he had a ten target game against the Rams and a two-touchdown game against the Jets. Depending on who the Patriots matchup with, he could be on the tournament radar for their next game. His presence will be a big downgrade for Michael Floyd, who played 73% of their offensive snaps and caught a touchdown in Week 17.
As reported by: Boston Herald Other tagged players: Michael Floyd Russell Wilson may play without knee brace Saturday
Wilson sprained his MCL back in Week 3 and has worn a brace ever since. As a result, his 2016 rushing statistics were the lowest of his career in terms of attempts (72), yards (259), and yards per carry (3.6). Prior to this year, he averaged 102.75 attempts, 607.5 yards, and 5.9 ypc over four seasons. Seattle was forced to decrease their use of bootlegs and play-actions as well. Wilson is much healthier heading into the playoffs though and claims he no longer needs to wear a brace, although it’s possible he simply wears a lighter version instead of removing it completely. Either way, it’s good news for Wilson as the quarterback will continue to restore the essential elements of his game. Wilson has a great spot against the Lions this weekend, who allowed the third-most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season. While game flow may be a concern with the Seahawks favored by eight, Wilson averaged 25.43 fantasy points when favored by seven or more at home this season (six game sample). Out of that split, he averaged 17.3 points. We’re currently projecting his ownership at 12% on FanDuel and 10% on DraftKings – which is less than Rodgers, Roethlisberger, and Manning – making him a relatively sneaky option this weekend.
As reported by: ESPN Randall Cobb practicing again Thursday
Coach Mike McCarthy was pleased with Cobb’s practice on Wednesday, stating he “had a good day’s work.” It seems like he’ll make his return this weekend against the Giants. His only 100-yard game this season came against New York back in Week 5. With Janoris Jenkins shutting down Jordy Nelson (he caught four of 13 targets for 38 yards and a touchdown), Cobb hauled in nine of 11 targets. Since then, the Giants’ other corners, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and rookie Eli Apple have improved significantly. At the time of their Week 5 matchup, DRC and Apple both had PPF grades below 51. Through Week 16, DRC had an 88.9 (sixth-best grade among corners) and Eli Apple had a 71.8. As a team, they finished the season ranked in the top 7 against the WR1, WR2, and Other WR positions. Cobb, on the other hand, has regressed. In each of the two games prior to his ankle injury, he had exactly three targets and averaged 26 yards per games. Rookie Geronimo Allison has stepped up in his place, averaging 6.5 targets and 78.5 yards over their final two contests. Cobb’s presence will definitely hurt Allison’s outlook, as he should return to his role as the third receiver, but it doesn’t mean Cobb will be a great fantasy target. He’s in a tough spot, his role in the offense has decreased quite a bit, and he’s coming off an ankle injury. As a result, he projects as our WR15 on DraftKings and WR17 on FanDuel on the four-game wild card slate.
As reported by: Ryan Wood Other tagged players: Geronimo Allison Dolphins' top CB Byron Maxwell considered day to day
Maxwell hasn’t practiced since spraining his ankle in Week 15 and it’s looking more and more doubtful that he’ll play this weekend against the Steelers. Maxwell, who had a stellar 85.3 PFF grade prior to the injury, often shadows top receivers and due to his success, Miami ranked 4th in WR1 DVOA this season. His absence would be an obvious upgrade for Antonio Brown, who held to a 4/39/0 line against Miami earlier this year. He’d primarily face a combination of Tony Lippett, the Dolphins’ second corner who doesn’t normally shadow receivers, and Xavien Howard, who had a 59.9 PFF grade through Week 16.
As reported by: Adam Beasley