Cecil Shorts Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Shorts suffered an awful knee injury on Sunday that may end his career and Humphries was also forced from the game after suffering a concussion. Humphries status for Week 14 is uncertain at this point. With Shorts out and Humphries questionable, look for Mike Evans and Cameron Brate to soak up targets on Sunday. It's a very favorable matchup against the weak New Orleans' pass defense.

The Buccaneers have listed WR Russell Shepard as doubtful for their TNF tilt against the Falcons. Adam Humphries and Cecil Shorts receive a slight bump in value but neither are viable options except perhaps as GPP fliers in small two game slates.

Shorts hasn't played since injuring his hamstring in Week 2. He'll start on the outside opposite Mike Evans and Adam Humphries will stay in the slot. Shorts has one reception for 12 yards this season. Last year he averaged 3.8 receptions, 44 yards, and 0.18 touchdowns per game with the Texans, although he primarily played the slot. He isn't a viable fantasy play; expect Mike Evans and Cameron Brate to pick up most of Jackson's workload.

Both Nate Washington and Cecil Shorts are probable for Saturday's Wild Card game against the Chiefs. It's very tough to target either of these guys when both are active. Jaelen Strong has also come on in the last few weeks of the regular season, so rostering any of the Texans secondary receivers doesn't seem like a strong move. DeAndre Hopkins obviously remains a strong play, but he's the only Houston pass-catcher you can have much confidence in.

The Houston Texans play the New England Patriots Sunday night in what has the potential to be a decently high-scoring game. The Patriots love to take away the opposing team’s number one weapon and for the Texans that is undoubtedly DeAndre Hopkins. Although Hopkins sometimes seems matchup-proof, if the Patriots did succeed in neutralizing him then Cecil Shorts could be in for a big game this week. The battle for WR2 between Shorts and Nate Washington was won by Washington earlier in the year but it has seemed to be Shorts as of late averaging 14FPPG over the last three games. Shorts or Washington could be the beneficiary of the neutralization of Hopkins (that in itself will be a tough task), but Shorts will likely be covered by Justin Coleman in the slot and should have the advantage over the rookie cornerback. Hopkins is still possibly a GPP target vs. a Patriots team that is middle of the road vs. opposing WRs, but there are several other options in that price range that make more sense this week. If Hopkins is shut down this week, Shorts will likely see the biggest boost in targets.

Considering this news is coming so early in the week, Shorts may end up missing time beyond the team's Week 9 bye. Nate Washington is coming off of a huge Week 7 performance (9-127-2) and becomes a viable punt play in DFS at $5,400 on FanDuel and $3,600 on DraftKings. He may even be an option in cash games with the Titans likely to throw extra coverage towards DeAndre Hopkins.