Mike Nugent Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

The Patriots waived kicker Mike Nugent after he missed a 34-yard kick and had a 29-yard attempt blocked last week.

With Gostkowski landing on the IR, the Patriots have signed veteran kicker Mike Nugent. He kicked for the Raiders last year in 3 games, going 6 for 6 on field goals with a long of 52 yards and 4 of 5 on extra points.

Collins was added to the injury report Tuesday with a back injury but he's been able to practice in a limited fashion. LT Tyron Smith is also questionable but he's expected to play. If either ends up sidelined, it could continue to cause some serious problems for the Cowboys offense. Over the past two weeks with Smith down, backup tackles Chaz Green and Byron Bell, have combined for 16 total pressures allowed (per PFF). Put together, that's five more than any other tackle during that span. The Chargers present a tough challenge as they're currently seventh in adjusted sack rate and eighth in pressure rate. Smith's return would provide an improvement on the ground; he's currently PFF's 27th-ranked tackle in run blocking. Alfred Morris handled 63% of the Cowboys running attempts last week and appears to have hold of a lead role, although he'll continue to lose passing downs to Rod Smith. Morris was productive against one of the best run defenses last week, picking up 91 yards on 17 attempts. While the Eagles were first in adjusted line yards heading into the weekend, the Chargers were 14th and the Bills ran all over them. As a team, they piled up 173 rushing yards and two scores on 22 attempts, although most of the game was garbage time. LeSean McCoy racked up 114 on 13 carries and found the end zone. Morris won't have much involvement in the passing game, limiting his upside, but he could certainly pay off his $4.8k DK salary if game flow works in his favor. Bettors don't seem to think it will though, the line has moved in the Chargers' favor. Despite 51% of the tickets coming in on the Chargers' side of the spread, they're now 2.5-point road favorites after the game opened as a pick'em, indicating some sharp money is on LA this week.

Bryant came away from Week 9's game with knee and ankle injuries. Although he's on record saying it's nothing serious, Jerry Jones said he didn't know if Dez or Terrance Williams would be able to suit up this weekend. Williams tweaked his knee towards the end of the last game but he was able to practice today in full and didn't make an appearance on the injury report. At this point, Bryant should be considered questionable for Sunday's matchup with the Falcons while Williams is fully expected to play. Bryant doesn't line up on CB Desmond Trufant's side often which should mostly leave him with Robert Alford, PFF's 75th-ranked cover corner, if he plays. Alford is coming off a solid game in which he limited Panthers receivers to a 3/26/0 line after being targeted eight times. Despite picking up 11 looks against the Chiefs, Bryant finished with six catches for 73 scoreless yards. While the yards haven't been there for Bryant yet this season, he's averaging 9.5 targets per game. On top of that, he leads the league with 14 red zone targets and he's second with eight looks inside the ten-yard line. He should continue to pick up opportunities in scoring position against a middle-of-the-pack Falcons RZ defense allowing a touchdown on 52% of their opponent's trips inside the 20 (14th). Williams was much better last week, hauling in all of his season-high nine passes for 141 yards. He'll primarily battle Trufant, who's ninth in yards per cover snap (0.71) but has allowed the fifth-most touchdowns (4). The Cowboys lost LT Tyron Smith during the game, the 13th-ranked tackle in pass protection. He was replaced by Chaz Greene, who's 48th in the area and would present an upgrade for the Falcons pass rush on Sunday. Even so, Atlanta is just 25th in adjusted sack rate (per FO) and only came away with one sack against Carolina's 24th-ranked offensive line in pass blocking efficiency. K Dan Bailey was also absent from practice today, he's not expected to suit up this weekend. Mike Nugent wil handle field goals for the Cowboys in a dome game with the highest total on the board (50.5) - his side is currently implied to score 24 points, the eighth-most on the slate.

Keep Nugent off your rosters this weekend. Bullock, who was just released by the Steelers, is not available in DFS in Week 15.