Royce Freeman Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Royce Freeman, Davion Davis, and Jordan Akins have all been listed inactive Sunday for the Texans matchup with the Miami Dolphins. Freeman was expected to serve as running back depth in a crowded backfield so his absence should not be DFS relevant. Davion Davis was expected to serve as receiver depth and his absence should not be DFS relevant. Akins was expected to split time at tight end, his absence will give Brevin Jordan and the returning Pharaoh Brown more opportunities though neither is likely to be DFS relevant.

Royce Freeman is active today and should work as the backup to Melvin Gordon for the Broncos. Phillip Lindsay has been placed on IR, so there is some work available for Freeman.

As reported earlier, both Phillip Lindsay and Melvin Gordon are active today. They will work as the top backs for the Broncos, leaving Royce Freeman with a very small role as the RB3.

The Broncos are expected to have both Melvin Gordon and Phillip Lindsay on Saturday. Those two will work as the top backs, leaving little work for Royce Freeman. We will get confirmation of their statuses around 3 PM ET today, when inactives are released.

Practice squad WR Kendall Hinton will reportedly play QB tomorrow for the Broncos, although the Broncos will likely also run some wildcat, and even Hinton's status is yet to be confirmed by the Broncos directly. Hinton played QB in college at Wake Forest, but there is a reason he converted to WR: across four seasons he threw 133-251 (53%) for 1504 yards and an 8-7 TD-INT ratio. He clearly will not function as a normal backup QB would, but could allow the Broncos to at least have some passing threat as needed. This change at QB effectively kills the potential for all Broncos' pass catchers, barring a fluky long TD pass. The running backs could see more carries than usual, but without a real passing game, facing a stacked box nearly every play will limit the value of the carries.

While this entire situation certainly is interesting, the Broncos are a team you're likely better off avoiding this week.

All the Broncos' QBs have been ruled ineligible to play this week, with Jeff Driskel testing positive Thursday, then Drew Lock, Brett Rypien and Blake Bortles all being declared close contacts of Driskel. This will effectively kill the value of all the Broncos' pass catchers, while increasing the volume of work for the RBs. However, the Broncos are likely to struggle offensively all day, and there is a good chance they are barely able to move the ball. Practice squad WR Kendall Hinton appears to be likely to get work as QB Sunday, but it is impossible to know exactly what the Broncos will do Sunday.

The Broncos pulled QBs Drew Lock, Brett Rypien, and Blake Bortles from practice Saturday over COVID-19 close contact concerns. QB Jeff Driskel was placed on the COVID-19 list Thursday, and appears to be the potential close contact. All three players' statuses for Sunday are unknown, and COVID-19 restrictions make it impossible to attempt any last second signings. Royce Freeman is reportedly the emergency QB, and would instantly become an appealing fantasy option if forced to fill in tomorrow. This is a situation to monitor closely, and we likely won't have clarification until Sunday morning.

Phillip Lindsay is active Sunday, and should operate as the RB2 behind Melvin Gordon for the Broncos against the Chargers. Royce Freeman will have a small role as the RB3.