Hamstring injury
Reid said Maclin could conceivably miss more time with the groin injury, but he is day to day. (Terez Paylor on Twitter)
Nerdy Football Analysis: Maclin came into Week 9 with a groin injury and couldn’t make it out of the first quarter. While Andy Reid didn’t say so, reading between the lines it sounds like Maclin will likely miss Week 10 against the Panthers. Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill and Chris Conley would be the top receiving options for Alex Smith if Maclin sits.
With any luck, fantasy football owners made it through another tough week in terms of byes and scored wins based on smart waiver-wire adds and lineup decisions.
Week 10 will look like a paradise by comparison. Looking at past performances, injuries and other factors, the wire offers a nice balance at all positions compared to most weeks. In the long run, this means hopeful contenders can bolster their rosters before the playoffs.
Lineup decisions won’t get any easier, though (see: Oakland Raiders running back Latavius Murray dropping 30 points on the Denver Broncos in Week 9).
But the wire? This week’s is generous, so let’s take a look.
Many owners will probably roll their eyes at this one.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has been far from a fantasy stud this year—or any year, for that matter. This season, he has scored more than 20 points in a game once and 16 or more just twice.
One look at the talent around Flacco says why, but that’s another story for another day. Quarterback is such a simple position to project that owners can stream on a week-to-week basis with little in the way of long-term adds.
So simple, in fact, that Flacco is a must-have pickup in Week 10. Coming off a week in which he totaled 14 points against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Flacco next gets the Cleveland Browns.
Those Browns have allowed 19 passing touchdowns through eight games, and three opposing quarterbacks have managed 20 or more points. The unit overall has coughed up three passing scores in five different games this season.
Maybe Flacco only lasts on rosters for a week, but it will be a great one.
San Francisco 49ers running back DuJuan Harris came out of obscurity this week to give owners everywhere a quality option at the most difficult position.
Playing in place of the injured Carlos Hyde, the Troy product rushed 10 times for 59 yards and caught five passes for 83 yards and a score against the New Orleans Saints, good for 17 points.
Owners shouldn’t be quick to dismiss Harris’ performance as fluky against a bad defense or expect him to disappear once Hyde returns. Al Sacco of 49ers Webzone provided a nugget of interest:
Keep in mind, too, that Hyde’s injury is a shoulder issue, which is a tricky area for a running back to heal, given the nature of the position.
At the least, Harris is a nice bet to keep seeing snaps in the coming weeks, especially since he surprisingly passed Shaun Draughn and Mike Davis on the depth chart, meaning the coaches trust him to lead the way.
So should owners.
Looking at things from a week-to-week basis, Jacksonville Jaguars wideout Marqise Lee has been all over the place.
He’s scored six or more points in three of his last four outings, but Week 8 was a zero-point affair. This isn’t uncommon, though, for a slot option in a middling passing attack.
For Lee to become relevant, stats need to hint at bigger things, and his role has to look like it will increase.
Check off both boxes there.
Lee ranks third on the team in targets at 49 (compared to 60 and 81 for Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson, respectively) yet sits at 442 receiving yards, one off the team lead. In two of his past three outings, quarterback Blake Bortles has gone his way with eight targets.
Now keep in mind that one of the guys ahead of Lee in the pecking order, Hurns, exited the team’s Week 9 game with a possible concussion.
Should Lee’s role increase with Hurns out, he’s going to have big games. Even if Hurns doesn’t miss time, Lee could be perhaps the most prone Jacksonville weapon to big games, which falls on owners to analyze matchups and figure out when it will happen.
A 2012 undrafted free agent, Dominique Jones made the most of absences by Jordan Cameron and Dion Sims at tight end for the Miami Dolphins.
Jones saw four targets and caught three of them for 42 yards and the first touchdown of his career, giving him and his zero owners 10 points.
Not bad. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill seemed to love the consistency of going toward the new face, which is a shock because he’s mostly ignored the position this year in favor of wideouts such as Jarvis Landry and DeVante Parker.
Jones might have just changed the preference. With Cameron on injured reserve and Sims owning all of 12 targets on the year, fantasy owners might have a new starter at tight end who can hit on regular production.
At the least, it’s worth the gamble while seeking out consistency at an erratic position.
All scoring info and statistics courtesy of ESPN.com standard leagues, as are points-against info and ownership stats.
Follow Chris Roling (@Chris_Roling) on Twitter.
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The Associated Press, Amway Coaches and Nerdy Football polls have been released, opening up debates around the country and establishing the real question: Who will be in the Top Four when the College Football Playoff selection committee releases its rankings?
Below, we’ll take a look at this week’s polls and try to answer that question.
Washington may be listed as No. 4 in all of the rankings above, but the Huskies came into Week 10 at No. 5 in the only poll that matters: the College Football Playoff rankings.
The team that leapfrogged the undefeated Huskies in the rankings? Texas A&M, which came into Saturday with one loss (against Alabama) on the season.
The Aggies‘ time at No. 4 was short-lived, however, after Mississippi State upset them. Washington won once again, which will surely secure its place at No. 4, right?
Well, not so fast.
If the committee felt that a one-loss Aggies team deserved a higher ranking than Washington, almost assuredly based on a side-by-side comparison of their resumes, what’s to stop the committee from putting Ohio State above Washington this week?
After all, Washington’s best win is still Utah, with little else to pad the resume. Ohio State, meanwhile, can boast wins over Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Nebraska, while its lone loss was a tight one on the road against a strong Penn State squad.
Based on how they’ve actually played, do the Huskies deserve a Top Four ranking? Absolutely. They’ve looked awesome.
But if you start stacking resumes, the Buckeyes can make a strong argument they deserve to leapfrog Washington. It will be fascinating to see where the committee lands on Tuesday.
There will be less debate about the rest of the Top Four, as Alabama survived a tough LSU side, 10-0, and continues to look like the best, most battle-tested team in the nation. Michigan and Clemson cruised, meanwhile, leaving each team in good position.
Finally, there is Louisville, which might just need Armageddon at the top of the rankings. There’s little doubting Louisville’s talent, but the Cardinals don’t appear to have another statement game on the schedule. Unlike some of the other teams, Louisville may not be able to prove its merit in a conference title game, as Clemson is likely to secure the ACC Atlantic bid for the conference’s title game.
So the Cardinals need some type of help down the stretch. Texas Tech athletic director and CFP selection committee chair Kirby Hocutt indicated the team’s schedule has hurt Louisville a bit in the rankings to this point, per Mark Schlabach of ESPN.com:
We look at performance on the field, but we do not incent the margin of victory. We do not talk about that in our committee room. Louisville is a very strong team, very impressive win against Florida State earlier this season. They continue to win. Their schedule, as we talked about it last week, was just not as strong as others that they were being compared against up to this point of time in the season.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson will almost assuredly win the Heisman Trophy. But that might be the extent of the postseason highlights for Louisville unless a few teams above it stumble.
You can follow Timothy Rapp on Twitter.
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This was a first for me: writing a fantasy football article while commuting eight hours from Baltimore back to my home state of New Hampshire—good thing we have mobile hot spots. That’s all I’ve got to say.
Yeah, my rental car was incredibly uncomfortable, but hey, when duty calls you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do.
How did everyone do in fantasy this week? To be honest with you, I just did terribly. Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jarvis Landry really took me for a ride in DraftKings.
Hopefully your week went better, though! Here are myriad takes from the Week 9 Sunday slate.
The Detroit Lions earned a critical 22-16 NFC North victory against the Minnesota Vikings in overtime Sunday, and some of their playmakers rewarded fantasy owners in the process.
Wide receiver Golden Tate found the end zone, tight end Eric Ebron led the team in receiving yards and running back Theo Riddick was solid in the rushing attack.
Here is a look at their final tallies and a fantasy breakdown for each.
The most encouraging thing from Sunday’s performance for those relying on Tate was the 12 targets. No other Detroit wide receiver had more than five, and it was clear quarterback Matthew Stafford trusts Tate when dropping back.
Tate has also benefitted from the additional attention Marvin Jones has drawn since his hot start. Tate posted just 134 receiving yards and zero touchdown catches through his first five games, but he has 379 receiving yards and two touchdowns in his last four. He has also been targeted at least nine times in every contest during that span.
Fantasy owners should ride Tate’s hot streak and insert him in their starting lineups moving forward.
Ebron may not be the automatic fantasy start that Tate is, but he is playing a position that isn’t loaded with elite options.
Like Tate, the tight end has benefitted from open looks over the last two weeks. His 92 receiving yards Sunday were a season high, beating out the 79 he tallied in his previous contest. He has 18 combined targets in his last two games after missing time with injuries.
Those injuries appear to be behind him, and Ebron is seeing plenty of throws from the tight end spot. Unless fantasy owners have one of the rare superstars at the position, such as Rob Gronkowski, they should utilize Ebron.
Detroit ranked 27th in the league in rushing yards per game coming into Sunday’s contest.
It has plenty of weapons in the aerial attack, and Stafford threw 600 or more passing attempts in four of the last five seasons. The Lions offense is not well-designed for fantasy domination from the running backs, which limits Riddick’s upside.
His 70 rushing yards Sunday marked a season high, and he hasn’t scored a rushing touchdown since the season opener.
However, Riddick is a threat in the passing game, which makes him worthy of a fantasy roster spot and occasional starts when the Lions play vulnerable defenses. He had only six receiving yards Sunday, but he has 273 on the year as well as four touchdown catches.
He also posted 697 receiving yards last year, making him worthy of flex consideration, especially in points-per-reception leagues.
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