Injuries are an unfortunate formality in the war of attrition that is an NFL season. Along with putting teams in tight spots as they look to get injured stars back into the fold, fantasy owners are also put in a bind.
Come Thursday’s practices, most players have given an indication of whether they’ll be featured Sunday or not. But with Thursday Night Football right around the corner, some folks don’t have time until early Sunday to finalize parts of their lineup.
With that said, let’s buy and sell four notable fantasy players battling injury heading into Week 4.
Buy
Alshon Jeffery, WR, Chicago Bears
Anything about the Chicago Bears offense—aside from Matt Forte—has been a pretty sizable bust so far, but star receiver Alshon Jeffery is about to change that.
Battling a hamstring injury that has plagued him since the preseason, Jeffery stood out in Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers’ formidable defense by catching five passes for 78 yards. After sitting out over the next two weeks, he’s expected to be a go Sunday, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Bears will battle the Oakland Raiders, who have been more impressive than Chicago so far in 2015, but still struggle against the pass. Through three games, Oakland has given up an average of 323 passing yards per game, third-worst in the league.
Quarterback Jay Cutler could also return after participating in practice Wednesday, per ESPN.com’s Jeff Dickerson, which would obviously benefit Jeffery much more than having Jimmy Clausen under center.
Chris Ivory, RB, New York Jets
Those who kept Chris Ivory in their fantasy lineups after seeing him activated for Week 3 were burned as he didn’t accrue a single touch, but a bounce-back should in store for Week 4.
Activating Ivory may have been somewhat of a smoke screen as Bilal Powell got the touches in the backfield against Philadelphia, but he should be back to his usual duties Sunday. As reported by Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, Ivory is expected to return in full force:
The 27-year-old appeared to be effective in his opening two games, rushing for 91 yards and two scores in his season debut before 60 total yards in Week 2 against Indianapolis. The running game is still the Jets’ bread and butter, and Ivory is the main recipient.
Even after the acquisition of Ndamukong Suh, Miami has struggled to stop the run, ranking second to last in the league in run defense. Expect Ivory to continue that Sunday.
Sell
LeSean McCoy, RB, Buffalo Bills
LeSean McCoy’s hamstring injury may not have gotten any worse over the opening few weeks of the season, but it hasn’t gotten any better. With a long season ahead, it appears the Bills would rather be safe than sorry.
Schefter reported troubling news for McCoy’s fantasy owners early in the week that he could be sitting out to rest in Week 4, and head coach Rex Ryan himself pretty much proved the report true Wednesday, per Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports:
A surprising early-season breakout from rookie rusher Karlos Williams has undoubtedly helped Buffalo’s decision-making, and the Florida State product looks to be getting the feature back duties Sunday. As for McCoy owners, it’s a week that he should most likely be benched.
Andre Ellington, RB, Arizona Cardinals
Unlike McCoy, Arizona Cardinals running back Andre Ellington is looking to make his return to the field in Week 4. But the brakes still must be pumped.
Ellington was dubbed as a 50-50 decision to play Sunday against St. Louis, per Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com, but even if he plays, expect a tempered level of production. The duo of Chris Johnson and David Johnson have been more than serviceable in his absence.
What’s more, head coach Bruce Arians even stated that should Ellington return, Chris Johnson would still get 15-20 touches after his impressive start to 2015, per his interview with Sirius XM NFL Radio.
If that’s the case, Ellington should be shied away from until his production is proven in this new rushing attack.
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