Every Saturday morning, I'll take a quick look at all the week's games, offering my own take on what I think will happen, as well as touching on significant injury news since our Weekly came out. I'll check in every so often over the course of the day to answer questions, too.
Here's the drill: our official rankings and projections are in Fantasy Index Weekly. That's the content you're paying for. My goal here is to answer questions on players who are close, and on occasion I will have opinions that clash with the rankings -- sometimes I like a player a little more than Ian. Or a little less.
There are a lot of injuries these days, and worst is these ones that just show up out of nowhere on Friday. Tricky, you either have to avoid them entirely or be really available Sunday mornings. OK, let's go.
Washington at Ravens: Been impressed by the Ravens defense so far, but let's not get too excited -- they haven't played a lot of great offenses, either. So I'm not dropping guys like Matt Jones or DeSean Jackson too far. Ravens will probably give change-of-pace work to Kenneth Dixon, but Terrance West should be the main guy. Nice matchup for Baltimore's offense.
Patriots at Browns: In one league I've already had multiple hard-luck losses, and now this week I'm matched up with a team that gets Tom Brady back from suspension. Sort of like the Browns! This should be a higher-scoring type of game, and while I don't love Isaiah Crowell or Terrelle Pryor, I think they'll be OK. LeGarrette Blount and Julian Edelman showed up on the injury report, that will need to be checked Sunday morning. As for Rob Gronkowski, I want to see him have a good game before using him (unless I really have no better option).
Eagles at Lions: I'm sold on the Eagles, but they could lose this one. Lions have a good passing game, even though it didn't look like it last week. I wonder if the Lions lose a couple more games if Jim Caldwell could get the axe. You may recall he seemed to be on thin ice last year before the team rallied the second half of the season. Hopefully they'll replace him with someone a little more helpful updating injuries. No Eric Ebron and no Dwayne Washington, helping the alternatives; I guess Cole Wick and Zach Zenner. Nobody should be counting on them (and the matchup is tough). Ryan Mathews should be the main back, maybe Wendell Smallwood gets half the work, but nobody can promise that. Risky counting on either player. Sorry.
Bears at Colts: I'm not buying on the Bears defense just because they shut down the Lions last week. Andrew Luck, Frank Gore and T.Y. Hilton look good to me. For the Bears, Jordan Howard against the Colts' soft underbelly also looks great. Alshon Jeffery and Zach Miller are also nice option. Eddie Royal, who I was intrigued by back when we were working on the Weekly, has a calf injury and didn't practice all week, so it sounds like he isn't going to play. Sigh.
Titans at Dolphins: Game will take place as scheduled, no hurricane issue. Titans will run a lot, Dolphins will pass a lot. I'm steering well clear of Miami's running back situation, although Adam Gase indicates one or two guys will be featured this week. Figuring out which one is tricky; Jay Ajayi is the best bet (but no promises). I think I have to start Tajae Sharpe somewhere where I've got Saints and Jaguars on byes. Not feeling good about it, but Mike Mularkey "assures us" that the passing game will improve. Can't be much worse.
Texans at Vikings: This is one of my picks in Survivor Pools this week. Vikings have a great defense and Texans have a struggling offense, so seems good. I don't know if you ever say "I need to sit down DeAndre Hopkins," but the way Minnesota's defense is playing, he's not a slam-dunk start either. And I am definitely sitting Will Fuller and would bench Lamar Miller if any comparable option. Tough matchup. Not ideal for Minnesota, either, and Stefon Diggs (groin) isn't going to play. Yeah, this is getting ridiculous.
Jets at Steelers: The other Survivor Pool pick. Jet won't have Eric Decker and now Quincy Enunwa is also questionable, potentially messing up a pretty sweet daily fantasy leagues play. Steelers are pretty healthy and look great in this matchup. Jets, season already on the brink and everyone is hurt. Lots of targets for Brandon Marshall this week, and Enunwa if he's OK to play.
Falcons at Broncos: Seems a little risky to use a Broncos quarterback. The matchup is great and so are the various receivers, but I'm not sure Trevor Siemian is going to play and it's worrying to possibly use him but have him get sidelined after a hit or something. For the Falcons, I think you sort of have to use Julio Jones, and tough to bench Matt Ryan, but I'd at least consider it. Broncos D is shutting passing games down. Like Devonta, not Tevin, as discussed in the Weekly. Not chancing Virgil Green, personally.
Bengals at Cowboys: Probably no Dez Bryant, who knows when he'll play again. Matchup poor, so I don't think you can get too high on guys like Brice Butler, but he should see some passes. I'm using Cole Beasley and Jason Witten. For the Bengals, I like Jeremy Hill. You don't need anyone's help to start A.J. Green and not start other Bengals. No Tyler Eifert.
Bills at Rams: Probably best to simply remove both passing games from consideration. Yes Robert Woods is the No. 1 here, and sure Kenny Britt's having a nice season. But both teams are certainly going to try to run the ball, and neither offense is good enough to force either team away from a conservative, ground-focused approach. LeSean McCoy somehow picked up a hand injury in practice but says he's playing. Good enough for me, but might want to have a backup option in place just in case.
Chargers at Raiders: San Diego's offensive injuries have leaked over to their defense, with Jason Verrett now out with a torn ACL. Good news for Crabtree and Cooper. San Diego's receivers also look good, although not sure there's a go-to guy -- Benjamin, Inman and Williams could all be the No. 1 in a given week. And Hunter Henry. Raiders won't have Latavius Murray so DeAndre Washington is a possible lead back (but it will still be a committee). Clive Walford hurt, questionable. The hits keep on coming.
Giants at Packers: Seems like the Giants have fared better than expected against the Packers in recent years, Green Bay has some secondary issues and Odell Beckham Jr. is due for a breakout. Assuming he doesn't lose his cool and get ejected or something. I have mixed feeling about him but do think he kind of got rooked by the officials in Minnesota, flagged (and fined!) for "taunting" after being hit out of bounds. Whatever, I realize nobody cares. Including my fantasy team which he's kind of killing this season. In any case I'm thinking a 27-24 type game here and am starting receivers on both teams. Don't know if it will be Jennings or Darkwa, but they don't need to rush Jennings back if they want to have the superior runner playing.
Buccaneers at Panthers: In one of my leagues rosters lock at kickoff of the Thursday game, and I neglected to pick up another quarterback, thinking Newton would be fine to play. (My other option is on a bye.) Now it sounds like Newton might not play, so grab Derek Anderson if you need a QB. I will be taking a zero. Nice matchup. Mike Evans and Kelvin Benjamin both look great. Greg Olsen too. Everyone else is either a lesser player or in a crowded committee, or hurt. Bucs won't have Martin, might not have Sims. I cannot recommend Jacquizz Rodgers -- couldn't 5 years ago. But if you hope to use Sims, I guess pick him up as a Plan B. Or start someone playing Sunday.
Enjoy the games.