Every Saturday morning, I'll take a quick look at all the week's games, offering my own brief 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 lineup questions, too.
What follows is a brief look at all the games with how I'd react in my own lineups to injury developments or other news. The official rankings are the ones in the Weekly. Those are the ones that subscribers are paying for, and should take precedence. But sometimes players are very close, and in those cases I'm glad to offer opinions on how I'd approach those situations. Sometimes I like certain players more or less than Ian, and sometimes I have different risk tolerance with injuries etc.
If a guy is 20 spots higher in the rankings, that's a question you probably don't need to ask. Trust the rankings. Sorry for the delayed post. Computer problems. Text shorter for that reason, too. Will get things sorted by next week. OK, on to the games.
Jaguars at Panthers: Teams are pretty much healthy, except for Cam Newton, Jalen Ramsey, and a couple of Panthers blockers. Looks like a low-scoring game, so not enamored of either passing game. Greg Olsen and the running backs. DJ Moore and Curtis Samuel not thriving with Kyle Allen.
Cardinals at Bengals: No Christian Kirk for Arizona, no A.J. Green or John Ross for Cincinnati. That said, I think this could be a higher-scoring game with neither team good or healthy on defense. I'm also on record thinking Arizona gets its first win of the season. Larry Fitzgerald, Kyler Murray and David Johnson all strike me as decent options; Dalton, Boyd and Auden Tate too.
Falcons at Texans: Could be a higher-scoring or at least pass-oriented game for both teams. A little uncertain though whether it will be Kenny Stills or Keke Coutee as the No. 3 wideout for Houston. Atlanta pass catchers look promising. Ground games, not as much.
Bucs at Saints: Chris Godwin is off the injury report, so no need to make the mistake that many of us did of not starting him a week ago. No Breshad Perriman for the Bucs, which we don't care about. After the way New Orleans was able to play defense against Dallas last week I'm not going crazy starting Bucs players, just the obvious ones. Saints, same, Kamara and Thomas and not much else.
Vikings at Giants: No Barkley. Stefon....probably OK to use, but some risk he's being penalized or whatnot for being disgruntled. Probably not worth the rsk untl we know what's what. Thielen should be OK against a struggling secondary. Key Giants, yes, while keeping in mind it's a better defense than Daniel Jones has faced yet.
Bears vs. Raiders: A London game. Tyrell Williams with a bad matchup and an injury shouldn't be used. All Raiders but Darren Waller are hands off for me. Chicago, maybe a David Montgomery game finally. Allen Robinson looks fine. No Mitchell Trubisky, no one was starting a Bears QB.
Jets at Eagles: No Sam Darnold, making all Jets besides LeVeon Bell (who should catch a ton of passes) unusable. Eagles passing game looks good at least, Ertz and Jeffery and Wentz. Not as keen on Jordan Howard or Miles Sanders.
Ravens at Steelers: Nether defense playing well right now, but Ravens-Steelers games usually lower scoring. Hard to trust questionable Smith-Schuster catching passes from Mason Rudolph. Vance McDonald also questionable but will probably be available. James Conner and Mark Ingram seem OK, nether D stuffing runners as used to. Mark Andrews OK to use.
Bills at Titans: Josh Allen may actually play, but shouldn't be counted on. Two good defensive teams and a lower-scoring game. Definitely passing games to avoid. Devin Singletary questionable, wouldn't use him or Frank Gore.
Patriots at Washington: Chris Thompson the only Washington player to use. Terry McLaurin needs to be healthy and n a non-awful matchup. Rex Burkhead questionable again and would like to see hm healthy before considering him, too. Other Pats OK to use, especially the defense.
Broncos at Chargers: Mike Williams is playing, but not fully healthy. Use at your own risk. Other Chargers fine, a Gordon-Ekeler committee. Love Keenan Allen. For Denver, both running backs and both man receivers can be considered. Mind the realty that Denver's offense won't set the world afire or anything.
Packers at Cowboys: Expecting a good, higher scoring game. Risky to use Jake Kumerow wth Davante Adams out, but it's a risk that seems worthwhile given possible reward. Don't sit down a great option for him, but a nice gamble. Zeke should be great, not sure on using Gallup just back from injury.
Colts at Kansas City: Marlon Mack and T.Y. Hilton both questionable. Both should play, but late game so need to have a backup plan if they're out. Am using Damien Williams for Kansas City, and LeSean McCoy. And the passing game, with the Colts missing both safeties and Darius Leonard. Probably higher scoring and can use Zach Pascal, even if Hilton plays.
Browns at 49ers: Another Browns game in primetme, their third in five weeks. Hate the NFL sometimes. But San Fran has earned it. Steering clear of the running back committee. Would use Deebo if had to, but don't and don't trust them. Chubb, Beckham, sure. Ricky Seals-Jones a possibility as essentially a No. 3 option with Antonio Callaway not expected to play full complement of snaps, Jennings health uncertain.
Enjoy the games.