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. OK, on to the games.
Bucs vs. Panthers: This game will kick off at 9:30 a.m. Eastern, it's being played in England. If you're planning to start or bench players in this game, make sure you do it Saturday night unless you're up early enough on Sunday (if you have kids or dogs or both, you probably will be). I respect the Panthers defense but wouldn't consider sitting Godwin or Evans. Bucs defense can't stop the pass to DJ Moore and Curtis Samuel are worthwhile options, Greg Olsen even more so. Christian McCaffrey is fine, no worries there after he missed practice Wednesday.
Eagles at Vikings: We've talked before about Minnesota defense at home, it's tough. Avoiding Eagles where possible. Some have been disappointed by Cousins and Thielen, no question, but they worked out last week and here is a similarly soft secondary. Precious few actual usable players in this game, but Miles Sanders should get the passing down work with Corey Clement and Darren Sproles out.
Washington at Dolphins: This is a huge game as far as determining who will have the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft next year. I think the Dolphins might win, just not sure anyone connected with them wants that to happen (the players want to win; it's management I'm not sure about). Good situation for Adrian Peterson and Kenyan Drake, also Terry McLaurin and (I think) Preston Williams, maybe the other wideouts, but those are the two I'm using or would use.
Texans at Kansas City: Great matchup for Houston's offense. Solid for Kansas City's too. Should be a higher scoring game. Not expecting Tyreek Hill to play, but no inside info. So it's possible. Won't know for sure until the inactives come out. (Guy with a collarbone injury can have lots of limited practices wearing a no-contact jersey...are they ready for him to take big hits?) Sounds like no Sammy Watkins (and he's a huge disappointment anyway).
Saints at Jaguars: Worried about Alvin Kamara in this game. Didn't practice on Friday after picking up an ankle injury on Thursday. No idea right now if it's significant or nothing. Whatever, people need to have a backup plan. Am starting him if he's active. Would use Latavius Murray if he's not. Also Fournette and Chark, neither defense has been that scary.
Seahawks at Browns: Hard to put much faith in the Browns offense these days. Nick Chubb, sure. But Odell Beckham and company, not as much. Too good to bench, nearly as frustrating to start. But probably need to let him play himself out. Dealing with a Matt Ryan or Russell Wilson choice, back to back in rankings.
Bengals at Ravens: Love Mark Ingram in this game. And Baltimore's offense in general. Also using Joe Mixon and certainly Tyler Boyd. Both teams either banged up or just bad on defense.
49ers at Rams: No Todd Gurley. For me, Maclolm Brown is viable, but Darrell Henderson is NOT. Would roster and Henderson and see, but expecting the guy to have a major role looks wildly optimistic. San Francisco...Facing Matt Breida cost me one high-scoring matchup last week, and benching him cost me another. Probably a Breida-Coleman tandem. San Francisco wideouts also benched for me right now.
Falcons at Cardinals: There will not be much defense played here. David Johnson is in my lineup if active, Chase Edmonds is otherwise. Hard to trust Devonta Freeman, but this is one of the better weeks to use him. Both passing games also viable. Should Christian Kirk be active (gametime call), he can be used, though some risk.
Cowboys at Jets: Maybe New York salvages its season here, but an easy Cowboys win seems more likely. LeVeon Bell and Robby Anderson look viable, granted there's risk with Robby. For Dallas, Cooper and Gallup and mebbe even Jason Witten? Giddy up on Dallas passing game.
Titans at Broncos: Lower-scoring affair. Should we guess that maybe 3-4 TDs total will be scored in this game, those are the chances of getting great production. Derrick Henry is the best option. Phillip Lindsay, maybe. Just don't look for huge offensive numbers. Not much to add to the rankings here.
Steelers at Chargers: Grabbed Devlin Hodges in dynasty. Don't want him to be the next Gardner Minshew who's ignored until it's too late. He starts, and the Chargers defense has not been very good, with injuries a factor. Offensive line also a major issue for Los Angeles these days. Hodges is an unknown enough that Steelers offense a question mark, but Smith-Schuster, McDonald and definitely James Conner look OK. Steelers D not so good either these days, so Allen-Williams-Ekeler-Gordon. Hunter Henry, need a good game first before considering him.
Lions at Packers: This was a tough game to preview. On the one hand, Green Bay's defense has been really good. On the other hand, it has been weak defending the run, so thumbs up on Kerryon Johnson, and Matthew Stafford, Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones have all been very good against Green Bay the last few years. Tough calls, but lean using them. Aaron Jones obviously in lineups. Aaron Rodgers, is he obvious? Not as certain. Good Monday night game, though.
Enjoy the games.