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 over the course of the day to answer questions, too.
The official rankings are the ones in the Weekly. Those 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.
Packers at Bears: Bears have a new offensive coordinator, which could hardly be worse, but won't necessarily be better. Chicago players best avoided if possible. Better matchup for running than passing with the Packers, but I think Love and Kraft and Reed and maybe Doubs viable. I don't really have much to say about Caleb Williams beyond I hope the Bears figure things out somehow.
Jaguars at Lions: No Sam LaPorta (I'll pass on Brock Wright), but other Lions players look great, Jags don't have much defense. Travis Etienne helped by Tank Bigsby being out, but Lions are tough on the run; Etienne best for maybe catching 3-4 passes. Good matchup for throwing the ball, alas the thrower is Mac Jones.
Raiders at Dolphins: Las Vegas also has a new offensive coordinator, so we're not sure how the running backs will be used. I think a committee with a hot hand approach is possible. Jakobi Meyers and Brock Bowers the "safe" options. Miami, thumbs up on the skill guys with Las Vegas not being too good defensively.
Rams at Patriots: The Bears offense undperformed against the Patriots last week, but that's because the Bears offense is underperforming. I'm all in on key Rams this week. For the Patriots, matchup is fine but I don't blame anyone who's tired of guessing wrong with Hunter Henry. I think Rhamondre is viable and DeMario should get you your usual 5 for 40-50, and Drake Maye gets a good matchup and he runs.
Browns at Saints: Would mean more if Dennis Allen were still the coach after the late-season controversy a year ago with Jameis Winston ignoring Allen's instructions to take a knee and letting Jamaal Williams score a touchdown. But regardless, neither defense is very good (especially the Saints), so key Browns starters look good. Alvin Kamara yes, Marquez Valdes-Scantling ranked conservatively because he'll either catch a 40-yard touchdown or go like 3 for 40 and disappoint. I don't like low floor players in my lineup, might be just me. But somebody has to catch passes for the Saints, so I don't blame anyone for giving him a shot.
Ravens at Steelers: Looking for something online last week, I stumbled into a bunch of people saying how Russell Wilson's strong play of late shows that Sean Payton mistreated Wilson last year or whatever. I watched a whole lot of Broncos games and feel that Wilson was unwatchably bad. The box score does not tell all; he had some nice numbers but also took every sack at the worst possible time. Just a month ago the national narrative was that the Steelers should stick with Justin Fields, so some people now championing Wilson are a little hypocritical. But whatever: here he faces a defense that can't defend the pass and he and George Pickens especially should be very good. For the Ravens, I'm not sure who you can rationally sit down among their key starters.
Vikings at Titans: Vikings have played the run well, so not a great situation for Tony Pollard. Better for the passing game, and I got burned recommending against Calvin Ridley last week, so I won't do that again. Vikings offense, you're using their key guys in a game they should win, but the Titans defense hasn't been terrible, which is why Minnesota players besides Justin Jefferson are ranked conservatively.
Colts at Jets: Anthony Richardson returns to the lineup. It's a negative for the passing game, but maybe Richardson runs around a lot and the Colts spring an upset. In general, Jonathan Taylor is the only Colt I'd really want to use. Jets key starters look good because most key starters look good against the defense Indianapolis is putting on the field these days.
Falcons at Broncos: Big game for playoff positioning in each conference. Broncos in the mix for a wildcard and the Falcons battling for the NFC South with the Bucs. Denver defense a tough draw for Atlanta, but they've exceeded expectations at times. For the Broncos, Audric Estime, Courtland Sutton and Bo Nix are the viable starters. I don't blame anyone for hesitating with Estime, possible he won't be catching many/any passes, but he should be their main back.
Seahawks at 49ers: Funny thing about teams coming off byes, like Seattle, is it seems like ages since they've played a game. Who's Seattle's quarterback again? DK Metcalf returns so he and Jaxon Smith-Njigba are the viable receivers, Kenneth Walker the other player to consider. Tricky part is George Kittle (hamstring). I assume he's playing, but it's one of those where you will need to monitor the inactives just in case. Few have a comparable tight end alternative.
Kansas City at Bills: Game of the week. I saw somebody talking about the Bills hoping to get revenge by winning this one. Well, no, they've won the regular season meeting before. They get revenge by finally winning the playoff meeting. As for this one, you're using the main starters on both teams. Trickier at No. 2 wideout, with Worthy mercurial and it not really clear if Amari Cooper is playing or fully effective even if he does with the wrist injury. We're lower on Dawson Knox than most, I think. In general the feeling, as discussed in the text, is he won't be used the same way as a receiver, and while we're at it it's not like Dalton Kincaid has been tearing it up, the guy averages 3.4 catches for 36 yards and has scored twice. But TE is a rough position so I understand the interest.
Bengals at Chargers: This game was flexed in in place of Colts-Jets, thank heavens. Should be an entertaining Burrow-Herbert game, although the Chargers will want to run it. Tee Higgins is healthy and returns, knocking Mike Gesicki down the ranks. Starting running backs look good, and main Chargers wideouts viable against a bad Bengals D.
Texans at Cowboys: Not the best Monday game. Hopefully all the Cowboys cheerleaders and Jerry Jones rested up after the big fight night at AT&T stadium last night. Yes I watched it, eh, it was entertaining enough. I think if you're complaining too much about it you had unrealistic expectations in the first place. It was an entertainment personality against a 58-year-old, people shouldn't have been expecting a classic. Prefights were pretty good. Oh yeah, this football game. Rico Dowdle, CeeDee Lamb and Jake Ferguson are the Cowboys to be starting. For Houston I'll go Mixon-Nico-Stroud and maybe Dell. Hopefully we get some Trey Lance just for the curiosity factor.
Enjoy the games.