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. If I don't answer your question, either I missed it (it happens) or the rankings are very clear.
Dolphins at Falcons: I made Atlanta my survivor pick, The lure of Bijan Robinson and their ground game at home against a Dolphins D that can't stop the run was too tempting. Atlanta's passing game kind of iffy so I think there's some risk (apparently Kirk Cousins might start), but life has few certainties. But betting against the Dolphins seems pretty good these days. For Miami, De'Von Achane should be very good, but that's about the only Dolphin I'd consider. Jaylen Waddle is the playing through one or two hamstring injuries, which seems risky, but he practiced fully on Friday so seems OK (I might opt for a similarly ranked player if I could). Had been interested in Tyler Allgeier, but he's on the injury report so will need to be confirmed he's active.
Bears at Ravens: Lamar Jackson returns, and yes I'd use him. The Ravens don't really have the luxury of waiting for him to be 100 percent. I like Derrick Henry a lot this week too. For Chicago, the Ravens D has been really bad so far. Should be a little healthier after the bye week and such, but I'd trust the rankings on their key players.
Bills at Panthers: The Bills have really struggled against the run and a bye didn't necessarily fix all that, they've still got some injuries in that regard. I notice we've got Rico Dowdle and Chuba Hubbard back to back in the rankings; I like Dowdle a little more. For Buffalo, it's uncertain whether Dalton Kincaid will be available; if he is, he's the Bills receiver I'd be interested in starting. Allen and Cook for sure. Andy Dalton at quarterback for Carolina, not necessarily a negative for Tetairoa McMillan.
Jets at Bengals: Breece Hall is the usable Jet. We don't know who's going to start at quarterback, if it's Justin Fields at least he won't be benched (because it would mean that Tyrod Taylor is hurt). Bengals offense, yes the key guys look good. New York's defense hasn't actually been godawful in most games, but nor is it one to shy away from -- I think if you have the key Bengals you're using them.
49ers at Texans: Injuries have really taken a toll on this game. San Francisco has barely anyone healthy. Neither do the Texans, with their best wideout (Nico Collins) out. Seems likely to be lower-scoring, I'm not really keen to invest in Houston's fill-in wideouts, but I guess some may have to. For San Fran, Kittle and Bourne look best after McCaffrey. Woody Marks should catch some passes and have some PPR value. Ugly game.
Browns at Patriots: Both teams want to run, both teams really good at stopping it. If I had Quinshon Judkins anywhere I'd probably cross my fingers and use him, the guy scored 3 TDs last week. But that won't be happening here, you're just hoping for 60-70 yards and a touchdown. I give up on Cleveland receivers, maybe Fannin. For New England it's Maye, Diggs and Henry.
Giants at Eagles: I called the initial meeting between these teams so wrong that whatever I say here take with a grain of salt. But with A.J. Brown out, gotta recommend DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert. Barkley against his former team, Jalen Hurts. For the Giants, Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo have proven to be solid choices, also Wan'Dale Robinson (I'll pass on Darius Slayton, but ranked well enough to use if necessary). Theo Johnson too.
Bucs at Saints: I have to use Spencer Rattler somewhere, bye week issues. Hopefully he plays throughout and the Bucs pass defense plays to form. For Tampa Bay, it's Egbuka and Rachaad White and Cade Otton and Baker Mayfield getting the nice matchup. Alvin Kamara and Chris Olave are the best Saints to be using. Rashid Shaheed and Juwan Johnson the other options, Bucs tend to give up production through the air. If you're a Taysom Hill guy, go ahead, I won't be recommending him or anything, but a short touchdown is always in the realm of possibility. As is zero points.
Cowboys at Broncos: Not a lot to say about this one. There should be yards and points from players on both sides. If you're not starting guys against Dallas you haven't been paying attention, but granted there are no guarantees as to whether Marvin Mims, Troy Franklin or Evan Engram will be Denver's 2nd- or 4th-best pass catcher. CeeDee Lamb will see a lot of Patrick Surtain of course, but I'll be taking my chances. Javonte Williams against his old team, hopefully we won't get an idiotic Twitter battle between him and the head coach or anything. For you young uns, Twitter is referred to by some as X, just as Prince was briefly referred to as some goofy-looking shape back in the day.
Titans at Colts: Indianapolis would also be a great Survivor pick had I not already used them. Their offense is playing great, and their defense should have little trouble shutting down the Titans' anemic "attack." And Tennessee can't stop the run while the Colts have the league's best running back right now. Or one of the top 2, respect to Bijan. But Taylor is damn awesome, wish I'd drafted him somewhere, draft position never worked out for me to have a pick in the mid- to late-second to take him. I'm sure there are Bijan-Taylor teams somewhere, they're having fun so far.
Packers at Steelers: Aaron Rodgers says this isn't a revenge game for him. I believe that, actually, but everyone wants to play well against the team that decided to replace them. So while it's not a revenge game, it ain't just another team for him either. Not that anything much changes, he's looking to pass the ball around the goal line anyway, and his running back is a mediocre third-down type, so I like Rodgers to have a good game. Also the Packers offense, with Pittsburgh's defense being up and down. Pretty good game I think. Metcalf, Kraft, Doubs and Golden, although there's an injury issue there. If you're in a league with Team TEs, Pittsburgh is a nice choice.
Commanders at Kansas City: Jayden Daniels is out, but supposedly has a "real chance" to return next week. I hate reports like that, just say might play and call it good. A real chance is so unnecessarily formal and profound, we understand there's no such thing as a fake chance, the modifier is just silly. Whatever. Kansas City's offense looks pretty good. Washington gets both of its starting wide receivers back, too bad the matchup is poor and the quarterback is Mariota. Where these guys are ranked, I don't think anyone will be filling lineups with Commanders.
Enjoy the games.