Hello and welcome to the Week 14 Update. What is this article? Mostly it’s a follow-up to yesterday’s big DFS piece – Scott Barrett’s Week 14 DFS Breakdown. But this article should also offer some utility for redraft and dynasty players.
Each week I’ll be breaking down the key injuries, news, and notes from Saturday / Sunday and will be updating this article up until kickoff (1PM EST). And I’ll also be providing a sort of TL;DR to yesterday’s big DFS article. Who are my core cash game plays? You can find that at the end of the article.
Key News, Injury Updates, & Notes
Sunday Morning Update
- BREAKING: Texans WR Brandin Cooks is a surprise scratch. This is a massive upgrade to Keke Coutee and Chad Hansen. This is obviously a big downgrade to Deshaun Watson.
- BREAKING: Buccaneers RB Leonard Fournette is a surprise scratch. RB Ronald Jones is a phenomenal play on both sites, and a borderline must-play on FanDuel.
Leonard Fournette missed Week 4 and 6, only played 1 snap in Week 5.
In those three games, Ronald Jones handled 26, 20, and 25 touches and had over 120 scrimmage yards in all three. Also handled 6-of-8 red-zone carries.
— Graham Barfield (@GrahamBarfield) December 13, 2020
- BREAKING: Per Giants beat writer Jordan Raanan who is excellent: “Don’t be surprised to see some of Colt McCoy, even though Daniel Jones is playing.”
- BREAKING: Per Jets beat writer Rich Cmini who is also very good: Jamison Crowder is likely OUT but could dress in an emergency capacity. Frank Gore is LIKELY TO PLAY.”
- BREAKING: Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey is OUT.
- BREAKING: Cardinals WR Andy Isabella is OUT.
- BREAKING: Bears WR Darnell Mooney WILL PLAY.
Saturday Night Update
- BREAKING: Raiders RB Josh Jacobs is EXPECTED TO PLAY
- BREAKING: Vikings TE Kyle Rudolph is NOT EXPECTED TO PLAY. TE Irv Smith is EXPECTED TO PLAY.
- BREAKING: Texans WRs Brandin Cooks and Keke Coutee are EXPECTED TO PLAY.
- BREAKING: Bengals WR Tee Higgins is EXPECTED TO PLAY.
- BREAKING: Lions QB Matthew Stafford is EXPECTED TO PLAY. RB D’Andre Swift is EXPECTED TO PLAY.
- BREAKING: Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott is EXPECTED TO PLAY.
Saturday Update
- Falcons WR Julio Jones is out. It’s worth downgrading WR Matt Ryan and bumping WR Calvin Ridley slightly. Though Ridley is actually less productive this year in games Jones played on fewer than 40% of the team’s snaps. WR Brandon Powell is viable as a punt. WR Russell Gage has a bottom-tier matchup against Chris Harris Jr. in the slot.
- Panthers WR DJ Moore is out.
- Lions WR Kenny Golladay is out.
- Texans RB David Johnson is out.
- Dolphins RB Myles Gaskin is out. So are RBs Salvon Ahmed and Matt Breida. Gaskin is also expected to miss Week 15 (he’s COVID positive). At just $4,000 on DraftKings, DeAndre Washington is a solid value. He’s in play, and will be owned, but I don’t think he’s a must-play by any stretch. He’s probably a bit better than some of the punt-WRs we were considering though. It’s possible that they try him out in the Gaskin-role or the Week 10-11 Ahmed role. But it’s, I think, even more likely that RB Patrick Laird, RB Elijah McGuire, and maybe even WR Lynn Bowden will be able to steal some work. In Week 12 (with Ahmed and Gaskin out) Washington played on 48% of the snaps, earning 52% of the carries and 26% of the routes out of the backfield. The lack of passing-down work is concerning given Kansas City is favored by 7.5.
- Jets WR Denzel Mims is out. WR Jamison Crowder is questionable after failing to practice on Friday.
- Washington RB Antonio Gibson is out.
- Vikings RB Alexander Mattison is out.
- Packers TE Jace Sternberger is out. TE Robert Tonyan didn’t see a massive snap boost because of his injury last week, but he’s a solid play with good odds to score a touchdown.
- Giants QB Daniel Jones is expected to start on Sunday. I didn’t mention Evan Engram yesterday, but this news certainly makes him a more appealing option. It’s feeling coin-flippish between him, Henry, and Tonyan within that pricing tier.
- Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey is doubtful.
- Vikings TE Kyle Rudolph is doubtful. TE Irv Smith Jr. is questionable.
- Seahawks RB Travis Homer is doubtful.
- Raiders RB Josh Jacobs is questionable but expected to play. RB Devontae Booker would be somewhat intriguing on FanDuel if he sits out.
- Cardinals RB Kenyan Drake is questionable with a hip injury. He practiced in a limited capacity Thursday and Friday.
- Jaguars TE Tyler Eifert is questionable. James O’Shaughnessy is viable as a punt if he’s out.
- Bengals WR Tee Higgins is questionable with a hamstring injury. He practiced all week but only in a limited capacity.
- Chargers RB Justin Jackson will play. RB Troymaine Pope is questionable. I’m not sure if this does anything to Austin Ekeler. Maybe a very slight downgrade with Jackson back.
- Lions RB D’Andre Swift is questionable. He’s a great low-owned (4%) tournament option if he manages to suit up. It’s a terrific matchup, but he’s very risky. There’s a good chance they ease him into playing time due to whatever it is that’s ailing him. (It’s unclear whether it’s an illness or related to the Week 10 concussion. This quote from Adrian Peterson is worrisome, though it’s also 10 days old.) RBs Peterson and Kerryon Johnson aren’t really in play if he sits out.
- Texans WRs Brandin Cooks and Keke Coutee are questionable. Coutee (knee) got in a full practice on Friday. Cooks (foot/neck) practiced all week but only in a limited capacity.
- Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott is questionable. He practiced all week (calf) but only in a limited capacity.
- Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins is questionable. He only got in a limited practice on Friday after missing Wednesday and Thursday.
- Jets RB Frank Gore is questionable.
Things I Think
I think maybe I might be way too high on Jalen Hurts. I liked him because he’s cheap and there’s a lot of expensive players at other positions who are attractive to me, and due to the Konami Code -- even if he’s Tim Tebow, 2020 Cam Newton, or Taysom Hill he’s still a strong value. But apparently he’s going to be 2% owned in tournaments, and everyone else I’ve talked to (including JM on our Saturday podcast) isn’t on him.
I think WR punts are hard just because there’s so many names to pick from. I still haven’t really settled on anyone who jumps out outside of Breshad Perriman, Braxton Berrios (if Jamison Crowder sits), and Michael Gallup.
I think this is a great week for MME and a great week for a stars and scrubs approach with lineups. I think there’s a lot of value at the top. A lot of potential slate-busters.
I think this isn’t a week to worry too much about trying intentionally to be contrarian. There’s a lot of plays we like who are going to go underowned.
Cash Core (DK/FD)
QB: Jalen Hurts, Aaron Rodgers (DK), Patrick Mahomes (FD), Justin Herbert (DK)
RB: David Montgomery, Derrick Henry, JD McKissic (DK), Ronald Jones, James Robinson (FD), Austin Ekeler, DeAndre Washington
WR: Davante Adams, Tyreek Hill, Brandon Aiyuk, Allen Robinson (FD), Keke Coutee (FD), Breshad Perriman (DK), Marvin Jones (FD), Robby Anderson (FD), Curtis Samuel (DK), Braxton Berrios (DK), Michael Gallup (DK), Corey Davis (DK), Adam Thielen / Justin Jefferson, Other Punts
TE: Travis Kelce, Logan Thomas (DK)
DEF: CIN (DK), CAR (FD), ATL, DAL, NYJ
