Hello and welcome to the Week 4 Sunday AM Update. What is this article? Mostly it’s a follow-up to yesterday’s big DFS piece – Scott Barrett’s Week 4 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
- KC/NE is no longer available on the Main Slate. Per Adam Schefter, "Patriots-Chiefs will kick off at 7:05 ET with full telecast on Monday night on CBS; Falcons-Packers kicks off at 8:50 et, per source." - Bengals RB Joe Mixon has been added to the injury report (chest) and is now questionable but expected to play Sunday against the Jaguars. What does this mean? Mixon was firmly in play alongside all of the other value RBs from within his price tier (Darrell Henderson, Kenyan Drake, Mike Davis, Ronald Jones), but with this injury he’s now probably behind all of those guys. If he sits out, Giovani Bernard becomes a borderline must-play. Since 2017, Bernard averages 19.4 FPG when Mixon sits out, playing on nearly every snap. Over the past two seasons, no other Bengals RB has touched the ball even once. When Joe Mixon got knocked out of the game on the first drive of the 3rd Quarter in Week 1 of last season, Bernard played on all 36 of the team’s remaining 36 offensive snaps. - Indianapolis Colts @ Chicago Bears moves from 1:00PM EST to 4:25PM. This is notable for late swapping and for those who play the Early Only DFS Slate. - Cardinals CB Dre Kirkpatrick was a true GTD but will play. He plays Right CB for Arizona. D.J. Moore runs ~45% of his routes from that side of the field. Robby Anderson ~32%. - Cowboys LT La’el Collins will have surgery to address a hip injury and will miss this week’s game against the Browns. - Washington WR Terry McLaurin (thigh)iWILL PLAY. WR Steven Sims is OUT. - Cardinals WRs DeAndre Hopkins and Christian Kirk are WILL PLAY. - Seahawks RB Chris Carson (ankle) WILL PLAY Sunday against the Jaguars. He’ll go underowned but there are better DFS plays this week. - Colts TE Trey Burton has been activated from the Injured Reserve. Wes Huber was high on Mo Alie-Cox this week. Per Zack Keefer (The Athletic): “Even with Doyle back, and Trey Burton possibly returning today, Colts have made it clear: they're still going to keep featuring Big Mo. Too much of a threat not to.”
- Bills RB Zack Moss is Questionable but EXPECTED TO PLAY.
- Browns RB Kareem Hunt is Questionable but WILL PLAY.
- Jaguars WR D.J. Chark WILL PLAY. - Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin is OUT. - Rams RB Cam Akers is OUT. - Saints TE Jared Cook is OUT, WR Michael Thomas is OUT. - Raiders WR Henry Ruggs is DOUBTFUL, WR Bryan Edwards is OUT.
- Chargers WR Mike Williams is OUT.
- Colts WR Michael Pittman is OUT. - QB Cam Newton has tested positive for COVID-19. He’ll sit out this week, and be replaced by QB Jarrett Stidham. All New England receivers and RBs should see a bump in volume, though overall scoring potential declines on the whole. (Not on Main Slate.)
- 49ers WR Deebo Samuel and TE George Kittle will play Sunday night against the Eagles. QB Jimmy Garoppolo is OUT. (Not on Main Slate.)
- Falcons WRs Julio Jones (hamstring) and Calvin Ridley (ankle) are listed as Questionable for Monday Night’s game against Green Bay. WR Russell Gage (concussion) is expected to play. (Not on Main Slate.)
Chalk
- According to our Ownership Projections, powered by FanShare, the highest-owned players are likely to be:
DraftKings
1. Alvin Kamara (35%) 2. Ezekiel Elliott (25%) 3. DeVante Parker (22%)
4. Tyler Lockett (21%) 5. Mike Davis (21%)
FanDuel
1. Alvin Kamara (40%) 2. Ezekiel Elliott (30%) 3. D.K. Metcalf (26%) 4. Darren Waller (21%) 5. Dalvin Cook (21%)
Cash Core (DK/FD)
QB: Ryan Fitzpatrick (DK), Matthew Stafford (FD), Deshaun Watson (FD)
RB: Alvin Kamara, Ezekiel Elliott, Darrell Henderson, Kenyan Drake, Mike Davis, Ronald Jones, Giovani Bernard (if Joe Mixon sits)
WR: Kenny Golladay (DK), D.K. Metcalf (FD), DeVante Parker, D.J. Moore (DK), Keenan Allen, Mike Evans (DK)
TE: Darren Waller, T.J. Hockenson (FD), Adam Trautman (DK), Dalton Schultz (FD)
DEF: Texans (DK), Cowboys (FD), Tampa Bay (DK), Baltimore (FD)
