Patriots TE Hunter Henry (knee) is expected to play vs. the Dolphins, ESPN's Dan Graziano reports. Henry was limited in practice all week and is listed as questionable. Miami ranks 29th in adjusted fantasy points allowed to TEs, and New England will be without TE Jonnu Smith (concussion). But the knee issue adds enough risk to keep Henry out of TE1 consideration.
Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson (ankle) is expected to play vs. the Dolphins, according to ESPN's Dan Graziano. Stevenson has been playing through this injury for a few weeks now. The bigger concern for his Week 17 fantasy outlook is the return of RB Damien Harris. See where Stevenson sits in the Week 17 RB Rankings.
ESPN's Adam Schefter confirms that Rams TE Tyler Higbee (elbow) will play vs. the Chargers. Higbee only got in limited practices on Thursday and Friday, but there never seemed to be much doubt about his availability for this one.
Packers WR Christian Watson (hip) "will test his injury pre-game to see if he can play vs. the Vikings," ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. Watson only got in a limited practice on Friday this week and "didn’t take any live repetitions," according to Schefter. Watson will obviously carry elevated risk if he ends up giving it a go. We'll get Green Bay's inactives around 3 pm ET on Sunday.
Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence (toe) is expected to play Sunday against the Texans. He's officially questionable but has been listed that way every game since suffering the injury at Detroit in Week 13 and has played through it every week. HC Doug Pederson said earlier this week that he planned to play this like any other game, despite Jacksonville's Week 18 rematch with the Titans carrying greater playoff implications. Lawrence remains high in our Week 17 fantasy football rankings.
The Giants are activating S Xavier McKinney from IR ahead of Sunday's game against the Colts, and he's expected to play, according to ESPN's Jordan Raanan. That's a shift vs. Friday, when HC Brian Daboll said he didn't expect McKinney to return. The safety has been out since suffering a hand injury in a 4-weeler accident during the team's Week 9 bye. We'll watch for further word on McKinney's role against Indy, but we've already added him to the Week 17 IDP rankings for a high-upside matchup.
Commanders RB Jaret Patterson has been elevated from the practice squad for Sunday's game vs. the Browns. He'll join Brian Robinson and Jonathan Williams in the Antonio Gibson-less backfield. Robinson should dominate the ball-carrying work but is likely to lose passing-down snaps to Williams and potentially Patterson.
The Cardinals have downgraded WR DeAndre Hopkins (knee) to out for Sunday’s game against the Falcons. That boosts the target outlooks for WRs Marquise Brown and Greg Dortch, though all Cardinals will be catching passes from QB David Blough. There’s PPR upside to the 2 wideouts, but this isn’t an offense to get overly excited about
The Colts have placed EDGE Yannick Ngakoue on IR. He popped up on the injury report Friday with a throat issue that we haven't seen details for. He'll obviously miss the final 2 games now. Indy should remain in solid shape at the edge spots, with Kwity Paye and Dayo Odeyingbo as the starters. Both sit among our top 20 D-linemen in the Week 17 IDP rankings.
Broncos TE Greg Dulcich (hamstring) has been placed on IR. He'd already been ruled out for Sunday's game vs. the Chiefs and will now also miss the finale. Dulcich dealt with a few different injuries this year but flashed when healthy, finishing with a 33-411-2 line in 10 games. He currently ranks 18th in Pro Football Focus receiving grade and 21st in yards per route run among 39 TEs with 30+ targets. We're not optimistic about QB Russell Wilson's chances of bouncing back in 2023, but Dulcich will be worth considering as a TE2 in early 2023 fantasy football drafts.
Rams TE Tyler Higbee (elbow) is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game vs. the Chargers. He got in limited practices on Thursday and Friday and is expected to play, according to HC Sean McVay. Higbee is coming off a huge 9-94-2 line on Christmas, putting him back on the fantasy radar. Just remember that he totaled 6 catches on 8 targets for 38 yards in QB Baker Mayfield’s first 2 games.
Colts TE Kylen Granson (ankle) is out for Sunday's game vs. the Giants. That should again mean an increased role for TE Jelani Woods, who's registered 71% and 62% route rates and 8-98 and 3-43 receiving lines in the last 2 games Granson missed. The rookie would be a flier in season-long leagues but is an intriguing DFS tournament play.
Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa (concussion) didn't practice all week and is out for Sunday's game vs. the Patriots. No surprise there considering the multiple concussions Tagovailoa has sustained this year. QB Teddy Bridgewater will make his first start of the season in New England. He's averaged a big 8.7 yards on 60 attempts in spot duty and should at least be able to support WRs Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle as fantasy starters.
Bengals TE Hayden Hurst (calf) Hurst was a full-go in Thursday's practice. This news puts him on track to return from his calf injury for Monday night's game vs. the Bills. While the game figures to be a high-scoring affair, Hurst's individual matchup is tough against the 2nd-ranked TE defense.
Bills TE Dawson Knox (hip) practiced in a limited fashion for the 2nd-straight day. With this game coming on Monday night, we won't have an idea about Knox's status for a couple of days, potentially. We'll keep an eye on his status tomorrow. Knox has averaged 6.7 targets on a 21.5% share over the last 3 games. The Bengals rank 9th in adjusted fantasy points allowed to TEs, but Knox is in the low-end TE1 discussion in what should be a high-scoring game.
Bills WR Stefon Diggs (illness) returned to practice on Friday after being absent the day before. It looks like the star wideout is feeling better. Diggs is a no-doubt WR1 option despite last week's disappointing effort. If you've made it this far, start Diggs in Week 17.
Steelers WR Diontae Johnson (toe) practiced fully again on Friday. It's expected he'll be ready to go for Sunday night vs. the Ravens in Week 17. Consider Johnson a WR3/flex option this week. He's been frustrating all season and has yet to find the end zone, but the target volume will assuredly be there for Johnson. His 130 targets rank 7th among all WRs in 2022.
Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett (finger) practiced fully on Friday and is officially listed as questionable for Week 17 vs. the Jets. Teammate WR Marquise Goodwin (shoulder, wrist) is listed as doubtful. ESPN's Brady Henderson reports that Lockett is expected to play. The Jets' secondary presents the toughest matchup for opposing WRs in adjusted fantasy points allowed in 2022. That said, Lockett ranked 16th among WRs in targets through Week 15 prior to getting hurt. We consider Lockett a risk/reward WR3 considering the injury and matchup.
49ers Deebo Samuel (ankle, knee) has been ruled out for Week 17 vs. the Raiders. HC Kyle Shanahan had hoped to get the crafty wideout back before too long, but it looks like they'll have to wait another week. This effectively ends Samuel's 2022 fantasy season unless you're a manager who plays into Week 18.
49ers RB Christian McCaffrey (knee) practiced in full on Friday and doesn't have an injury tag in advance of Week 17 vs. the Raiders. Teammate RB Jordan Mason (hamstring) also fully practiced and will be ready for Sunday. Fire up McCaffrey as an RB1 stud per usual.
Search
