Jaguars RB Travis Etienne carried 22 times for 83 yards in Thursday night's soggy win over the Jets. He added 3 catches for 29 yards, the RB's largest receiving-yardage total since Week 5. JaMycal Hasty and Snoop Conner shared the other 5 RB rushing attempts. Hasty, though, matched Etienne's 3 targets, continuing to eat into the starter's receiving work. This marked the 3rd straight game of Etienne running a route on less than 60% of QB Trevor Lawrence's dropbacks, with the past 2 weeks coming in at 56%. Etienne hasn't sen more than 3 targets in a game since Week 7 (before the James Robinson trade). That shouldn't matter for next week's ceiling matchup with Houston. But it will hurt Etienne's fantasy floor and ceiling for a Week 18 rematch with the Titans. He went 17-32 rushing with 0 targets in their Week 14 meeting.
Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence delivered solid fantasy football numbers Thursday night, despite a difficult matchup with the Jets and rainy conditions. He went 20-of-31 passing (64.5%) for 229 yards, with no TDs or INTs. The big production came on the ground, though: 51 yards and the team's only TD. Lawrence gets a much weaker Houston defense in Week 17 and will likely remain inside the top 12 of our Week 17 fantasy football rankings. And if your league plays through Week 18, then Lawrence will finish with an even better matchup against the Titans. He hit them up for 368 yards and 3 TDs on the road in Week 14.
Jaguars TE Evan Engram racked up 113 yards on 7 catches in Thursday night's win over the Jets. His team-leading 8 targets constituted 25.8% of QB Trevor Lawrence's total attempts. Engram also accounted for 35% of the team's receptions and 49.3% of the receiving yards. No other Jaguar reached 30 yards on the night or exceeded 3 receptions. WR Christian Kirk caught 3 of 6 targets for 22 yards. WR Zay Jones managed just 1 reception for 14 yards on 4 targets. Jacksonville closes out the fantasy schedule (for most leagues) with a Week 17 visit to Houston. Although that matchup has favored rushing all season, it's not a scary spot for any members of the Jacksonville pass offense. For Engram's sake, the Texans matchup has also been much friendlier to TE scoring (7th best) than to WRs (28th).
Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs (illness) and LB Micah Parsons (illness) are questionable for Saturday's game against the Eagles. EDGE Dorance Armstrong (knee) is also questionable. LB Leighton Vander Esch (neck) is officially out, leaving rookie Damone Clark to start in his place.
Niners CB Charvarius Ward (concussion) is questionable for Saturday's game against the Commanders. We'll check his status that afternoon.
Commanders S Kamren Curl (ankle) is questionable for Saturday's game against the 49ers. We'll check his status that afternoon. CB Benjamin St-Juste (ankle) is also questionable.
The Bengals have ruled DE Sam Hubbard (calf) out for Saturday's game against the Patriots. EDGE Trey Hendrickson, however, will play after missing last week with a fractured left wrist. We'll see how effective he is with 1 good arm. Bengals CB Cam Taylor-Britt (shoulder) is questionable for the game.
Vikings LB Eric Kendricks (hip) is questionable for Saturday's game against the Giants. He finished the week with a full Thursday workout after limited practices the previous 2 days. So we'd bet on Kendricks playing but will confirm his status Saturday morning. CB Cameron Dantzler (ankle) is also questionable.
The Seahawks have ruled S Ryan Neal (knee) out for Saturday's game against the Chiefs.
Browns S John Johnson III (thigh) is questionable for Saturday's game against the Saints. Johnson played through the injury for a portion of last week's win over the Ravens, but he managed just 1 limited practice this week. We'll check his status Saturday morning. EDGE Jadeveon Clowney (concussion) is out for the game.
The Saints have ruled LB Pete Werner (hamstring) out for Saturday's game agains the Browns. His absence pushes Kaden Elliss back into the starting lineup, and you can find him in our Week 16 IDP rankings. The Saints also list S Marcus Maye (shoulder) and CB Marshon Lattimore (abdomen) as questionable.
Broncos WR Courtland Sutton (hamstring) practiced in a limited fashion on both Wednesday and Thursday this week. Sutton is seemingly on track to return from his hamstring injury for Sunday's game against the Rams. He led the Broncos with 7.6 targets per game across 7 outings with a healthy QB Russell Wilson and healthy WR Jerry Jeudy earlier this season. But Sutton still ranked just 41st among WRs in fantasy points per game in that span.
Broncos RB Latavius Murray (foot) did not practice on Thursday after logging limited participation the day before. We consider Murray an RB3/flex option in Week 16 vs. the Rams. As such, if you have safer options who play in Saturday games, you may want to pivot there. The schedule handed fantasy managers so many Saturday games this week that the waiting game may prove to be difficult on this front.
Packers RB Aaron Jones (knee) was a limited practice participant on both Wednesday and Thursday to open the week. With so many games on Saturday, it may be a challenge to wait and see with Jones. We consider Jones a top-10 back if he does suit up for Week 16 vs. the Dolphins. Weigh that risk/reward as you make your final roster decisions. Teammate A.J. Dillon has cleared the NFL's concussion protocol already and would stand to benefit greatly if Jones were to be absent on Sunday.
Dolphins RBs Raheem Mostert (NIR/rest) and Jeff Wilson Jr. (hip) logged limited participation at practice on Thursday. With so many games happening on Saturday this week, it'll be tough to gauge lineup decisions for these two. We're of the mindset that both guys seem likely to play. Unfortunately, the schedule makes it so fantasy managers will have to decide what to do sooner rather than later. Mostert and Wilson Jr. are RB3/flex options if they both play.
The Lions have ruled S DeShon Elliott (shoulder) out or Saturday's game against the Panthers. C.J. Moore should start in Elliott's place. He filled in when Elliott left last week's win over the Jets.
The Ravens have ruled DL Calais Campbell (knee) and CB Marcus Peters (calf) out for Saturday's game against the Falcons.
Jets QB Zach Wilson was benched in favor of QB Chris Streveler in the 3rd quarter of Thursday night's game vs. the Jaguars. Wilson completed just 9 of 18 passes for 92 yards, 0 TDs and 1 INT against a bad Jacksonville defense (albeit in less-than-ideal conditions). We'd be surprised if Wilson found his way back onto the field again this season. We'll see if QB Mike White can get cleared for Week 17. If not, Streveler and QB Joe Flacco are options.
Browns TE David Njoku (knee) is off the team's injury report after logging a full practice on Thursday. The weather in this game will be bad, but Njoku is still a low-end TE1 vs. the Saints in Week 16. He's tied for the team lead in targets (22) with QB Deshaun Watson under center. Even in inclement weather, TEs are usually decent short-area bets.
Commanders RB Antonio Gibson (foot) logs full practice on Thursday and doesn't carry an injury tag ahead of Saturday's Week 16 game vs. the 49ers. The 49ers' defense is a tough front to crack. Gibson is nothing more than an RB3/flex option this week. The same goes for teammate Brian Robinson.
Search
