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Week 2 Picks, Injury news around the NFL, plus what is going on in the Waivers
Week 2 is underway with Joe Burrow's Bengals facing off against Baker Mayfield's Browns. It is not the most exciting matchup for a Thursday night, but alas, its football. Knock on wood if you're with me.
Photo: 247 Sports
Injury Bug strikes
With a shortened summer training and somewhat rushed preseason preparation, injuries were going to be inevitable. Running Backs took a big beating this past week. Jet's Leveon Bell has landed himself on the IR with a hamstring injury. Frank Gore is slotted as the primary back, but there is no way the Jets heavily rely on the 37-year-old against the 49ers defense. Josh Adams and Kalen Ballage could see plenty of reps in the backfield.
Eagle's last season rushing leader, Miles Sanders, is slated to return this week from a hamstring injury. The O-Line had a hard time against Washington, allowing 8 sacks. They now are going to face Aaron Donald which is going to be tough. Boston Scott had a mere 35 yards last week, so plan to play Sanders as a Flex at best.
Steelers James Conner suffered a knee injury, which allowed Benny Snell Jr. to finish with a nice game on Monday. Conner has been updated to active after practicing today, but it is safe to say he will have a more limited workload.
Going to the Wide Receivers, a big blow for fantasy owners and the Saints, as the league leader in receiving yards last season, Michael Thomas will miss "several weeks" with a high ankle injury. New Orleans will lean on Emmanuel Sanders, Alvin Kamara, and Tight End Jared Cook to fill this void, with the inclusion of other offensive weapons. This includes receivers Tre'Quan Smith, Deonte Harris, and Bennie Fowler. Running Backs Latavius Murray and Ty Montgomery. Plus Swiss-Army knife, Taysom Hill.
Kenny Golladay missed his third straight practice with a tweaked hamstring. Coach Patricia would not like to rush him back, so it is safe to say he will be ruled out.
Buc's duo Mike Evans (hamstring) and Chris Godwin (concussion) are both slated to play this week. Both players will be played with caution, as it would be a huge blow to lose them for an extended time. Wide Reciever Scotty Miller, Tight End's Rob Gronkowski and O.J. Howard, and pass-catching back LeSean McCoy are all players who can pick up the load if we see limited playing time from Evans and Godwin.
Brown's Jarvis Landry (hip), Dolphin's DeVante Parker (hamstring), and Broncos Courtland Sutton (shoulder) all remained limited this week in practice. Landry is set to suit up for the Thursday night matchup but will most likely see limited action. Both Parker and Sutton seem to be sitting out, so play their questionable status as a doubtful.
Over to Tight Ends, George Kittle has a banged-up knee and his status is unknown. He missed practice all this week, but Coach Kyle Shanahan stated that he could miss all week and still play Sunday. Not sure if the 49ers will rush him back to face the Jets, so it really is a toss-up until Sunday morning. Kittle's direct replacement is Jordan Reed, who likely can still be somewhat productive when healthy. If Kittle is out, tons of lineups will be distraught, so let's hope he can take the field.
The Colts already has a thin Tight End department with the departure of Eric Ebron. Jack Doyle didn't practice with a knee and ankle injury and Trey Burton is still out with a calf injury. Mo Alex-Collins and Noah Togiagi could be sleeper picks if you are in a crunch.
The Rams love a two Tight End set. Geral Everett sustained a back injury and missed practice, and Tyler Higbee only had 1 catch for 7 yards. A name to keep an eye out for is Johnny Mundt.
Photo: Niners Nation
Waiver Wire Watch Party
We saw a decent amount of activity after week 1 in terms of the waiver wire.
Mastrianni dropped Phillip Lindsay from his squad. The undrafted star and former Pro-Bowler is dealing with some turf toe. With the addition of Melvin Gordon, expect Lindsay to be a flex option at best in most weeks. Mastrianni then added Malcolm Brown from the Rams and James Robinson of the Jaguars. Brown had quite the week 1, with 2 TDs and nearly 80 yards rushing. Robinson was ontop of Jacksonville's depth chart, rushing for 16 attempts and 62 yards, while also catching a 28-yard pass from Minshew. Expect both to have continued production.
Tondo swapped receivers, dropping injury-prone slot Golden Tate, for new Panthers wideout Robby Anderson. The former Jet tallied 115 yards and a TD on his new team. He showed immediate chemistry with Teddy Bridgewater and will remain a solid option in the Panthers offense alongside CMC and D.J. Moore.
Zimmer made a similar move in swapping Running Backs. With Malcolm Brown and Cam Akers sitting on top of the pecking order in Los Angeles, Darrell Henderson Jr. becomes the odd man out. Jake dropped him and picked up Nyheim Hines of the Indianapolis Colts. With Marlon Mack out for the season, you can see Hines's workload to increase. Phillip Rivers targeted his backs about 37% of the time during week 1. This resulted in 8 catches for 45 yards and a 1 TD for Nyheim Hines in addition to his 28 yards rushing and a TD.
Ford hopped on the opportunity to grab Tight End Dallas Goedert of the Eagles. With teams focusing on Zach Ertz, Goedert has another opportunity to produce a big game. He caught 8 passes for over 100 yards and scored a touchdown as well. To make room for the TE, Ford released Texan's Wide Reciever, Randall Cobb. He had a tough time against the Chiefs defense and his job won't get any easier this week against the Ravens.
Photo: Rotoballer.com
Matchups
The ESPN predictions have this week a toss-up across the board. All of the matchups are projected to come down to at most 5 points. Tondo is playing Mastrianni, Ben get his first game against Ford, Boston Beers faces Hanold, and Zimmer is playing Basel. James Mas gets the bye for the week.
Week 2 Selections
The Chiefs, Ravens, Saints, Bills, 49ers, Packers, Bills, and 49ers are favorites across the board. In a perfect world, all of these teams will win. It's 2020, so you have to expect an upset somewhere.
Keep an eye out for more Fantasy Football content, coming your way in the coming weeks. We'll have full team recaps plus gambling picks from our crew of bloggers. As for now, enjoy your week. Let's see if Joe Burrow can cop a dub in his Thursday Night Football debut. #GeuaxFootball
Gif: Tenor.com