NFL Player News

Pollard did not practice this week as he deals with an ankle injury he suffered a couple of weeks ago. He played through the same injury in Week 15, rushing 17 times for 45 yards. Fantasy managers can expect Pollard to still lead the Titans backfield in carries, but Tyjae Spears will see increased involvement, especially in the passing game after a six-catch, 87-yard outing in Week 15. Pollard is in the low-end RB2 mix while Spears has some standalone FLEX value for Week 16 against the Colts.

Pollard entered the game active despite not practicing all week due to an ankle injury. It was the second straight week he played through the ankle injury and he ceded passing-down snaps to Tyjae Spears in comeback mode once again. Pollard had a pass bounce of his hands for an interception while he also did not get any of the team’s goal-line carries. He was banged-up on a Mason Rudolph hospital ball late in the game and will enter Week 17 limping into a meaningless game against the Jaguars. Pollard is no longer in workhorse territory with his ankle injury, but game script has a better chance of going his way against a middling Jaguars defense next week. Consider him a back-end fantasy RB2 for Week 17.

It was a run-of-the-mill destruction of an inferior team for Goff and the Lions. The veteran passer averaged over 10 yards per attempt for the fifth time this year and scored on nearly 10 percent of his dropbacks. The highlight of the day was a trick play toss to Sam LaPorta for a 21-yard score. Goff pretended to drop the snap and stumbled around, selling the appearance of him trying to gather a loose ball. Jahmyr Gibbs even got in on the action and dove near the not loose ball. After the fake was sold, Goff stood up and hit LaPorta in the back of the end zone. Goff has multiple scores in five of his past six games and is showing no signs of slowing. He will remain in the QB1 mix for his Week 17 matchup with San Francisco.

Brown showed no ill effects from the knee injury that caused him to miss practice time last week. He was targeted relentlessly by. Jalen Hurts and Kenny Pickett, who took over at QB after Hurts left the game in the first quarter with a brain injury. It could have been a much bigger stat line for the dominant Brown: He had 70 yards on pass interference penalties, mostly in the third quarter on downfield shots from Pickett. There will be more pass attempts to go around for Brown and DeVonta Smith if Pickett is forced to start for the Eagles next week against the Cowboys. That makes Brown a potential top-three option for fantasy championship week.

This if the warning fantasy managers who were hoping to start Jerry Jeudy and/or Elijah Moore needed to hear. Stefanski said DTR tweaked his calf in the first quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Bengals, but the fact he was able to finish out the game suggests this is a very minor injury. Fantasy managers banking viable weeks from David Njoku and Jerome Ford should get them with DTR under center, but Browns receivers caught a combined four passes for 41 yards in Sunday’s loss to the Bengals, making Moore and Jeudy nearly impossible to trust during fantasy championship week.

Reynolds was one of a few options to be the Lions’ next man up with David Montgomery out. Week 16’s split of the backup duties didn’t give us much clarity. Reynold’s four attempts led the group, but Jermar Jefferson ran three times and Sione Vaki caught two passes, pacing the trio in all receiving categories. The answer here is Jahmyr Gibbs and no one else. Fantasy managers can cut ties with Reynolds heading into Week 17.

Sermon came in to spell Jonathan Taylor after a historic day. He and Tyler Goodson split carries, with Goodson getting four carries for 22 yards in the second half. Taylor came back in to finish the game, but Sermon and Goodson contributed to a 335-yard Colts rushing day. Both are handcuffs, but do not have fantasy relevance unless Taylor gets hurt.

This one had a little bit of everything, though that thankfully did not include a Young turnover. It did include a dropped Adam Thielen touchdown, a mistake for which the wideout atoned a few quarters later. Today was by far the best rushing performance of Young’s career, as his 23-yard scoring rumble wasn’t even his longest ground gain. That would be his 34-yard scamper to get the Panthers into the red zone three plays prior. Young continues to be graded on a curve — he hardly lit the world ablaze this afternoon — but he did continue to make plays, something that almost never happened until about six weeks ago. The next step will be stacking them and actually spiking a week. Today did come awfully close. The Bucs are a plus Week 17 matchup.

Coming off three touchdowns in his past two games, Week 16 was a heat check for Patrick that he failed in dramatic fashion for fantasy managers. He was held without a catch for the first time since Week 10. With Amon-Ra St. Brown, Sam LaPorta, and Jameson Williams all seeing at least seven targets and scoring, there simply wasn’t room in the game plan for a part-time No. 3 receiver to see the ball. Better days are ahead for Patrick, but any notion of a floor for the veteran wideout was nixed with today’s doughnut. He is a touchdown-or-bust WR5 for Week 17 against the 49ers.

Robinson lost not one, but two fumbles on the day and was phased out of the Washington offense in the team’s furious second half comeback. Robinson was his usual plodding self early on, doing almost nothing after first contact and committing two of the Commanders’ five turnovers on the day. He ran a route on 22 of Washington’s 48 drop backs. Chris Rodriguez had three carries while Jeremy McNichols saw two rushing attempts. Robinson, who had 38 rushes in two games before Week 16, should be a solid RB2 play next week against Atlanta.

Mitchell was targeted just once in the Colts’ Week 16 win. He made his sole target count, making a sideline grab for a 36-yard gain. Mitchell remains a big play target for the Colts, but those big plays hit less often in a low volume passing attack. Mitchell is a boom-or-bust WR6 for Week 17 against the Giants.