Fantasy Football News and Notes 10-30-13
News and Notes from Wednesday Night's "Red Zone" Radio Program
Fantasy News and Notes 10-30-13:
BYE WEEKS: Arizona, Denver, Detroit, Jacksonville, NY Giants, San Francisco
Quarterbacks
Nick Foles has passed all of his concussion tests and will start week 9 for Philadelphia. Michael Vick is OUT with a hamstring injury and probably will miss a couple of weeks.
As expected, Robert Griffin III was able to practice today. He'll be fine for week 9 despite having had a minor knee scare in week 8.
Buffalo's Thaddeus Lewis missed practice today because of a ribs injury he suffered in week 8. Lewis is uncertain to be able to play week 9. Jeff Tuel and Matt Flynn split up first team reps today and it's believed that Tuel would start if Lewis can't go. At least Buffalo got some good news. E.J. Manuel took part in some drills today. That's the first time he has practiced since suffering his knee injury a few weeks ago. Manuel is not expected to return to game action though until either week 11 or week 13. Buffalo has the bye in week 12.
No update yet on who the Vikings are going to start this week. It may be Christian Ponder; it may be Josh Freeman. No matter who it is, they're likely to stink and you shouldn't be considering him.
Running Backs
Arian Foster was listed as practicing in limited fashion today despite his hamstring injury. It's too early to tell if he'll be able to play through it or not week 9. Teammate Ben Tate was also able to practice and if Foster doesn't play, Tate likely will start in his place. Tate has cracked ribs, but would wear extra padding and possibly a vest to help protect the ribs. That said, I'd also expect he would be limited and share time with Ray Graham and Deji Karim.
Zac Stacy was listed as limited in practice today, but reports say he was very limited in what he could do because of his ankle injury. His status for week 9 is very uncertain. Those with the luxury of having the bench space can consider acquiring Daryl Richardson for the insurance as Richardson will start if Stacy can't play.
As expected, Jamaal Charles sat out practice today to rest up the minor knee injury he sustained week 8. Charles is expected to be return to practice no later than Friday and be fine for week 9.
Marshawn Lynch sat out practice today with a listed knee issue. Lynch is expected to be fine for week 9 though and this was probably just a day of rest.
C.J. Spiller was able to practice in limited fashion today. Spiller didn't practice at all last week and sat out week 8 with his ankle injury so this is a positive sign, but I'm still dubious about his chances of playing this week. I think it would do both Spiller and the Bills a lot more good if they allowed him to get healthy as he has been clearly hobbled by it in games. Fred Jackson didn't practice today, but it's believed to be just a day for him to rest up the knee injury he's been playing through. Jackson is still expected to start and be okay for week 9.
DeAngelo Williams was held out of practice today. DW suffered a quad injury week 8 and while it's not thought to be serious, if he doesn't practice by Friday, I'll be concerned about him potentially missing this week. On the good news front for the Panthers, Jonathan Stewart took part in practice again today and he has said he expects to be ready to play this Sunday. Barring any setbacks, Carolina likely will activate him from the PUP list by Friday afternoon. It's likely he'll be limited some in his first game action and as long as Williams isn't more hurt than currently believed Stewart has little fantasy value right away. We could see a lot more of Mike Tolbert this week than Stewart if Williams can't play.
DeMarco Murray put in a full practice today and it's looking likely he will be okay for week 9. It's a great matchup for him and if he's really close to 100% he could have a big game. His expected return pushes Joseph Randle back to the bench.
Steven Jackson isn't on the Falcons practice report injury lists and hopefully this is a sign he's over his hamstring and quad injuries and will perform better than he did in week 8.
Mark Ingram practiced in full today. He could be soon to returning for the Saints. All his return would really do is tempt fantasy owners into making a bad decision and start him. I have little hope of him having any fantasy impact.
Wide Receivers
Cincinnati's Mohamed Sanu is Questionable for tomorrow night's game. Sanu has been bypassed by Marvin Jones in fantasy importance on the Bengals and probably wasn't in your plans to begin with.
Roddy White didn't practice today and while there's still two more days of practice this week, I would expect that if White was close to getting back on the field he'd be practicing all 3 days of the week. I am not expecting White to play week 9.
Percy Harvin didn't practice today. It was reported that he suffered a setback in his recovery from his hip surgery last week and it's likely that the Seahawks are going to be very careful with him. It's sounding very iffy he'll be able to play this week and a week 10 return seems a little more likely. Jermaine Kearse probably will start for Seattle this week in place of Sidney Rice.
Steve Johnson sat out practice today with a hip issue. He's fully expected to practice tomorrow and be fine for week 9.
Greg Jennings sat out practice today with a knee injury. It's believed to be minor though and Jennings should be okay for week 9.
Marques Colston sat out practice today with a knee injury. It's not believed to be serious and he should be okay for week 9. Teammate Kenny Stills was limited with a knee issue as well and he too is expected to be fine.
Eddie Royal sat out practice today with a toe injury. Royal missed practices last week because of the injury but was still able to play week 8 and be fine. I expect he'll do so again this week.
Tight Ends
Jimmy Graham was limited in practice but after he got through week 8 without aggravating his foot injury, I would expect he'll be okay for this week
Jeff Cumberland is now considered to be Questionable for week 9 because of the concussion he suffered week 8.
Rob Gronkowski was limited in today's practice. Normally I wouldn't bother mentioning this now that he's returned to action but the Patriots have added a hamstring to the list of ailments Gronk supposedly has. I'm sure finger and runny nose are going to be listed in coming weeks.