DJ Moore
Questionable
Your flex slot. Limited all three practice days in a red non-contact jersey.
No football yesterday, so this one looks forward: you are a heavy favorite against the worst team in the league, and the only thing you can actually get wrong is the flex slot.
LordHaveMRSA
0.00
WhoottieBoys
9.60
One player in this matchup has played. Jalen Coker (Carolina Panthers) scored 9.60 for your opponent on Thursday night. Everything else starts Sunday at 1:00 PM Eastern.
Zonovan Knight
4.8 projected
Jeremiyah Love got cleared Friday. Knight's two good weeks just ended.
Samaje Perine
9.0 projected
Best free running back on the wire, and he still projects double your RB2.
Where the matchup stands
You are projected to win by roughly 24 points
You draw WhoottieBoys, who are 1-6 and dead last with 585.20 points scored - about 134 fewer than you. Your seven starters project to 111.0 points. Their side projects to about 87, counting the 9.60 that Jalen Coker (Carolina Panthers) already banked on Thursday night against the Green Bay Packers. You are 3-4 and eighth of twelve, 719.16 points for and 740.58 against. This is the softest matchup left on your schedule, and you need it: the gap between eighth and the sixth and final playoff spot is one game.
Clocks fall back tonight
Daylight saving time ends at 2:00 AM Eastern tonight, so Sunday's games run an hour earlier than they have all season. First kickoff is 1:00 PM Eastern, not 2:00. That matters because five of your seven starters play in that opening window, and the inactive lists - the official roster of players ruled out, posted 90 minutes before kickoff - land at 11:30 AM Eastern.
Your lineup for Sunday
| Slot | Player | Kickoff (Eastern) | Call |
|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Drake Maye (New England Patriots) at Miami Dolphins | 4:25 PM | Start - 21.7 projected |
| RB | Kyren Williams (Los Angeles Rams) vs Los Angeles Chargers | 4:05 PM | Start - 19.7 projected |
| RB | Zonovan Knight (Arizona Cardinals) at Dallas Cowboys | 1:00 PM | Start by default - 4.8 projected |
| WR | Tre Tucker (Las Vegas Raiders) at New York Jets | 1:00 PM | Start - 10.5 projected |
| WR | Puka Nacua (Los Angeles Rams) vs Los Angeles Chargers | 4:05 PM | Start - 21.7 projected |
| TE | Trey McBride (Arizona Cardinals) at Dallas Cowboys | 1:00 PM | Start - 18.6 projected |
| FLEX | DJ Moore (Buffalo Bills) vs Baltimore Ravens | 1:00 PM | Decide at 11:30 AM - 14.0 projected |
Drake Maye (New England Patriots) - start him, but the forecast is ugly
Maye has been the single best thing on your roster: 39.5, 23.8 and 28.4 points over the last three weeks. The problem is Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, where the Sunday forecast is 79 degrees with an 83 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms and a 14 mph east wind - the only one of your games flagged as a serious weather concern, with a real chance of a lightning delay. Geno Smith (New York Jets) sits on your bench at 17.2 projected in clean conditions against the Las Vegas Raiders, and that is closer to Maye's 21.7 than it should be. Start Maye anyway. A quarterback averaging 30.6 points a game in a bad forecast still beats a 17-point quarterback in a good one, and rain hurts deep throws far more than it hurts the short, high-volume passing New England actually runs.
Trey McBride (Arizona Cardinals) - the quiet anchor
27.1 points last week, 21.6 two weeks before that, 18.6 projected at Dallas with no injury designation anywhere on the Cardinals' final report. He is doing tight end work that most teams get from a number one receiver. Nothing to decide here.
Tre Tucker (Las Vegas Raiders) - 26.7 and 21.3 the last two weeks
His projection of 10.5 is badly behind his actual form. He is a boom-or-bust deep threat, which is why the model will not commit, but at the New York Jets he has the matchup to do it again. Start him and do not overthink the 7.5 he put up in Week 5.
Five of the seven play at 1:00 PM Eastern. Drake Maye (New England Patriots), Kyren Williams (Los Angeles Rams) and Puka Nacua (Los Angeles Rams) are the late-window group, so you have no meaningful decisions after 1:00 PM except whether to swap a flex player whose game has not started.
The flex decision - the only thing you can get wrong
DJ Moore (Buffalo Bills) - Questionable, and he has not played since Week 4
Moore sprained the AC joint in his shoulder in Week 2, reaggravated it in Week 4, and missed Weeks 5 and 6 - ending a 91-game streak. Buffalo was on bye in Week 7, so he has now had three weeks of rest. He practiced on a limited basis Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, every day in a red non-contact jersey, and he is officially Questionable against the Baltimore Ravens. Reporting from Buffalo calls him eager and trending toward playing, but nobody has said he will. He also failed to play through Questionable tags in both Weeks 5 and 6, which is the part that should worry you. He projects 14.0 - the best number of any flex option you have - but a Questionable tag he has already broken twice is not worth a zero in a game you should win comfortably.
Chris Godwin Jr. (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) - the swap, and it is better than it looks
Godwin has been mediocre: 7.0, 7.7 and 6.7 points the last three weeks. But Emeka Egbuka (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) has been ruled out against the Atlanta Falcons after clearing concussion protocol too late to play, which moves Godwin up Tampa Bay's pecking order for a week. He projects 11.5. Here is the timing problem: Godwin and Moore both kick off at 1:00 PM Eastern, so you cannot see whether Moore is active and then still make the swap comfortably - you get the inactive list at 11:30 AM and have 90 minutes. Set an alarm. If Moore is on the inactive list, Godwin goes in. If Moore is active, leave Moore in.
Xavier Worthy (Kansas City Chiefs) - your 4:25 PM insurance, and a worse bet
Worthy plays at the Denver Broncos at 4:25 PM Eastern, so he is the one flex option you could still move after the early window closes. He projects 9.0 and scored 4.1 last week. Useful only if you somehow miss the 11:30 AM window and Moore is already locked at zero - at which point Worthy is nothing more than damage control. He is not the plan.
The RB2 hole, and why it is not fatal
Zonovan Knight (Arizona Cardinals) - his projection halved on Friday afternoon
Knight scored 11.8 and 9.3 the last two weeks, and he did it only because Jeremiyah Love (Arizona Cardinals) was out with an ankle injury. On Friday, head coach Mike LaFleur confirmed Love will play against the Dallas Cowboys. Love practiced limited Wednesday and Thursday, full on Friday, and carries no game designation at all. LaFleur's own words: "none of these guys by November 1st are truly at 100 percent... he's feeling as good as he can feel." That is not a snap count, but it is not a ringing endorsement either, and Tyler Allgeier (Arizona Cardinals) is also working back from a toe problem on limited practices. Call it a three-way split in which Knight is no better than the second back. He projects 4.8. Dallas has given up 22.6 fantasy points a game to opposing backfields, which is the one thing keeping him viable.
Start Knight anyway, because you have nothing else
Your bench running backs are Roschon Johnson (Chicago Bears), who projects 1.1 and does not play until Monday night at the Seattle Seahawks; Cam Skattebo (New York Giants), whose team is on bye this week; and Dameon Pierce (Philadelphia Eagles), who is on injured reserve. Knight at 4.8 is the best of a bad set. The saving grace is the math: even if that slot gives you nothing at all, your other six starters project to 106.2, and your opponent's whole team projects to about 87. You can afford a dead RB2 this week. You cannot afford it in Week 10.
Injuries and byes on your roster
| Player | Situation | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| DJ Moore (Buffalo Bills) | Questionable - AC joint sprain in shoulder, limited all week in a non-contact jersey | Check the inactive list at 11:30 AM Eastern Sunday |
| Zonovan Knight (Arizona Cardinals) | Healthy, but Jeremiyah Love returns and takes his touches | Start him, then find a real RB2 for Week 10 |
| Cam Skattebo (New York Giants) | Bye week - New York Giants, Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers are all off | Nothing. He is back next week |
| Dameon Pierce (Philadelphia Eagles) | Injured reserve, though he scored 15.0 and 11.8 in Weeks 6 and 7 before landing there | Hold the roster spot one more week, then cut him if there is no return timeline |
| Keon Coleman (Buffalo Bills) | Healthy, 8.3 projected - becomes relevant only if DJ Moore sits | Bench. Godwin is the better swap |
Waiver targets - you have $34 of FAAB left
| Player | Why | Bid |
|---|---|---|
| Samaje Perine (Cincinnati Bengals) | Highest-projected free running back on the board at 9.0, against a Tennessee Titans defense Cincinnati should run on all afternoon. He is the backup to a healthy Chase Brown, so the ceiling is low and the role is conditional - but 9.0 is nearly double what your own RB2 projects. | $4 |
| Austin Ekeler (Washington Commanders) | The better season-long bet. Jacory Croskey-Merritt is out at least three more weeks with a groin injury, and Washington is splitting that backfield between Rachaad White and Ekeler. In full PPR - one point per catch - a pass-catching back with a standing role is worth more to you in November than a higher Week 8 number. | $3 |
| Justice Hill (Baltimore Ravens) | Pure depth. 6.1 projected at Buffalo and a real passing-game role whenever Baltimore trails. Worth a dollar if the first two get bid away. | $1 |
| Kyler Murray (Minnesota Vikings) | Free, and projects 17.0 against the Detroit Lions - which says more about this wire than about him. You have Drake Maye and Geno Smith. Do not spend on this. | Pass |
Nobody worth adding came out of Thursday night
Every player who scored in double figures in Carolina Panthers at Green Bay Packers is already on a roster in this league. Chuba Hubbard (Carolina Panthers) led the slate with 24.9 points and belongs to UndisputedGiant; Josh Jacobs (Green Bay Packers) put up 23.2 for Battery Included; Christian Watson (Green Bay Packers) had 8 catches for 113 yards and 17.3 points for Gridiron Guru 23. The best free agent from that game was John Metchie III (Carolina Panthers) at 4.4 points. There is nothing to chase.
FAAB is your $100 season-long bidding budget for waiver pickups. You have spent $66 and have $34 to carry through Week 17, with the trade deadline in Week 13. Your waiver priority is 12th of 12, which only matters as a tiebreaker. Spend small here - there is no league-winner on this wire, and your need is a running back who can hold the RB2 slot for the next two months, not a one-week rental.
What your opponent is bringing
WhoottieBoys start Sam Darnold (Seattle Seahawks, 16.4 projected), James Cook III (Buffalo Bills, 17.3), Jonah Coleman (Denver Broncos, 11.6), Jalen Coker (Carolina Panthers, 9.60 already scored), Jameson Williams (Detroit Lions, 9.7), Colston Loveland (Chicago Bears, 9.7 and Questionable) and Rashee Rice (Kansas City Chiefs, 12.6). Two of their bench pieces, Mike Evans and Christian Kirk, are San Francisco 49ers on bye, so there is no hidden upside sitting there. Colston Loveland does not play until Monday night, which means if this stays close you will be sweating a Chicago Bears tight end at 8:15 PM Eastern Monday. It should not stay close.