Puka Nacua
23.4 proj.
Your highest projection by a mile at 11 targets. He did not practice Friday, with no injury listed and no game designation - monitor, do not panic.
No games were played last night, so this one looks forward: you and honeybadgerr1 are both 3-5, both on the outside of a six-team playoff field, and the projections have this matchup separated by roughly one point. Whoever loses today is close to done.
LordHaveMRSA
0.00
honeybadgerr1
0.00
Nothing has kicked off for either side. Projected 111.6 to 110.4 - a 1.2-point gap, which is noise.
J.K. Dobbins
9.6 proj.
The hole in your lineup. Rookie Jonah Coleman (Denver Broncos) is now projected higher than him on his own team. You start him anyway - there is nothing behind him.
Justice Hill
18.2 pts Thursday
Unowned in your league. He was Baltimore's entire offense Thursday while Derrick Henry (Baltimore Ravens) managed 5.6. Your top waiver add.
Where the matchup stands
Both teams are 3-5. You are ninth, honeybadgerr1 is eighth on points scored. Six teams make the playoffs and the top seed is 6-2, so neither of you is mathematically out - but a loss today puts you two games back with five to play, which in practice means you are playing for pride.
The timing favors you slightly. Your opponent's last word is Luther Burden III (Chicago Bears) and D'Andre Swift (Chicago Bears) in Sunday night's game against Tampa Bay. Yours is DJ Moore (Buffalo Bills), who does not play until Monday at 8:15 PM Eastern at Minnesota. That means you will know exactly what number you need before your final starter takes the field - a real edge in a one-point projection.
One honest number: you have scored 819.2 points this season but your optimal lineups would have scored 958.2. That is 139 points left on your own bench - the largest gap of any 3-5 team in the league. The roster has not been the problem.
Your lineup today
| Slot | Player | Kickoff (Eastern) and status |
|---|---|---|
| QB | Drake Maye (New England Patriots) | 4:25 PM vs Green Bay - not on the injury report. 20.8 proj. |
| RB | Kyren Williams (Los Angeles Rams) | 1:00 PM at Washington - clean. 18.7 proj. |
| RB | J.K. Dobbins (Denver Broncos) | 1:00 PM at Carolina - clean but squeezed. 9.6 proj. |
| WR | Tre Tucker (Las Vegas Raiders) | 4:25 PM at San Francisco - clean, bad spot. 11.0 proj. |
| WR | Puka Nacua (Los Angeles Rams) | 1:00 PM at Washington - no designation, did not practice Friday. 23.4 proj. |
| TE | Trey McBride (Arizona Cardinals) | 4:25 PM at Seattle - clean. 15.4 proj. |
| FLEX | DJ Moore (Buffalo Bills) | Monday 8:15 PM at Minnesota - clean. 12.8 proj. |
Pittsburgh and Tennessee are the two teams on bye in Week 9. You have nobody on either, so every slot is live.
The start and sit calls
Keep DJ Moore (Buffalo Bills) in the FLEX - do not swap him out
He has the best projection of your flex options at 12.8, ahead of Xavier Worthy (Kansas City Chiefs) at 10.3 and Chris Godwin Jr. (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) at 9.4. More than that, he is your only Monday player. In a matchup this tight, holding a live starter until Monday night is worth more than a point or two of projection. Leave him there.
Tre Tucker (Las Vegas Raiders) over Xavier Worthy (Kansas City Chiefs) - but only just
This is close to a coin flip. Tucker projects 11.0 on roughly six targets but Las Vegas is a 9.5-point underdog at San Francisco, which at least means they throw all afternoon - that is game script, meaning the score forces a team to pass. Worthy projects 10.3 with Kansas City favored by 9.5 at home over the New York Jets, which cuts the other way: a blowout lead means fewer pass attempts in the second half. Start Tucker. If you want the higher ceiling instead of the higher median, Worthy is the swap, and both are 1:00 PM or later so you have time.
J.K. Dobbins (Denver Broncos) stays at RB2 because you have no alternative
Be clear-eyed about this one. RJ Harvey (Denver Broncos) is on injured reserve, which should have been good news for Dobbins - except rookie Jonah Coleman (Denver Broncos) went for 15 touches, 104 scrimmage yards and the game-winning touchdown against Kansas City on November 1, and Denver's projections now have Coleman at 14.7 and Dobbins at 9.6. Dobbins has not cleared 12 fantasy points since October 11. Your only other healthy running backs are Samaje Perine (Cincinnati Bengals) at 6.6 and Cam Skattebo (New York Giants), who is doubtful. Start Dobbins, expect eight points, and plan around him.
Injuries and practice news on your roster
Cam Skattebo (New York Giants) - DOUBTFUL, hamstring
He is on your bench, so this costs you nothing today, but doubtful with a hamstring in November usually means out and then week-to-week. If you need a roster spot for a waiver add, he is the drop candidate - with the caveat that a healthy Skattebo is still better than anything you can add off this waiver wire.
Puka Nacua (Los Angeles Rams) - no designation, but did not practice Friday
He appears on the official Week 9 report with no injury named, a Friday practice status of did not participate, and a blank game status. No designation means he is expected to play, and this pattern is usually a scheduled rest day for a veteran. Still, he is 21 percent of your projected total. Check the Rams inactives list at roughly 11:30 AM Eastern before the 1:00 PM kickoff, and have Xavier Worthy (Kansas City Chiefs) ready to slide in if the news turns.
Everyone else is clean
Drake Maye (New England Patriots), Kyren Williams (Los Angeles Rams), J.K. Dobbins (Denver Broncos), Tre Tucker (Las Vegas Raiders), Trey McBride (Arizona Cardinals) and DJ Moore (Buffalo Bills) do not appear on the Week 9 injury report at all. That is as healthy as this lineup has been in a month.
Waivers - you have $34 of FAAB left
| Player | Why | Suggested bid |
|---|---|---|
| Justice Hill (Baltimore Ravens) | The one real add. He put up 18.2 points Thursday - 9 carries for 85 yards and a touchdown - while Derrick Henry (Baltimore Ravens) managed 5.6 in a 33-10 loss to Jacksonville. With Lamar Jackson (Baltimore Ravens) out, Baltimore is leaning on the pass-catching back. He is unowned and he has already banked his Week 9 score, so he is a Week 10 asset. | $8 |
| Jahan Dotson (Atlanta Falcons) | Zachariah Branch and Brian Robinson are both out for Atlanta, and the Falcons host Cincinnati in the highest-total game on the board at 52.5. He projects 8.7. Note the 9:30 AM Eastern kickoff - if he is a free agent rather than on waivers, add him now or not at all. | $4 |
| Audric Estime (New Orleans Saints) | The handcuff to Alvin Kamara (New Orleans Saints) - meaning the backup running back who would inherit the job if Kamara went down. Projects 8.4 on roughly ten carries. Pure insurance, and the only running back on the wire with a defined role. | $2 |
FAAB is the $100 season-long budget used to bid on waiver pickups; you have spent $66 and sit eighth in waiver order. Be honest about what is out there: this pool is thin. The highest-projected unowned skill-position player today is an 8.7-point wide receiver. These are depth plays and bye-week patches, not fixes for your running back problem.
Looking back at Thursday, and what is coming
Jacksonville beat Baltimore 33-10 on Thursday night. Nobody on your roster or honeybadgerr1's was involved, so it did not move your matchup, but it is the reason Justice Hill (Baltimore Ravens) is at the top of your waiver list and the reason Derrick Henry (Baltimore Ravens) owners in this league are panicking. Trevor Lawrence (Jacksonville Jaguars) was efficient rather than spectacular - 16 of 26 for 242 yards and a touchdown - in a game Jacksonville controlled from the start.
Your opponent's exposure is worth watching. Drake London (Atlanta Falcons) and Kyle Pitts Sr. (Atlanta Falcons) both play at 9:30 AM Eastern, so honeybadgerr1 will have 28 projected points on the board before you have a single player on the field. Do not read anything into an early deficit. Also note he is starting Blake Corum (Los Angeles Rams), who projects 7.2 as the backup behind your own Kyren Williams (Los Angeles Rams), while Braelon Allen (New York Jets) sits on his bench at 10.7 - if he fixes that before 1:00 PM, the projected gap flips against you by about three points.
Trade deadline is Week 13. At 3-5 with a running back room held together by a backup and a doubtful rookie, you are a buyer for one more week and a seller after that. Something to think about between now and the next report.