Fantasy Football News

49ers HC Kyle Shanahan said Monday that RB Christian McCaffrey was dealing with a "mild" hamstring strain during Sunday's game vs. the Falcons, rather than the previously reported quad. That makes it more surprising that McCaffrey was allowed to return to the game. Shanahan was "optimistic" that CMC will be ready to go following the Week 8 bye, per insider Cam Inman. We'll keep you updated on the situation when the Niners get back to work next week, but RB Kaelon Black should be rostered in virtually all fantasy leagues in the meantime.

Eagles TE Eli Stowers is active for tonight’s game vs. the Cowboys. It’s the rookie’s debut after missing the first 6 weeks with a hamstring injury. Stowers had a quiet training camp before going down in late August and isn’t a good bet for fantasy value any time soon. But we’ll keep an eye on his role in an Eagles offense that could certainly use weapons.

Eagles RB Saquon Barkley (hamstring) is active for tonight’s game vs. the Cowboys. There’s some workload and re-injury risk in his first action since Week 4, but Barkley is available to get into fantasy lineups if you were waiting on him.

Raiders QB Kirk Cousins delivered his fifth top-12 fantasy line among the past six weeks in Sunday's loss to the Rams. He threw for 295 yards on 26-of-44 passing, with 2 TDs and no turnovers. It was the second straight game and third among the past four in which Cousins attempted at least 40 passes. All thre of those games also found him completing less than 60% of his throws bue tallying 295+ yards. Cousins has hit 2+ TD passes in six of seven games for the year and currently leads the league with 16 scoring tosses.

Here's the good news from Week 7: Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty gave you a nice PPR score. He ranks sixth at the position in points ahead of the Monday night game. The bad news? He barely did anything on the ground, against a Rams D that was missing two starting DTs and its lead LB. Jeanty rushed eight times for just 15 yards in the lopsided loss, adding 8 catches for 61 yards and a TD on 8 targets.

The Rams went without WR Davante Adams on Sunday for the first time this season. In his place, WRs Konata Mumpfield and Tutu Atwell saw near-equal time. Puka Nacua led the group at 61 snaps and 31 routes, 96.9% of QB Matthew Stafford's total dropbacks. Mumpfield led Atwell 31-25 in snaps, but the two ran a matching 20 routes (62.5%). Atwell went without a target among Stafford's 29 attempts, though, while Mumpfield drew only 2. He caught one for 15 yards.

Sunday marked the Rams' first game since losing WR Davante Adams to a hamstring injury, and they ran a lot of "13" personnel. That's the three-TE alignment the offense has become known for over the past two years, and L.A. ran it on a league-high 43% of plays in Sunday's win over the Raiders. Their 51% rate of 2+ TEs ranked sixth, and both rates marked increases vs. their season numbers. That meant 50+ snaps for Tyler Higbee, Colby Parkinson, and Davis Allen, putting the trio behind only QB Matthew Stafford and WR Puka Nacua in total playing time. Higbee led the trio in routes at 18, 56.3% of Stafford's total dropbacks. Parkinson followed at 14 (43.8%), with Allen at 12 (37.5%). Parkinson led the group with 6 targets, 5 catches, and 48 yards, ranking second on the team in all three categories (behind Nacua). Allen tallied 4 catches for 20 yards on 5 targets, while Higbee managed just 2 catches for 14 yards on 3 targets. No other Ram beat any of the TEs in targets.

QB Kirk Cousins remains the Raiders' starter, HC Klint Kubiak said Monday. Cousins completed just 59% of his passes at 6.7 yards per attempt as Vegas lost their fourth straight game in Week 7. But Kubiak claims Cousins is still "playing at a very high level." Kubiak added that, "Fernando Mendoza is going to play at some point, but it's not going to be this week." The Raiders get a winnable Week 8 game against the Jets, but that's followed by the 49ers, Seahawks, and Broncos. We'll see if Cousins can survive that stretch. Vegas' bye doesn't come until Week 13, and there's a chance they wait until then to make the move to Mendoza. Regardless, superflex managers shouldn't count on having Cousins for the entire season.

Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown hurt an ankle in the win over the Packers and isn't expected to practice on Wednesday, HC Dan Campbell said. St. Brown "should be good" to play vs. the Vikings this weekend, "but we'll see when we get there," Campbell added. We'll keep a close eye on St. Brown's status throughout the week. His absence would be a boost to WR Jameson Williams and TE Sam LaPorta and could make WR Isaac TeSlaa a deep-league option.

The Rams went run-heavy in a lopsided win over the Raiders on Sunday, logging 38 rushes vs. 29 pass attempts. The RB work got split near-evenly between Kyren Williams and Blake Corum. The starter carried 16 times for 99 yards and a TD and caught both of his targets for 22 yards. Corum posted a 17-93-1 rushing line and caught his lone target for 8 yards.

Dolphins RB Ollie Gordon continued his hot streak in Sunday’s win over the Jets. He handled 25 of 31 team RB carries for 103 yards and 1 score, adding a catch for 0 yards. The second-year back has now finished at RB15, RB18, and RB15 in three games without De'Von Achane.

Falcons TE Kyle Pitts caught five balls for 22 yards and a TD in Sunday's win over the 49ers. He caught all five of his targets, with no play gaining more than 9 yards, including the 5-yard TD in the middle of the third quarter. This marked Pitts' third straight 5-catch game and third consecutive outing with at least 1 TD.

Jets WR Garrett Wilson managed only 2 catches for 26 yards in Sunday’s matchup with Miami. His three targets matched Isaiah Davis’ total and represented a weak 10% team share.

Dolphins TE Greg Dulcich reached a season-high with 86 yards in Sunday’s win over the Jets. He’s now hit 4+ catches in three straight outings.

Dolphins QB Malik Willis posted a season-best QB4 fantasy finish in Sunday’s upset win over the Jets.

Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. tossed 3 TD passes for the second straight game in Sunday's win over the 49ers. They accompanied a mere 213 yards on 25-of-34 passing (73.5% completions), a modest rate of 6.3 yards per attempt. It marked the third time this season that Penix has completed more than 70% of his throws and the fourth time he has supplied a passer rating of more than 100.

Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald wouldn't say Monday whether RB Zach Charbonnet (knee) will play against the Bears this weekend. Charbonnet seemed on track to return for Week 7 but was ruled out on Friday. "We are sticking with our plan," Macdonald said of Charbonnet. RB Jadarian Price, meanwhile, is expected to be designated to return from IR and practice this week. But Macdonald said he's not sure if the rookie will be ready to play this weekend. There's lots of directions Seattle's backfield could go this week, from a messy 3-man committee to another game with Emanuel Wilson as clear lead back. Wilson, Charbonnet, and Price are worth rostering in most fantasy leagues for now. We'll keep you updated.

Cardinals RB Zonovan Knight saw a boost in usage with Jeremiyah Love out for another week. While Tyler Allgeier led in carries – 8 to 7 – Knight held the edge in yards (48 to 19). Both backs caught three passes, with Knight leading in target share (10% to 7%) and route rate (48% to 41%).

Broncos QB Bo Nix delivered 222 yards and 1 score on a 51.7% completion rate in Sunday’s win over Arizona. Nix also did his best Lamar Jackson impression with a 62-yard rushing score in the second quarter.

Broncos RB Jonah Coleman returned from a four-week absence due to an ankle sprain and immediately carved out a significant role. He led the backfield with 9 catches for 54 yards, adding 2 catches for 15 additional yards.