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Minnesota Vikings Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Fantasy Football News 2023

Most Recent Fantasy Football News & Updates

Cardinals QB Joshua Dobbs struggled with turnovers in Sunday’s loss vs. the Bengals. He totaled 15 completions on 32 attempts for 166 yards with 2 TDs in the contest to go along with a pair of INTs and a lost fumble. Dobbs’ rushing has consistently helped bring up his fantasy scoring floor of late, but he unfortunately only managed 1 rushing yards in Week 5. We’ll see if he can bounce back in Week 6 vs. the Rams, but he’s best left out of the lineup conversation in 1QB leagues.

Vikings WR Justin Jefferson hurt his right hamstring in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game vs. the Chiefs. He's officially questionable to return. We'll update his status when we know more.

RB Cam Akers carried five times for 40 yards in Sunday's win over the Panthers, his first action with the Vikings. He added 2 receptions for 11 yards on 2 targets, one of just three Minnesota players who caught more than one pass in the game. Akers looks like the handcuff to RB Alexander Mattison but probably won't turn into a standalone fantasy play without a Mattison injury. Mattison rushed 17 times for 95 yards against Carolina and caught his only target for 3 yards.

Vikings WR Justin Jefferson didn't let a mere 139-yard passing day for his team get in the way Sunday. Jefferson posted a 6-85-2 receiving line in the win over Carolina. He drew a target on 47.4% of Kirk Cousins' pass attempts, accounting for 50% of the team's receptions, 61.2% of receiving yards, and 100% of the offensive scoring. TE T.J. Hockenson ranked second on the team with just 3 targets, catching two for 24 yards. RB Cam Akers was the only other Viking to catch more than one pass. WR K.J. Osborn finished with 1 reception for 16 yards on 2 targets. WR Jordan Addison went catchless on 1 target. Minnesota gets the Chiefs back home in Week 5 and then a high-upside matchup at Chicago in Week 6.

Vikings QB Kirk Cousins threw for just 139 yards on 12-of-19 passing in Sunday's win at Carolina. Cousins boosted his fantasy line with a pair of TDs to WR Justin Jefferson, but he also tossed 2 INTs. Minnesota got dominated in time of possession, spending just 21:31 on offense. Cousins gets potential shootout conditions back home against the Chiefs next week and then a high-upside matchup with the Bears. So you can probably brush this one off and keep using Cousins.

The Vikings will go with the hot hand at RB vs. the Panthers today, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. RB Alexander Mattison "is still the starter," per Pelissero, but we could see "a lot of" RB Cam Akers. Mattison has been inefficient and mistake-prone through three games, so there's an opening for Akers. Mattison remains the preferred fantasy play today, but his floor is much lower than it's been the first three weeks.

Vikings QB Kirk Cousins threw for 367 yards, 3 TDs, and 1 INT in Sunday's loss to the Chargers. He has exceeded 340 yards in each of the team's first three games. Expect to find Cousins inside QB1 territory in our rankings the next three weeks -- vs. the Panthers, Chiefs and Bears -- but a Week 7 date with the 49ers might knock him down.

The Vikings made RB Cam Akers inactive for his first game with the team. So RB Alexander Mattison continued to dominate backfield usage. He took 20 carries for 93 yards and added a 5-32 receiving line on 7 targets. Mattison benefited from facing a weak Chargers D and from Minnesota running 83 offensive plays. But we'll have to assume he retains the clear backfield lead until/unless something changes. Week 4 holds a high-upside matchup with a Panthers D that has been run over so far this season.

Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson made a team-high 8 receptions for 78 yards in Sunday's loss to the Chargers. It was his third game with 7+ catches to open the year. Hockenson drew a season-high 11 targets but has garnered 8+ in every game. He ceded a TD to TE Josh Oliver, among 2 receptions for 4 yards for the mainly blocking TE. Hockenson is a strong fantasy starter across formats.

Vikings WR Justin Jefferson delivered 7 receptions for 149 yards and his first TD of the season in Sunday's loss to the Chargers. He entered the game with the league lead in receiving yards. Jefferson's receptions and yards against the Chargers actually marked season lows for him through three games. That's how good he is. K.J. Osborn ran the second-most routes among WRs but drew just 3 targets. His lone catch went for a 36-yard TD. Jordan Addison caught six of 8 targets for 52 yards. Minnesota gets non-scary matchups the next three weeks: Panthers, Chiefs, and Bears.

Vikings WR Justin Jefferson suffered an apparent right knee injury late in Sunday's game vs. the Chargers. Jefferson was able to walk off the field under his own power. We'll update his status as soon as we know more.

Update: Jefferson was reportedly cramping and has already returned to the game. Exhale!

Vikings HC Kevin O'Connell said RB Cam Akers "more than likely" won't play vs. the Chargers on Sunday. O'Connell does expect Akers to be ready for Week 4. But RB Alexander Mattison will get at least one more game as Minnesota's feature back.

On Wednesday, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that the Rams are trading RB Cam Akers to the Vikings in exchange for a swap of 2026 NFL Draft picks. Akers was a surprise inactive on Sunday vs. the 49ers, and HC Sean McVay reiterated to the media on Monday that the team was trying to deal away the former second-round pick. This news brings the "will they, won't they" saga dating back to the 2022 season to a close and also muddies the outlook for incumbent Vikings RB Alexander Mattison. Fantasy managers who roster Mattison will now have to worry about Akers, who has connections to HC Kevin O'Connell and OC Wes Phillips dating back to their days in Los Angeles, coming in and taking away some work. This could be merely a depth move, though Mattison has not been particularly effective this season, averaging just 31.0 rushing yards per game. Stay tuned for more updates regarding the fantasy fallout of this trade.

On Monday, ESPN's Sarah Barshop tweeted that Rams HC Sean McVay told reporters that GM Les Snead has spoken with "a handful of teams" regarding a trade for RB Cam Akers and "that's the direction" the Rams are headed. This would seem to indicate that RB Kyren Williams will remain the most fantasy-relevant back in Los Angeles for the time being. Even so, there's nothing stopping the Rams from adding another back to the depth chart at some point down the line. We'll keep an eye on how this situation continues unfolding in the coming days.

Cardinals QB Joshua Dobbs completed 21 passes on 31 attempts for 228 passing yards with 1 TD and zero INTs in Week 1 vs. the Giants. He also ran the ball 3 times for 41 yards and a TD on the ground. The Cardinals were surprisingly competitive in this contest, and Dobbs may end up finishing as a QB1 this week. That said, we don’t expect this to be the norm. There’s an equally valid argument that this performance was less about Arizona being good and more about the Giants simply being bad. We won’t be champing at the bit to throw Dobbs into lineups in Week 3 vs. the Cowboys.

Rams RB Cam Akers is a healthy scratch for today's game vs. the 49ers, as Fox Sports' Jay Glazer reported would be the case a few minutes before 1 pm ET this afternoon. RBs Kyren Williams, Ronnie Rivers, and Royce Freeman are active for Los Angeles. Williams figures to handle the majority of the backfield work.

Rams RB Cam Akers will be a healthy scratch for this afternoon's game vs. the 49ers, according to Fox Sports' Jay Glazer. Glazer adds that some teams believe Akers is on the trade block. Hopefully you weren't counting on him in Week 2 fantasy lineups. The news makes RB Kyren Williams easier to trust in fantasy lineups, despite the negative matchup.

For the second straight week, Vikings WR Jordan Addison paid the fantasy bills with a long TD. It was a 39-yarder on busted coverage in Week 1. On Thursday night vs. the Eagles, Addison beat CB Josh Jobe on a deep route and then shook his tackle attempt for a 62-yard TD. The rookie has now tallied 133 yards and two TDs on seven catches and 11 targets through the first two games of the season. That's 19.0 yards per catch and 12.1 yards per target -- completely unsustainable numbers. Addison's volume should grow going forward, though. He continued to trail WR K.J. Osborn in snaps and routes tonight. But that shouldn't last much longer, especially after Osborn committed two ugly drops in the loss to the Eagles. Consider Addison a WR3 for now. He has the potential to flirt with WR2 value in this pass-heavy Vikings offense as soon as he becomes something close to an every-snap player.

Vikings RB Alexander Mattison mustered just 28 scoreless yards on eight carries (3.5 YPC) in Thursday night’s loss to the Eagles. He turned six targets into three catches and 11 yards. Mattison has now totaled 83 yards on 25 touches through two games this season — an ugly 3.3 yards per touch. He hasn’t gotten much help from his offensive line but also hasn’t made much happen on his own. Mattison continued to dominate the backfield work vs. Philadelphia, with RB Ty Chandler getting just one carry and two targets. But we could see Chandler’s role grow if Mattison doesn’t start producing more. Mattison's RB2 status is on very shaky ground.

Vikings QB Kirk Cousins chucked for 364 yards and four TDs in Thursday night’s loss to the Eagles. He did it despite consistent pressure from the Eagles pass rush — and Minnesota only running 55 offensive plays. Cousins was efficient, completing 70.5% of his passes at 8.3 yards per clip. And the Vikings went extremely pass-heavy. Cousins threw 44 times vs. just nine total runs. That’s become a regular occurrence for Minnesota under HC Kevin O’Connell — and has made Cousins a steady fantasy producer. Expect to find him inside the top-12 QBs in our rankings the next four weeks vs. the Chargers, Panthers, Chiefs, and Bears. Week 7 brings a tough matchup against San Francisco.

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