Bills WR Stefon Diggs managed just 5 catches for 29 yards in Saturday's win over the Chargers. He made some nice contested catches in this one, but the real story is a multi-week downtrend in production. In fact, Diggs hasn’t cracked 90 yards since Week 6. And he’s gone three straight games without a score. Josh Allen fired off only 21 passes, while the Bills ran a subpar 52 plays on the night. Diggs also watched as Gabe Davis (4-130-1) popped off for a couple of explosive plays. Note: Per Pro Football Focus, Diggs played his second-lowest snap share of the season. (His lowest mark came in Week 15.) We’ll see if there’s any news out of Orchard Park on Diggs this coming week. But it’ll be tough to keep him out of lineups for an upcoming matchup with New England.
The Patriots have downgraded TE Hunter Henry (knee) from questionable to out for Sunday's game against the Broncos. His absence would seem to be good news for Mike Gesicki, and it might mean a boost in playing time. But Henry and Gesicki don't play exactly the same position. Gesicki has run 71.7% of his pass snaps from the slot so far, according to Pro Football Focus, plus another 19% out wide. Henry has spent 48.1% in the slot; 43.5% inline. TE Pharoah Brown might be the more direct playing-time beneficiary of Henry's absence. Henry'scoming off season highs in targets, catches, and yards, which probably inflates the perception of what he's leaving available. Before last week, Henry was averaging just 4.0 targets and 2.7 receptions per game. Neither Gesicki nor Brown looks all that attractive for fantasy use.
Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson (ankle) remained sidelined all week and is out for Sunday night’s game vs. the Broncos. That means another start for RB Ezekiel Elliott. We’ve seen his ceiling and floor the past two games: 140 total yards and a score in Week 14; 46 scoreless yards in Week 15.
Patriots TE Hunter Henry (knee) is listed as questionable for Sunday night’s game vs. the Broncos. He only got in a limited practice on Friday. We’re not expecting Henry to play, and he’d be a shaky fantasy starter if he does.
Patriots TE Hunter Henry (knee) did not practice on Wednesday. He never returned to last week's game after going down and is certainly in danger of missing Sunday's game vs. the Broncos. That'd leave New England with TEs Mike Gesicki and Pharaoh Brown. Neither would be a viable fantasy play.
Bills WR Stefon Diggs caught four balls for just 48 scoreless yards in the Week 15 win over the Cowboys. It was his fourth game among the last five with fewer than 50 receiving yards. Unlike those other games, though, Diggs' share of the passing game was not the problem in this one. He accounted for 33% of the team's targets and 51% of receiving yards. Dallas simply couldn't stop Buffalo's running game, so QB Josh Allen threw just 15 times. The Bills have leaned a bit more on the running game under OC Joe Brady -- but we certainly don't expect another game like this the rest of the way. Diggs remains a must-start for an excellent Week 16 matchup vs. the Chargers' 27th-ranked WR defense.
Patriots TE Hunter Henry suffered a left knee injury in the second half of Sunday's game vs. the Chiefs and is officially questionable to return. He caught seven of nine targets for 66 yards and a score before exiting. We'll update Henry's status when we know more.
Patriots WR Demario Douglas (concussion) is not listed on the final Week 15 injury report. He’ll be back for Sunday’s game vs. the Chiefs. Douglas has averaged 7.6 targets and 5.2 catches over his last five games – although very little of that came with QB Bailey Zappe. WRs DeVante Parker (knee), JuJu Smith-Schuster (ankle), and Tyquan Thornton (hamstring) are all listed as questionable. Those guys shouldn’t be in your Week 15 fantasy plans.
Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson (ankle) is out for Sunday’s game vs. the Chiefs. He remained sidelined in practice all week and doesn’t look particularly close to a return. Ezekiel Elliott will get another game as feature back this weekend after racking up 22 carries and eight targets on a 91% snap rate last week.
Patriots WR Demario Douglas (concussion) got in a limited practice on Wednesday -- his first since being concussed in Week 12. We'll see if the rookie can get cleared for Sunday's game vs. the Chiefs. If he does, he'll be in the WR4 mix as the favorite to lead New England in targets.
Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson (ankle) did not practice on Wednesday. Reportedly dealing with a high-ankle sprain, he's unlikely to play vs. the Chiefs this weekend. That'd again leave RB Ezekiel Elliott in a true workhorse role. Zeke racked up 22 carries and eight targets on a 91% snap rate last week.
Per Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Vikings will be making a change at the QB position in Week 15. Joshua Dobbs is being sent to the bench after four starts and will be replaced by backup Nick Mullens. This news doesn't come as much of a surprise, considering Dobbs' recent struggles and the fact that he was yanked in the fourth quarter of Sunday's contest vs. the Raiders. From a fantasy perspective, Mullens doesn't bring the same rushing ability to the table as Dobbs did and shouldn't be considered a lineup option outside of deep 2QB/superflex leagues. Check out where he appears in our current QB rankings.
Bills WR Stefon Diggs dragged down your fantasy lineup if you played him in Week 14. He managed just 4 receptions for 24 yards in the loss to the Chiefs. But his 11 targets led the team and accounted for 26.2% of Buffalo's total pass attempts for the game. The No. 6 PPR receiver for the season has just three bad fantasy outings all season, but all have come within the past four games. This marked the first time he fell short of 13.6 PPR points on double-digit targets, though. And Diggs dealt with basically shadow coverage from Chiefs lead CB L'Jarius Sneed. He gets a challenging matchup with Dallas in Week 15, but then a positive spot against the Chargers and a fairly neutral matchup with the Patriots in Week 17.
Vikings QB Joshua Dobbs was benched early in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game vs. the Raiders. He completed just 10 of 23 passes for 63 scoreless yards -- definitely a benchable offense. QB Nick Mullens is in for Dobbs. We'll see how he fares and who Minnesota rolls with going forward.
Patriots WR Demario Douglas (concussion) is out for Thursday night's game vs. the Steelers. He remained sidelined in practice all week, so he still has lots of work to do to clear the protocol for Week 15. WR Kayshon Boutte (shoulder) has also been ruled out for Thursday night. DeVante Parker, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Tyquan Thornton figure to operate as New England's top three WRs in Pittsburgh. Parker is the best bet for targets but is no better than a WR4 in an offense implied for only 12.5 points.
The Vikings will continue starting QB Josh Dobbs this week against the Raiders, NFL Network reports. It's not a surprising revelation, and that's how we already had our Week 14 rankings set. Of course it'd be nice if Minnesota could go with a steadier QB than the journeyman who threw 4 INTs against the Bears his last time out. But the other options are Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall. Dobbs gets a fine matchup with the Raiders and will carry fantasy upside. The risk, however, is that he enters the game on a short leash. A turnover or two could motivate HC Kevin O'Connell to pull an in-game switch. We've factored some of that risk into Dobbs' projection for Week 14. But you'll need to make a personal call on his situation before setting your fantasy lineup with or without him. It can only help the whole offense to (likely) get WR Justin Jefferson back.
Vikings OC Wes Phillips said Tuesday that HC Kevin O'Connell will announce the starting QB Wednesday. Ben Goessling of the Minneapolis Star Tribune says, "Based on everything I've heard this week, I expect the Vikings to start Josh Dobbs against the Raiders." That's how we have it projected in the Week 14 QB rankings, but we'll obviously be watching for any change. Dobbs has showed plenty of fantasy upside and will get a fine matchup if he stays in the lineup. There figures to be some risk he gets pulled, though, if he struggles anywhere near how he did against the Bears before the bye.
Patriots WR Demario Douglas (concussion) remained sidelined for Tuesday's practice. He has virtually no chance to be cleared in time for Thursday night's game vs. the Steelers. Douglas' absence will again leave DeVante Parker, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Tyquan Thornton as New England's top three WRs.
Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson has been diagnosed with a high-ankle sprain, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. A source tells Schefter that Stevenson is expected to miss "a few weeks." High-ankle sprains generally cost RBs 4+ games, so don't be surprised if Stevenson misses the rest of the season. He's droppable in most fantasy leagues without an IR spot. Stevenson's absence will leave Ezekiel Elliott as New England's clear lead back -- in a true test of whether pure volume can support a fantasy RB. New England has RBs Jamycal Hasty and Ty Montgomery behind Elliott on the active roster, with RB Kevin Harris on the practice squad.
Patriots WR Demario Douglas (concussion) was listed as a non-participant on Monday's estimated practice report. It means he still has a lot of work to do to clear the concussion protocol in time for Thursday night's game vs. the Steelers. We'll update Douglas' progress again tomorrow.
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