Drew Sample - Fantasy Points Outlook

Bengals TE Irv Smith (hamstring) is listed as doubtful for Monday night's game vs. the Rams. He seemingly hurt his hamstring on Friday and was limited in Saturday's practice. Smith should obviously be on fantasy benches for Week 3. His absence will leave Cincinnati with TEs Drew Sample and Mitchell Wilcox.

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Bengals TE Hayden Hurst ran well ahead of #2 TE Drew Sample in Sunday's OT loss to the Steelers, playing 75% of the team's offensive snaps to Sample's 29%. More importantly, Hurst ran a route on 78.8% of Joe Burrow dropbacks, compared with Sample's rate of just 15.2%. Burrow's 53 pass attempts inflated volume for everyone, but Hurst's 8 targets ranked 3rd on the team and accounted for a solid 15.1% of total attempts. He caught 5 for 46 yards. Hurst looks like he belongs among the top 20 fantasy TEs going forward. Beyond that, we'll see -- including what Tee Higgins' return from a Week 1 concussion means for target shares.

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Bengals TE Drew Sample left Thursday's practice on a cart after hurting his left knee. HC Zac Taylor told reporters Friday that he's only expected to miss a couple of weeks, though, with a mild sprain. That should put Sample on track to begin the season on time. Sample played in every game last year but tallied only 15 targets. Sample has performed well as a pass-blocker, though. So any regular-season absence could hamper that area. The Bengals have also been without new RT La'el Collins, as he works through a back issue.

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Bengals TE C.J. Uzomah (knee, hip) is questionable for Sunday’s game vs. the Browns. He didn’t practice all week and seems unlikely to play with Cincinnati resting starters in this one. Uzomah’s absence would leave Drew Sample as the Bengals’ top TE.

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