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| Tuesday, September 22, 2020 |
| I've never seen anything quite like the injury situation around the NFL in Week 2, and I've been doing this for a decade now. Injuries happen every week, but we lost the top two picks in most Fantasy drafts in one afternoon, and that was just the start of it. That's going to make this week's waiver wire one of the busiest ever as everyone scrambles to find replacements — or to deprive their opponents of them. |
| Before we get to the top waiver targets for Week 3 and find out what the Fantasy Football Today team expects to see this week, let's quickly catch up on all of those injuries. Here's the latest on all of the injuries from Week 2: |
| Saquon Barkley — Torn ACL, out for the season Christian McCaffrey — High-ankle sprain, out 4-6 weeks Courtland Sutton — Torn ACL, out for the season Raheem Mostert — Knee, likely to miss Week 3 Drew Lock — Shoulder injury, out at least two weeks Jimmy Garoppolo — Ankle, could play Week 3 Parris Campbell — Sprained PCL and MCL, out indefinitely Tevin Coleman — Knee, likely to miss multiple weeks Sammy Watkins — Head, was unable to return in Week 2 Tyrod Taylor — Missed Sunday's game due to complications from a pre-game injection for a rib injury Cam Akers — Separated rib cartilage, considered day to day Malcolm Brown — Fractured pinky, expected to be available for Week 3 Sterling Shepard — Turf toe, likely to miss a few weeks DJ Chark — Chest, limited at practice Monday |
| It's worth noting, we did receive some good news on the following three players Monday, and we'll take any of that we can get: |
| Chris Godwin — Cleared NFL concussion protocol Monday Kenny Golladay — Hamstring, will return in Week 3 after missing first two games Davante Adams — Hamstring, likely could have played in Week 2 if needed |
| Here's what you need to know about as we get ready for Week 3: |
⬆Week 3 Waiver Wire (link here when we published the column) 📌Week 3 Rankings Survey
🔁MNF Review and Week 2 Winners and Losers
⁉Believe It or Not: Week 2's biggest storylines |
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| ⬆Week 3 Waiver Wire |
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| Head here for Jamey Eisenberg's full waiver wire priority lists for each position, but these are his top targets heading into Week 3: |
| QB — Gardner Minshew and Ryan Fitzpatrick: Minshew was treated as something of a novelty act as a rookie, but he currently leads the 2019 rookie QB class with 27 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. What if he's just, y'know … good? The Jaguars actually have a decent amount of talent on the offensive side of the ball, especially at wide receiver, and a great matchup against the Dolphins on Thursday night makes him a potential top-12 QB. And it's not just a streaming situation, because Minshew has the Bengals, Texans and Lions right after that before the bye. It's not inconceivable Minshew enters Week 8 as a top-six QB. RB — Mike Davis and Darrell Henderson: If Malcolm Brown's finger injury keeps him out for Week 3, Henderson probably has more upside for this week, but I really like Davis as the fill-in for McCaffrey. He's a solid runner and pass catcher who should be able to handle both jobs for the Panthers. He shouldn't get as much work as McCaffrey usually gets, but he might not be far off. WR — Russell Gage and N'Keal Harry: Gage is a distant third when it comes to talent in the Falcons receiving corps, and he figures to be a distant third in Fantasy production, too. But there are enough opportunities here for that to be enough to make him a top-36 wide receiver moving forward. He's not a must-start option, but with 15 catches for 160 yards and a score through two games, he needs to be added everywhere he's available. TE — Mike Gesicki and Dalton Schultz: Gesicki isn't really a tight end, but you get to use him there, and we saw how much upside he has in Week 2 when he caught eight passes for 130 yards and a touchdown. Maybe that was just a fluke, but he runs so many routes and sees so many downfield targets that this kind of weekly upside is always there, and that's hard to find at tight end. |
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| 📌Week 3 Rankings Survey |
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| Every week I like to put together a little survey for the Fantasy Football Today crew to answer about the upcoming waiver run and their rankings for the upcoming scoring period. Jamey Eisenberg, Dave Richard, Heath Cummings and Adam Aizer's responses are up on CBSSports.com, and here's my perspective on those big questions: |
| 1. Who is your top waiver-wire target for Week 3? |
| I think the consensus is going to be Mike Davis, who figures to see a lot of work over the next month or so. Davis is no McCaffrey, obviously, but he locked up the backup job pretty quickly in training camp, and figures to see plenty of work in both the passing and running game. I think Davis could be a top-15 back in McCaffrey's absence. |
| 2. What are your expectations for Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey's replacements? |
| Figuring out what to expect from the Giants backfield is a much tougher question. First of all, Wayne Gallman was a healthy scratch in Week 2, but could very well be the starter in Week 2 over Dion Lewis. Plus, the Giants are reportedly bringing Devonta Freeman in for a tryout and could sign him. I'll make it easy for you: In all likelihood, none of them will be much more than a fringe starting option until one of them proves it. |
| 3. Which player helped himself most long term in Week 2? |
| It has to be Leonard Fournette, who benefited from a Ronald Jones fumble — technically a Tom Brady fumble, but not in Bruce Arians' eyes — for a big breakout game. Is he guaranteed to be the starter moving forward in Tampa Bay? Not necessarily, but it feels like Arians is looking for any reason to give the job to Fournette, and he may have found it. |
| 4. Which player hurt himself most long term in Week 2? |
| I'm going to go with Preston Williams, who was unable to take advantage of DeVante Parker's injury in Week 1 and struggled again in Week 2, including a dropped touchdown in the Dolphins failed comeback effort. He deserves some time to get his feet under him as he comes back from his ACL injury, but that doesn't mean you need to hang on to him while he does. Parker is the No. 1 option here, and that isn't changing anytime soon, it looks like. |
| 5. Who are three players you are starting in Week 3 who weren't drafted as starters? |
| Joshua Kelley, Russell Gage, Gardner Minshew. Kelley looked like a lotto ticket you might have to wait on back in draft season, but through two weeks, he's tied with Austin Ekeler for the fifth-most carries in the NFL. He looks like a legitimate No. 2 Fantasy RB for Week 3 against the Panthers. |
| 6. Who are three players you drafted in the first half of drafts who you are dropping? |
| Rob Gronkowski, Emmanuel Sanders, Matt Breida. We could throw Austin Hooper in there with Gronkowski, too. There are just too many interesting tight ends out there, most notably Mike Gesicki, who is a must-add after his massive Week 2 breakout. But I would also drop either for Mo Alie-Cox, Jordan Reed, or Jonnu Smith for Week 3. |
| 7. Who is your top streaming QB, TE and DST? |
| Gardner Minshew, Mo Alie-Cox — if Gesicki isn't available — and the Buccaneers. If the Bucs aren't available, then the Colts or Chargers. |
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| 🔁MNF Review and Week 2 Winners and Losers |
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| The Saints missed Michael Thomas — a lot. Drew Brees may not be able to elevate an undermanned offense anymore. Here's what you need to know from this game, and then catch up on every other game in Week 2 with my recap for all 16 here: |
| Winner: Tre'Quan Smith. Looks like we've found our Thomas replacement. Obviously, you shouldn't expect that kind of production from Smith, but he was second on the team in snaps and routes run in Week 1 behind Thomas, and he looks like he'll be the No. 1 target with Thomas gone — or maybe No. 2 behind Alvin Kamara. Loser: Emmanuel Sanders. Sanders was third on the team in snaps and routes run at wide receiver in Week 1, and he didn't get his first catch until the fourth quarter Monday. He had just 71 yards in the 49ers playoff run last season and may just be done as a significant contributor. One number to know: No player on the Raiders besides Darren Waller had more than three targets. He has a 35.3% target share through two games. One thing you may have missed: Josh Jacobs left the game in the fourth quarter with what appeared to be a quad or hip injury and it was hard not to panic about that given the way Sunday went. But he was able to return shortly thereafter to ice the game. Not his best performance ever, but he did get three of the four Raiders RB targets, and his nine targets through two games are more than he had in any stretch last season. |
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