NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reports that the Raiders are releasing S Johnathan Abram. It's a surprising move, given that Abram has just a half-season left on his rookie contract. The former 1st-round pick has been rumored to be on the trading block since at least this past offseason. He remained a starter through the first 6 games of this season. That playing time fell off the past 2 games, though. Abram will now be free to find a new team, while the Raiders move forward with Duron Harmon and Trevon Moehrig as the starters.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Tuesday that RB Ezekiel Elliott (knee) is expected back for this weekend's game vs. the Packers. We'll get Dallas' 1st practice report of the week tomorrow.
Bengals RB Joe Mixon scored a ridiculous 55.1 PPR points in a Week 9 win over Carolina. He had 171 total yards and 4 scores…at halftime. He finished with 5 scores, providing one of the highest-scoring fantasy performances of all-time. A plus matchup helped, and it came at a time in which Mixon appeared to be hitting a wall. He’ll look to stay hot against Pittsburgh following a Week 10 bye.
Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill led the team with a 26.6% target share in Week 9. As a result, he posted another monster fantasy line: 7 catches, 143 yards and 1 score. Hill continues to create separation with ease. And it’s hard to see a dud creeping up here, as a hyper-accurate Tua Tagovailoa continuously feeds his playmakers. Jaylen Waddle contributed 5-85-1, giving him 85+ yards in 4 straight. Both guys are top-5 PPR WRs entering a Week 10 date with Cleveland.
Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa kept the party going against Chicago, tossing for 302 yards and 3 TDs. His scores went to Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and Jeff Wilson. The 3rd-year QB now ranks 1st league-wide in YPA, QBR and passer rating. He’s top-5 in completion rate and INT rate. We simply can’t say enough about his growth -- and the job done by HC Mike McDaniel. Week 10 brings a home matchup with a Cleveland squad coming off a bye.
The Dolphins split RB touches close to 50/50 in a Week 9 win over Chicago. Raheem Mostert totaled 9 carries and 2 targets; new Dolphin Jeff Wilson handled 9 carries and 3 targets. Mostert scored on the ground from 1 yard out, while Wilson scored on a 10-yard reception out of the backfield. Look for a workload split to remain in place going forward, making both guys low-end RB2s/FLEXs for the road ahead.
Bears QB Justin Fields went off against Miami in Week 9, rushing 15 times for 178 yards and 1 score. Oh, and he added 3 TDs through the air. The ground game was really rolling, though, as Fields’ yardage marked a single-game record for a QB. There simply aren’t many QBs that can move the way he does. And it’s clear that designed runs are becoming a bigger part of the offense. Fields’ passing scores went to Darnell Mooney and Cole Kmet (2). Chase Claypool was a non-factor (2-13) but did garner a 21.4% target share. As Claypool gets up to speed, Fields’ fantasy value only figures to strengthen. He has an excellent 2-game stretch coming up: vs. Detroit and at Atlanta.
Chargers TE Gerald Everett tallied 5 catches for 36 yards in a Week 9 win over Atlanta. He dropped 1 pass that would have gone for at least 20 yards. His 8 targets were right in line with expectation — but the yardage certainly underwhelmed. On 43 Justin Herbert pass attempts, Everett’s 8 targets actually tied for 3rd on the team with fill-in WR Michael Bandy. The TE should remain busy this week at San Francisco with Mike Williams (and likely Keenan Allen) sidelined.
Steelers HC Mike Tomlin was asked on Tuesday about his backfield coming out of the bye week and said this: "...when we were talking about a division of labor and who's done what and who's done well, I know that was a topic of discussion and very evident in our tape review." Tomlin went on to praise RB Jaylen Warren. "We've gotten some awesome contributions from Jaylen and it's reasonable to expect that to continue," Tomlin said. "He's a quality back that's made some plays." We'd be very surprised if an undrafted rookie supplanted Najee Harris, a former 1st-round pick, as Pittsburgh's lead back, but it sounds like Warren could be in for a bigger role going forward. He's worth stashing as we wait to see what the Steelers' backfield looks like vs. the Saints this weekend.
Falcons TE Kyle Pitts caught 2 of 7 targets for 27 yards in Week 9. And…we’re back to reality. After a huge Week 8, Pitts posted fewer than 5 PPR points for the 5th time this season. He dropped 1 pass, but the poor output wasn’t all his fault. He shook free for what could have been a 72-yard TD, only to get overthrown by Marcus Mariota. He was slightly overthrown on an end zone target later in the game, too. He’ll look to rebound against the Panthers in Week 10. Pitts posted 80 yards and a score against Carolina in Week 8.
Saints LB Pete Werner left Monday night's loss to the Ravens with an ankle injury. We'll see about the severity this week. New Orleans heads to Pittsburgh on Sunday. EDGE Marcus Davenport also left the game early with a calf injury. He shouldn't be in IDP plans even when healthy at this point, though.
Niners DL Arik Armstead said Monday his return to action is "coming soon," according to NBC Sports Bay Area. Armstead revealed that he has been recovering from a hairline fracture in his left ankle. That plus plantar fasciitis in his left foot have kept him out since Week 4. We'll see whether Armstead is ready for Sunday's game against the Chargers.
Falcons RB Cordarrelle Patterson returned from a knee injury to post 13 carries for 44 yards and 2 scores. He added 1 catch for 9 yards. Caleb Huntley and Tyler Allgeier combined for 17 carries for the run-heavy Falcons, with Allgeier impressing at 9.9 YPC. C-Patt saw the team’s only 2 carries inside the 5, though, and he turned both into scores. He looked back to pre-injury form following a 5-week layoff. The veteran will look to keep rolling Thursday night at Carolina.
Chargers RB Austin Ekeler continued his hot steak in Atlanta, posting 2 TDs and 71 total yards. He added 7 catches (20.9% target share) for a team missing Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. Isaiah Spiller and Sony Michel mixed in for 8 carries (vs. 14 for Ekeler), but it was Ekeler who saw all of the critical red zone work. His scores came from 1 and 2 yards out. The 27-year-old has now tallied 24+ PPR points in 5 straight. Next up -- a tough San Francisco defense that's allowed only 4 total RB scores this season.
Missing Keenan Allen and Mike Williams due to injuries, Chargers QB Justin Herbert managed only 245 yards and 1 TD in Week 9. He added 1 INT on 43 attempts — T-3rd-most on the week. Forced to play hero ball while dealing with 4 dropped passes, Herbert wound up with the 4th highest PFF passing grade. Week 10 turns up a much tougher road matchup at San Francisco. Herbert will likely remain without both Allen and Williams, too.
Lions LB Malcolm Rodriguez injured his right elbow on the 1st possession of Sunday's win over the Packers. He returned to the game with a brace on it, but wound up playing much less than usual (19 snaps). The rookie trailed Alex Anzalone and Derrick Barnes in that category. "He was able to go back in, do a little bit but I know he irritated it," HC Dan Campbell told the Detroit Free Press on Monday. "We’ll see where he feels over the next few days." Plan on not having Rodriguez in your Week 10 IDP lineups. We'll see whether Barnes can be an option. Anzalone has spent all season as a full-timer.
The Raiders placed LB Divine Deablo on IR Monday with a forearm injury that knocked him out of Sunday's loss to the Jaguars. He'll now miss at least the next 4 games, making Deablo droppable in most IDP leagues. Blake Martinez filled in and led Raiders LBs in playing time at Jacksonville, collecting a game-high 11 tackles. He looks like a strong IDP option over the next month. LB Denzel Perryman checked in just behind Martinez with 10 tackles against the Jaguars but played just 75% of snaps vs. Martinez's 91%.
Cardinals S Budda Baker suffered a high-ankle sprain in Sunday's loss to the Seahawks and will miss at least 1 game. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport says the team hopes to get him back in 2-3 weeks. Arizona has just 3 more games before its Week 13 bye. We'll see about Baker's status heading into the Week 11 home date with the 49ers. For this week, Chris Banjo is the next man up at safety. LB-DB hybrid Isaiah Simmons might factor into the replacement plan as well.
Packers WR Christian Watson did not sustain a concussion in Sunday's loss to the Lions, HC Matt LaFleur said. Watson took a hit to the chest, lost his breath but was held out only as a precaution after he was concussed in Week 8 in Buffalo, LaFleur explained. Watson has cleared concussion protocol already and will be available for this weekend's game vs. the Cowboys.
Bills HC Sean McDermott didn't give much of an update on QB Josh Allen's elbow injury on Monday. "We're going through it. We're evaluating. We'll see where it goes," McDermott said. "I'll probably be able to check in with you guys on Wednesday." The Athletic's Joe Buscaglia notes that "we're evaluating" is a common line from McDermott on Mondays and says, "I wouldn't draw any conclusions, either good or bad, from just those answers today." ESPN's Chris Mortensen, meanwhile, reports that Allen's injury is to his ulnar collateral ligament and related nerves. That's notable because Allen missed 4 games as a rookie back in 2018 with a UCL injury. We'll continue to keep a close eye on the situation.
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