Fantasy News

Latavius Murray gets fed 32 touches against the Bears.

Murray carried 27 times for 119 yards and two touchdowns along with five receptions for 31 yards in the Saints’ Week 7 victory at Chicago. New Orleans was not afraid to pound the rock against the Bears defense, and Murray received good blocking and continuously gashed the Chicago defense all afternoon in the Saints’ convincing win to move to 6-1. Alvin Kamara had been hogging most of the reps in the backfield this season (which is understandable considering his talent), but Murray is a very good runner and one of the league’s most underrated players—it’s not surprising to see him do this type of damage with more touches. As the Saints look to keep Kamara fresh and healthy, there’s no question Murray is going to be more of a factor moving forward, and he should be picked up in any fantasy leagues he’s been dropped in. If Kamara remains out with his ankle injury next week, Murray will be a great fantasy option versus the Cardinals.

10/21/19 - 08:45 AM ET

Alvin Kamara (ankle/knee) officially did not practice today.

It’s only Wednesday, but this isn’t a great start to the week for Kamara. The Saints might ultimately want to take things as slow as possible in a long season, especially with the bye coming up next week. We’ll see if the star running back can hit the practice field in some capacity tomorrow.

10/23/19 - 05:17 PM ET

Lamar Jackson keeps it going on the ground as the Ravens improve to 5-2.

Jackson was just 9/20 for 143 yards passing, but he had 14 carries for 116 yards and one touchdown on the ground while leading Baltimore to a big win at Seattle. The passing numbers for Jackson were not impressive, but he dealt with a few drops and would have had a better day statistically if not for those drops. The Seahawks were apparently planning to spy Jackson and not allow the former Heisman Trophy winner to beat them with his legs, but the second-year quarterback looks basically unstoppable on the ground, with elite speed and acceleration along with underrated toughness and slipperiness on inside runs. Jackson is currently sixth in the NFL in rushing, which has made him an elite fantasy asset this season. Despite talk of Jackson wanting to throw the ball and not run a lot this season, he’s going to do whatever it takes to win games, and his legs are too great of a weapon not to use often. The Ravens now have their bye week before a very difficult matchup against New England in Week 9.

10/21/19 - 08:41 AM ET

Drew Brees (thumb) was officially limited in today’s practice.

Brees said “the plan” is for him to start this Sunday against the Cardinals, but a limited practice to start the week indicates he might not be quite at 100%. That said, Brees might have just been taking things slow as he gets back into form. Brees should get up to a full practice tomorrow or Friday.

10/23/19 - 05:16 PM ET

Mark Walton leads Miami’s backfield in Week 7.

Walton carried 14 times for 66 yards against a tough Bills run defense, and he also had one reception that went for -8 yards. The University of Miami product’s 15 touches were more than Kenyan Drake (nine touches) and Kallen Ballage (three touches) combined, and he appears to be the clear lead ball-carrier in the backfield after the past couple of weeks. This is quite the turnaround for Walton after off-field issues had him released by the Bengals in the offseason, but he’s still on the league’s worst team in a backfield committee where he doesn’t receive most of the receiving work (that goes to Drake) or goal-line work (Ballage is the team’s goal-line back). He’s certainly worth a pickup as someone that at least gets the football, but he’s not quite a must-start fantasy asset yet—a trade of Drake at the trade deadline would help his fantasy value, though.

10/21/19 - 08:36 AM ET

Josh Gordon believes he will be healthy enough to play soon, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.

And NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that Gordon dealt with bone bruises in his knee before his injury against the Giants and that it was not actually a new injury, adding that the Patriots are expected to release Gordon off injured reserve when he is fully healthy. So while Gordon appears done in New England, the talented receiver should get another opportunity with a different team soon. Despite some issues staying on the field throughout his career, we would think multiple teams will be interested in taking a chance on Gordon. Hopefully you didn’t immediately drop him from your fantasy roster when he was placed on injured reserve by the Patriots.

Via: Mike Garafolo 10/23/19 - 05:12 PM ET

Chase Edmonds goes off in Week 7.

Edmonds carried 27 times for 126 yards and three touchdowns along with two receptions for 24 yards in the Cardinals’ victory over the Giants. All three of Edmonds touchdowns were 20+ yard scores, and he became just the sixth player in NFL history with three 20+ yard rushing touchdowns in a game (and the first since Doug Martin in 2012). And Edmonds went to school in the Bronx at Fordham, so it must have felt great to play exceptionally well in the New York/New Jersey game. Coming into the game, David Johnson (ankle) was active and appeared set to get his usual workload, but Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury said after the game that DJ would be used in only an emergency situation, so it was Edmonds that unexpectedly carried the load for Arizona while most people had Johnson in lineups and Edmonds on the bench. Hopefully there’s more clarity on the backfield situation for next week against the Saints, but it won’t be surprising if the Cardinals don’t shed any light on Johnson’s status. The bottom line is Edmonds has earned a bigger role in the Cardinals backfield with his play this season and should be owned in all fantasy leagues.

10/21/19 - 08:31 AM ET