With all of the craziness surrounding the Wild Card round of the NFL playoffs, fantasy players need to look into the NFL injury report and break down who to trust. Below is start/sit advice for DFS lineups based on injury news and notes.
NFL Wild Card Weekend Fantasy Football Injury News
Elijah Mitchell – RB – San Francisco 49ers
Mitchell did not practice on Wednesday, but that appeared to be more cautionary, as he got in a limited practice on Thursday. It seems as though the 49ers are making sure to not re-aggravate the injury Mitchell was dealing with late in the season, resulting in him missing multiple games. The likelihood that he suits up on Sunday against the Cowboys is quite high, and with the Cowboys run defense ranking 16th in run DVOA, Mitchell should put up huge numbers this week.
JuJu Smith-Schuster – WR – Pittsburgh Steelers
Ian Rapoport reported that Smith-Schuster had no issues in practice yesterday. The belief is that he is currently trending towards playing, which is shocking since virtually no one saw him coming back for their matchup against the Chiefs. If he is able to go at a full workload, this could severely limit the targets of Ray-Ray McCloud, who had at least eight targets in the last three games. Even if Smith-Schuster is able to return at such a cheap price across sites, McCloud is still an excellent option, especially since the team will be throwing a lot.
Tyreek Hill – WR – Kansas City Chiefs
Hill practiced in a limited fashion on Thursday. Last week he was hurt in pre-game prior to facing off against the Broncos. He played at points, but it was far from his normal usage, with only an 18.7% snap share. This is a situation to monitor up until game time.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire – RB – Kansas City Chiefs
Edwards-Helaire was able to practice limited on Wednesday, but on Thursday he did not practice. It is entirely possible that he will practice today and that this was just a scenario where they let him rest on Thursday, but it could also mean that things got worse for him. If he plays, he will be the lead back with some solid upside to run the ball out late in the game. If he is not able to suit up, then Darrel Williams will step into the lead role. Williams has played quite well when he was called upon to play in Edwards-Helaire’s absences this season, and he was able to practice on Thursday.
Miles Sanders – RB – Philadelphia Eagles
Sanders practiced in a limited fashion on Thursday. Reports say he is on track to start depending on if he is able to practice today. If he does not suit up, look to Boston Scott. While Nick Sirianni gave Jordan Howard a lot of carries early in the season, the last time the two suited up with Sanders out, Scott had 14 rushes for 47 yards and two touchdowns and four receptions for 39 yards. Howard only had 11 carries for 26 yards.
Emmanuel Sanders – WR – Buffalo Bills
Sanders does not have an injury designation this week against the Patriots following a two-week absence to end the season. In his absence, Gabriel Davis stepped into Sanders’s role. The last time these two teams faced off in Week 16, Isaiah McKenzie had 11 receptions on 12 targets for 125 yards and a touchdown. Sanders should return to his role, but consistency has not been there for him all season. He is worth a shot due to the Bills offense being one of the best in the NFL, but he is far from a safe option.
Tee Higgins – WR – Cincinnati Bengals
There were some worries about Higgins’ availability earlier in the week after reports of him being limited in practice. However, Zac Taylor stated that Higgins will be active to face the Raiders on Saturday. Despite Ja’Marr Chase having an amazing season, the offense spreads the ball around enough for Higgins to have a fantastic season as well. This game should be a back-and-forth affair between the Bengals and Raiders, so expect a high-scoring game out of Higgins.
Chase Edmonds – RB – Arizona Cardinals
Edmonds should be good to go, as he stated himself that he will be playing on Monday against the Rams. James Conner is currently a game-time decision, but since this game is on Monday, it is very possible that they will both be able to play. Connor was not seen at practice on Friday, which would point towards him missing. If he sits, then Edmonds is in the perfect situation to succeed. The two have not played together since the middle of December against the Lions. In that game Conner performed as the better back, but not by a wide margin. With that said, Conner has looked like the better of the two all season, so assume he will be the leader in touches.
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