Football Daily Dose: Dose: Lacy Officially Demoted
It’s hard to believe it’s already Week 10. It still feels like yesterday that the Rotoworld crew was working on the pre-season Draft Guide. The NFL season truly does fly by…
Fortunately, outside of Andrew Luck’s lacerated kidney and abdomen injury that will cause him to miss “at least a month” and Ben Roethlisberger’s foot injury, it seems like Week 10 won’t be complete madness on the injury front. It’s still early in the week, so let’s hope that trend continues as we recap Wednesday’s most important news.
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The Headlines
Packers’ head coach Mike McCarthy said James Starks was their “No. 1 back right now” moving into their Week 10 matchup against the Lions. McCarthy added, “(Starks) has earned that opportunity… We’ll stay with the one-two punch.” It’s nice when a coach says this, but this isn’t necessarily a new development. Starks has played 40-plus percent of snaps over the Packers’ past four games and has out-touched Eddie Lacy during that span (42:37). Since Week 5, Starks has 30 carries for 177 yards (5.90 yards per carry) while Lacy has turned his 33 carries into a paltry 78 yards (2.36 YPC).
Eddie Lacy of 2013 and 2014 is probably not walking through the door in 2015. He’s battled an ankle injury he suffered in Week 2 and recently popped up with a groin issue that cut his Week 9 snaps short. As of right now, there is no reason to believe a dramatic turnaround is in near sight for Lacy.
Calvin Johnson (ankle) said he expects to play in Week 10 against the Packers. He’s had 10-plus days to rest the ankle he injured in Week 8 against the Chiefs. Quietly, Johnson is averaging six receptions, 82.4 yards, and 0.38 touchdowns per-game and could be producing more if the Lions offense didn’t turn into a complete disaster this year. Detroit ranks 30th in offensive points per drive (1.49) and their offensive line grades out 25th in run blocking and 18th in pass protection, per Football Outsiders. Also hurting “Megatron’s” cause: Matthew Stafford is throwing deep (20-plus yards down field) on just 8% of his pass attempts this season, per PFF. In 2012 and 2013 Stafford threw deep on 12.4 and 12.3 percent of his attempts while in 2014, 10.5% of his attempts traveled 20 or more yards in the air.
LeSean McCoy (strained shoulder) and Sammy Watkins (ankle) are both listed as probable for Thursday Night Football against the Jets. This shouldn’t be a surprise. However, the Jets are allowing the fewest amount of fantasy points per rush attempt to opposing running backs (0.38) and are tied for 31st in yards per carry average allowed (3.41).
Watkins will pay a visit to ‘Revis Island’ this week. In 2014 when Darrelle Revis was on the Patriots, Watkins had receiving lines of 2-27 (3 targets) and 1-43 (2 targets) when the ball was thrown to Watkins in Revis’ coverage, per PFF. Revis has allowed five receptions in coverage once this year and is allowing 0.098 fantasy points per snap (ranked 101st lowest of 113 qualified cornerbacks). Watkins is a low-end WR3/flex-option and is someone to avoid on daily sites this week.
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Teddy Bridgewater (concussion) was cleared to practice on Wednesday and is on track to play in Week 10 against the Raiders. Bridgewater was knocked out for a moment in Week 9 after taking a shoulder-to-helmet hit from Rams’ defensive back, LaMarcus Joyner. Oakland is allowing the most passing yards per-game to opposing signal callers (325.13) leaving Bridgewater right in the middle of the “QB2” (top-24) radar for the week, if he is indeed fully cleared to play.
In (somewhat?) of a surprise, Matt Forte (knee) was listed as “limited” at practice on Wednesday. John Fox has routinely misled and manipulated practice reports all year, so this “limited” designation for Forte could be a complete ruse. Per the Chicago Tribune, Forte received a PRP injection last week to help speed up the recovery process for his MCL sprain. Despite the “limited” designation, consider Forte 50-50 at best to play in Week 10 against the Rams. Rookie Jeremy Langford received 21 touches and 74% of the Bears’ snaps in Forte’s absence in Week 9 against the Chargers.
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Quick Hits
DeAngelo Williams (foot) did not practice on Wednesday. He’s expected to play, but his status is worth monitoring. … Malcom Floyd (shoulder) will rehab and attempt to play through a torn labrum for the remainder of the season. This is Floyd’s final year of his career. … Patriots’ OC Josh McDaniels said James White “will have an opportunity to now step in there and play a little bit more” following the loss of Dion Lewis (ACL). … The Titans activated David Cobb (calf) from IR-designated for return meaning Bishop Sankey could potentially be a healthy scratch in Week 10. … Larry Donnell (neck) resumed running on Wednesday. … Antonio Gates (knee) admitted he “is not close to 100%” as the Chargers head into their much-needed bye. … Josh McCown (ribs) was limited in practice on Wednesday. He is expected to start against the Steelers in Week 10. … Allen Hurns (foot) did not practice on Wednesday. … Vincent Jackson (knee) remained sidelined at Bucs’ practice on Wednesday. … Kendall Wright (knee) did not practice on Wednesday. … Finally, Latavius Murray (concussion) did not practice on Wednesday.
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