Fantasy Football Newspage: Saturday, September 10
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Here are the key notes for Saturday, September 10:
Markus Wheaton ruled out
Steelers will be without WR Markus Wheaton (shoulder) Monday vs. Redskins. He did not practice today and was declared out for the game.
— Ed Bouchette (@EdBouchette) September 10, 2016
Fantasy Impact: With Wheaton out, expect WRs Sammie Coates, Darrius Heyward-Bey and Eli Rogers to receive more snaps on offense. However, all three are tough to trust outside of deep leagues and daily fantasy.
Hill, not Bradford, likely under center for Vikings Week 1
NFL Insider Ian Rapoport tweets that the Vikings have informed their players that veteran Shaun Hill will likely be the starting quarterback for the team's Week 1 matchup with the Tennessee Titans. This comes one week after the team gave up a package including a first-round pick for Eagles QB Sam Bradford.
Fantasy Impact: This isn't a major shock; one week is not enough time for anyone to learn an entire playbook, let alone a team's signal-caller. This was going to be a run-heavy day to begin with, but having Hill under center cements the projections that RB Adrian Peterson should get a ton of carries. Bradford's skills will give the receivers a higher ceiling but he's not ready yet.
Dolphins' Ajayi a healthy scratch; Foster unchallenged for snaps
Dolphins beat writer Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald reports RB Jay Ajayi will be a healthy scratch Week 1 after not even making the trip to Seattle. This comes after Ajayi was said to be "upset over being demoted." The second-year player was set to back up veteran Arian Foster, who was acquired in the offseason.
Fantasy Impact: This kills whatever limited appeal Ajayi had heading into a daunting Week 1 matchup with the Seahawks' defensive front. Hopefully, Foster's owners in season-long formats can look elsewhere; in daily fantasy, Foster is exclusively a tournament contrarian play. He will almost certainly see an overwhelming majority of the snaps on offense.
Matt Jones: expects to play in opener
The Washington Post's Mike Jones reports that Washington RB Matt Jones practiced from Wednesday to Friday and the player expects to be active against the Steelers. Head coach Jay Gruden clarified that the team will "only find out Monday night." Jones, the incumbent at the position, missed the final two weeks of the preseason with a partially-separated shoulder.
Fantasy Impact: It's hard to trust Jones, who wasn't exactly lighting it up last season. Throw in a matchup with Pittsburgh -- who held opponents to the fifth-lowest total yards rushing -- and his fantasy backers could be in for a major let-down. Washington arguably has the worst RB corps in the game, so don't even bother looking further down the depth chart.