| | | | Sunday, September 20, 2020 | | How'd your lineups do Sunday? If you're anything like me, you either flirted with a single-game scoring record for your league or Nyheim Hines wasn't even your worst player. There was nothing in between. It was a week of extremes for me, and I'd bet for a lot of you out there. And injuries were to blame. | | There was a simply shocking number of significant injuries Sunday, especially during the early slate of games. By halftime of the first group of games, Saquon Barkley, Cam Akers, Jimmy Garoppolo, Raheem Mostert, Drew Lock and Parris Campbell had all been ruled out for the rest of the game, and they were joined by several other names, big and small. There were already a ton of significant injuries to deal with from Week 1, and now navigating all of these new ones is going to require a lot of flexibility. | | And a good deal of know-how. That's what I'm here to help with. I've got a run down of the top early waiver-wire targets for Week 3 based on Sunday's news and biggest performances, plus we're going through each of Sunday's significant injuries to figure out the Fantays implications. Because there are quite a few of them. | | Here's what we covered Sunday at CBS Fantasy: | | ➕Early Week 3 Waiver Wire 🚑Saquon Barkley's season over? 🆘Week 2 Injury Tracker: McCaffrey, Lock, more in question | | | | ➕Early Week 3 Waiver Wire | | | | There are plenty of high-upside options are every position you'll be chasing after on the waiver wire for Week 3, but as with last week, the focus is going to be on the running back position. Partially, that's because of all those high-profile injuries, but also because another week gave us another round of answers about some of the most important backfield questions. | | Here are the top running backs I'll be chasing on waivers this week: | | Darrell Henderson, Rams — I had Malcolm Brown as the top running back to add on waivers last week, so of course, his backfield mate is the top add for Week 3. It might sound like flip-flopping, but in this case, Cam Akers' injury could make both of them formidable Fantasy options. The Rams have created a ton of value in their running game in the early going, and if Akers is out, both Brown and Henderson could be viable starters. Jerick McKinnon/Tevin Coleman, 49ers — At the very least, McKinnon looks like he hasn't really lost a step since missing two seasons with knee troubles. He was explosive Sunday, rushing for 77 yards on three carries with a touchdown, but he also played just seven snaps after Raheem Mostert left with a knee injury at halftime. Coleman was much less productive but played a much larger role and should be viewed as the likelier of the two to play a significant role in Week 3 if Mostert is out. It's less interesting to go after Coleman given how McKinnon has looked, but unless McKinnon sees a significantly larger role moving forward, it's the smarter play. Mike Davis, Panthers — Nobody can replace McCaffrey, but it's likely the Panthers will ask Davis to do just that. McCaffrey left Sunday's game in the fourth quarter and Davis came out and played 18 snaps in that final frame as the Panthers were chasing points and had seven receptions for 70 yards. Dion Lewis, Giants — You can make a case that Lewis should be higher on this list, given that Barkley is likely out for the year, but I'm hedging just in case the Giants bring in someone like Devonta Freeman to be the primary option. Wayne Gallman was a healthy scratch so he could have a role next week, but Lewis would be the back to target anyway here. He could be a No. 3 PPR back if he's the primary option. Myles Gaskin, Dolphins — Gaskin was totally overlooked in the last waiver run, but he confirmed he is the Dolphins No. 1 back again Sunday, playing 36 snaps to Matt Breida's 14 and Jordan Howard's six. Gaskin's role in the passing game makes him the back to target here, though he still doesn't need to be a huge priority. But it might be worth throwing a low-dollar FAB bid out there to see if you can add him to the end of your roster while everyone else is chasing the bigger fish. | | | | 🚑Saquon Barkley's season over? | | | | Heath Cummings broke down the fallout from Barkley's injury Sunday, and it's somewhat hard to get excited about the Giants in-house options. Here's what he had to say: | | "After Barkley left it was all Dion Lewis for the Giants. He carried the ball 10 times for 20 yards and caught four of five targets for 36 yards. This is a bad team with an equally bad offensive line, so it's hard to get too excited about Lewis, especially since we'd expect the team to give some touches to Wayne Gallman as well. Lewis has been a productive back in the past, but mostly in better situations than the 2020 Giants present. Lewis will be a waiver wire priority, but more so in PPR. | | In many leagues there may better replacements for Barkley than Gallman and Lewis. In shallow leagues, Kerryon Johnson re-emerged as a factor in the Lions running game, scoring their first touchdown of Week 2. And after his performance in Week 2, Darrell Henderson looks more desirable as well. And don't hesitate to stash backs like Bryce Love and Devonta Freeman. Love could eventually be the main man in Washington and Freeman appears to be close to joining a team. | | As for the rest of the Giants, this bad offense looks even worse. You can't trust Daniel Jones in anything but a two-quarterback league, and maybe not even there against bad matchups. We have very little clarity on the passing game, but Darius Slayton still has the most upside. At this point you may be better off avoiding all of the Giants in Fantasy." | | | | 🆘Week 2 Injury Tracker: McCaffrey, Lock, more in question | | | | Christian McCaffrey (Ankle) — It was hard to see exactly what happened with McCaffrey, who landed awkwardly on his second touchdown of the game and had trouble getting to his feet. He suffered some kind of ankle injury, however, and was unable to return, which is obviously concerning, especially since the Panthers were only down one score at the time — this wasn't a case of a player being held out of the final quarter as a precaution with the game out of hand. Davante Adams (Hamstring) — Adams was on the sideline with his helmet in the second half Sunday, so it seems like his absence was at least as much about the blowout nature of Green Bay's win than Adam's injury. Of course, we'll still need to watch in the coming days to make sure this isn't more serious than it initially seemed. Drew Lock (Shoulder) — Short-term implications for the Broncos offense aren't good with Lock off the field. Jeff Driskel is a mobile quarterback, but accuracy (59.4% career rate) isn't a strength. No doubt it leaves a lot of concern about Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy and Noah Fant's prospects. Expectations must be lowered for all three. Two of Driskel's 10 career touchdowns have gone to tight ends, however. Jimmy Garoppolo (Ankle) — Garoppolo suffered a high-ankle sprain, Kyle Shanahan told reporters after the game. If Garoppolo has to miss time It may not change much for San Francisco. We've seem Kyle Shanahan get good production out of Nick Mullens before, and Garoppolo hasn't been a must-start option anyway. If anything, George Kittle may be slightly worse with Mullens when he is back from his own knee injury, but not a considerable downgrade. Raheem Mostert (Knee) — Coleman and McKinnon would see a big boost in value and both would be flexes at worst for Week 3. This system has made just about every running back look good in it, including Coleman at times last year. Coleman would be the early down back, with McKinnon handling most passing downs. Cam Akers (Rib) — If this injury isn't a serious one, this could very quickly become one of the most frustrating backfields in the league for Fantasy — Akers was playing a significant role before his injury. Parris Campbell (Knee) — We'll wait on more information, but that looks very much in doubt right now. Rookie Michael Pittman had five targets in the first half and figures to continue to see a larger role if Campbell is sidelined, and should be a waiver wire target heading into Week 2. Sterling Shepard (Toe) — The extent of this injury remains to be seen, but I'm fine dropping him even if it isn't serious. I just don't have much faith in this offense at this point. | | | | | | | | 24/7 Sports News | | Parlay Pick'em | Want your sports news and highlights straight without the noise? Stream CBS Sports HQ on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and more!
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