| | | | Tuesday, September 29, 2020 | | The Titans had three players and five non-player personnel test positive for COVID-19 Tuesday morning and are shutting down their facility and suspending all in-person activities, the team announced Tuesday. Their Week 3 opponent, the Vikings, are also suspending in-person team activities while undergoing testing. | | Here's what we know as this story continues to develop: | | The Titans had their first in-season positive test over the weekend when a coach was placed in the protocol Saturday morning, and the fear is this is the start of an outbreak inside of the team. According to ESPN, the tests have been confirmed positive. We don't know any of the names of those who tested positive, and it is possible we won't know any time soon, but any positive test could result in a multi-week absence. This threatens to put both teams' Week 4 games in doubt. The Titans play the Steelers and the Vikings play the Texans Sunday. The Titans might be shutting down their facility until Saturday. The Titans are on bye in Week 7; the Steelers in Week 8. That means a postponement would require some juggling of the schedule at some point. | | That's pretty much everything we know right know, which isn't much. We'll get more details in the coming hours, but this is an unprecedented situation for the NFL, so the truth is, we just don't know what to expect yet. In MLB, the Cardinals missed 16 days of action following an outbreak, while the Marlins sat out eight straight days following theirs. Both teams saw significant outbreaks that affected around half of the roster at least, however, and that may not end up being the case here. But you should be prepared for the possibility of something similar. | | At the very least, you should be preparing for the very real risk of playing without the Titans and Steelers in Week 4. Derrick Henry, Corey Davis, Jonnu Smith, Ryan Tannehill, Ben Roethlisberger, James Conner, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and the rest should all be viewed as risks for this week given that threat of postponement, which means finding replacements will be necessary. | | This is a totally unknown situation we're in here and we'll try to keep you up to date on everything you need to know. We've got waiver wire priorities from Jamey Eisenberg here to consider and some trade candidates if you need help filling out your roster, plus updates on the latest injuries around the NFL and a recap of Monday Night Football. | | | | Week 4 Waiver Wire Priorities | | Myles Gaskin, RB, Dolphins: 64% — He's the undisputed No. 1 back in Miami. Jeff Wilson, RB, 49ers: 33% — He might be the 49ers' undisputed No. 1 back in Week 4 if Jerick McKinnon (ribs) and Raheem Mostert (knee) can't go. Justin Jefferson, WR, Vikings: 39% — He probably won't be the undisputed No. 1 for the Vikings, but if they pass more, he can be an excellent complement to Adam Thielen. Anthony Miller, WR, Bears: 56% — His downfield-heavy role and the installation of Nick Foles at QB makes Miller an intriguing add. Dalton Schultz, TE, Cowboys : 60% — The top tight end in a high-volume passing offense, Schultz looks like a top-12 guy. | | Head here to check out the rest of Jamey's list of the top priorities for Week 4, but keep reading for even more help, because we're looking at the top buy-low and sell-high candidates in Fantasy after three weeks. Whether you're 3-0 or 0-3, swinging a big trade can be the key to making a playoff run this season, so know who to target. | Five to sell-high, five to buy-low
| | | | Each week, I reach out to Jamey Eisenberg, Dave Richard, Heath Cummings, and Adam Aizer to ask them a bunch of questions about the state of Fantasy Football, their rankings, and more for the upcoming week, because when you've got that direct line to a team of Fantasy experts, you have to use it. Today, two of the questions were about those sell-high and buy-low targets . The names they brought up to buy low on were Deshaun Watson (twice!), Leonard Fournette and JuJu Smith-Schuster, while they said now is the perfect time to try to move Nick Chubb, James Conner, Keenan Allen and Kareem Hunt. | | Here are my top sell-high and buy-low candidates, and you can check out the rest of the Fantasy Football Today team's thoughts on Week 4's biggest questions by heading here: | | Sell High | | Josh Allen (QB2) — Allen does seem legitimately improved, but he's probably playing a bit over his head right now. He's still pretty middling. I think he'll still be a must-start Fantasy option moving forward, but if someone values him like he belongs in the Mahomes/Jackson/Wilson tier, you might be able to get a nice return. Darrell Henderson (RB18) — This one is specific for coming off Week 3. Henderson has been fantastic the past two weeks, but he still split snaps evenly with Malcolm Brown in Week 3. When Cam Akers returns, this is going to be a true three-headed backfield, and it's hard to stand out that way. DK Metcalf (WR5) — As good as Metcalf is, this one is fairly straightforward: He's not going to keep averaging 24.8 yards per catch or 13.5 yards per target. He's definitely a top-15 WR, not a top-five one. Mike Evans (WR18) — This one is null and void if Chris Godwin's hamstring injury forces him to miss significant time, but there are real warning signs here because Evans' target share and average depth of target have collapsed playing with Tom Brady. That was always the fear when Brady signed there. Tyler Higbee (TE4) — A three-touchdown game in Week 2 is really papering over a pretty alarming lack of targets for Higbee. He's being used more like he was before his late-season breakthrough in 2019, when he was largely an afterthought for Fantasy. | | Buy Low | | Joe Mixon (RB37) — This one is pretty straightforward: Mixon's just better than this, and nothing that has happened through three games should have changed your expectation for him this season. Deshaun Watson (QB19) — The schedule-makers threw a gauntlet at Watson in the form of a season-opening run against the Chiefs, Ravens and Steelers. The next four weeks? Vikings, Jaguars, Titans, Packers. Now's the time to buy. David Montgomery (RB24) — Montgomery is a better pass catcher than he gets credit for, and the Bears have shown a willingness to throw it to him down the field. Nick Foles at QB will only help his cause with Tarik Cohen out for the season. Antonio Gibson (RB32) — Gibson has already established himself as Washington's No. 1 rusher, and that was supposed to be the hard part. The lack of receiving work (seven targets) has been frustrating, but we know he can do that effectively, so it's all about him getting that part of the game locked in. He'll be a must-start back once that happens. A.J. Brown (WR-way-too-far-down-to-count) — The person who drafted Brown has to be frustrated getting nothing from him for the first three weeks, and there's still no clear timetable for his return. If you could flip someone like Marquez Valdes-Scantling for Brown, you might be able to pull it off, and Brown still has top-20 upside when he gets healthy. | | | | Monday Night Football Recap | | | | The Chiefs decided to show off, which was fun, but maybe next time, no touchdowns to fullbacks or offensive linemen, huh? | | Winner: Clyde Edwards-Helaire. The debut when he ran for 138 yards was what got everyone excited, but I think the last two weeks have actually highlighted why Edwards-Helaire is already an elite Fantasy option. He hasn't run the ball well (64 yards in Week 3, 38 the previous week) and didn't find the end zone in either, but he's still been a starting Fantasy option because of his passing-game role, catching six passes for 32 yards last week and five for 70 Monday. That wasn't part of his debut, but this kind of passing-game work is going to give Edwards-Helaire a massive ceiling every week and a high floor, too. Loser: Marquise Brown. Nothing went right for the Ravens passing game in Week 3, but Brown was especially bad with his two catches for 13 yards. Brown had a big performance in Week 1, catching five balls for 101 yards, but has just 55 yards on seven catches over the last two. Better days are ahead, but Brown hasn't topped six targets in any game, so that No. 1 role just hasn't been there the way we hoped. He can be a useful Fantasy option, but the breakout season doesn't seem to be happening. Number to know: Mecole Hardman made a big impact, catching four passes for 81 yards and a touchdown on six targets, one of five Chiefs players with at least that many targets. Of course, there's never been any doubt Hardman can break off a big play when he gets the chance, but he still isn't getting many chances — he played just 37% of the snaps in this one, behind Sammy Watkins and Tyreek Hill, sure, but also still behind Demarcus Robinson. Hardman is worth adding and stashing on your bench on the chance he does start to become a bigger part of the offense because we know he'll produce if given the chance, but he'll need to do that before you'll be able to trust him in your lineup. One thing you might have missed: The Chiefs decided to have some fun in this one, throwing to fullback Anthony Sherman for a score and then putting the game away with one to offensive lineman Eric Fisher. Kind of frustrating if you could've used a Travis Kelce touchdown to lock up a win. | | | | Injuries, news and notes | | | | Here's the biggest news from around the NFL you need to know about: | | Chris Carson has a minor knee sprain — Considering that this injury looked pretty serious at the time, this is good news. Carson may not have to miss Week 4 at all, but you may want to add Carlos Hyde as insurance just in case. Chris Godwin is having an MRI on his hamstring injury — Hopefully we'll have some details on this before waivers run tonight, but you should be preparing for Week 4 as if Godwin won't be available. Dallas Goedert (ankle) will likely miss multiple weeks with a fractured ankle — Not what the Eagles needed. If Schultz is available, he should be your top target on waivers tonight; if not, Logan Thomas or Eric Ebron should. Nick Foles is starting for the Bears in Week 4 — I'm not particularly excited about this, but Foles did breathe some life into this offense in the second half Sunday. As long as they keep feeding Allen Robinson, I don't care who is back there — neither Bears QB is a different maker. Tarik Cohen (torn ACL) is on IR — Cordarrelle Patterson should see an increased role, but I'm hoping we see more Montgomery in the passing game as a result of this, and I think we might. He's better than you think in that part of the game. Jordan Reed could miss 6-8 weeks — Hopefully George Kittle will be back this week and we won't have to worry about it, but this is unfortunate for a guy who has had so many injuries derail a promising career. Jon Gruden is "concerned" about injuries to Henry Ruggs (hamstring) and Bryan Edwards (ankle) — Hunter Renfrow was the main beneficiary in Week 3, and he could be a flex option moving forward if both guys have to miss more time. | | | | | | | | 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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