| |  | | Tuesday, December 5, 2023 | | It's only fitting that we couldn't get out of Week 13 with one more significant injury. | In a week – in a season, really – defined by a seemingly endless torrent of significant, landscape-altering injuries, we were hit with yet another one Monday night, as Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence suffered what looked like a serious lower leg injury Monday night against the Bengals. Lawrence got stepped on by one of his linemen during the fourth quarter and then got bent over at the knee. Lawrence immediately slammed the turf with his helmet in frustration and then took a long, labored, assisted walk back to the locker room. | As of late Monday night, we don't know the extent of the injury, but initial reports seem to suggest Lawrence may have avoided a worst-case scenario, with Adam Schefter reporting that initial testing showed a sprained ankle. Of course, he'll still need to undergo follow-up testing, including likely imaging, to determine the full extent of the injury, and he did have crutches and a walking boot with him in the locker room after the game. | | | Which is to say, we just don't know yet, though coach Doug Pederson did tell reporters Tuesday that it is a high-ankle sprain, which implies a multi-week absence. It's hard to have much confidence in a best-case scenario when this season has given us so many examples of the opposite, including on the opposite sidelines Monday night in the form of Joe Burrow in sweats, recovering from wrist surgery. This season has just seen so many significant injuries, especially at the QB position, where I count 10 out of 30 teams likely to be without their starting QB in Week 14 – and that's not counting guys like Justin Fields and Kyler Murray who are back but who missed significant chunks of time already. | Hopefully, Lawrence will be fine and this will go down as a rare instance where our doomsaying was simply an overreaction, because otherwise, Monday's game was pretty fun. That was especially true for the Bengals, who won 34-31 on a walkoff field goal in overtime behind a huge performance by Jake Browning. Browning passed for 354 yards and one score, with Ja'Marr Chase stepping up like true superstars do, catching 11 of 12 passes for 149 yards and a touchdown. He won't do that every week, but it was nice to see he's still capable of that kind of upside performance without Joe Burrow. | There will surely be down weeks for Chase coming up, but that's exactly why you can't sit a player of his caliber. I wrote about something similar with Garrett Wilson Monday in my wide receiver rankings piece, where even Wilson's struggles of late aren't enough to chase me off a player of his talent level. And, well, Chase is even more talented. It wasn't as good of a game for Tee Higgins in his return from a three-game absence due to a hamstring injury, and I'm ranking him closer to someone like Calvin Ridley , who had just 26 yards coming off two big performances. They're both boom-or-bust wide receivers, worth starting because they're talented enough to make enough big plays, but probably not top-25 options every week – especially with backup quarterbacks in the game. | | | | We'll have more updates on Lawrence and the rest of the injured players from last week in tomorrow's newsletter, hopefully, though we'll surely have to follow some of those injuries throughout the week. We're used to it by this point, but that won't make managing it all any easier as the playoffs loom. | | In the interest of full disclosure, I'm still alive with something to play for in 12 of my 15 leagues, which isn't so bad. I've locked up a playoff spot in 10 of my leagues, and I'm basically in win-and-in mode in the remaining three, with 6-7 records in all three. It hasn't been my best season ever as a player – and it's definitely been the toughest I've ever had as an analyst – but to still have so much to play for in the final week of the regular season feels pretty good. | Hopefully you've all still got plenty to play for this week, too, and we're here to help make sure you're in the best position possible to keep moving on. In today's newsletter, that means we're getting into Jamey Eisenberg's top waiver-wire targets for Week 14, plus you're getting your first look at my rankings for this all-important week. Let's make sure we're ready for the playoffs: | | | | | | |  | | I say something like this every week, but I really mean it this week: Try to wait as long as you can to lock in your waiver-wire bids tonight. Not to belabor the point, but there's just a ton of injury news that is going to significantly impact how you want to approach your bidding tonight, and you want as much information as possible. Ideally, that would come in the form of practice reports, but unless you wait until Wednesday night -- a policy I'm seriously reconsidering administering in my leagues next year! -- we're not going to have them. But hopefully we'll get some updates on at least a few of the most relevant injuries today. It could dramatically change how we're viewing some of the top options here. | | For now, here are Jamey's top-five targets for Week 14: | | Jamey Eisenberg's top targets | - Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Patriots (64%) – Rhamondre Stevenson suffered a sprained right ankle Sunday against the Chargers, and in this spot, even if the injury wasn't significant, it's likely to cost him at least one game. That's because the Patriots face the Steelers Thursday night in Week 14, giving Stevenson just three days to recover. Actually, now just two, as he was held out of Monday's walkthrough as a result of the injury -- and, with it being a high-ankle sprain, it might end up being a multi-week injury, too. I'm expecting Elliott to be the primary back for the Patriots, and have him ranked 21st in my initial Week 14 rankings. It's a dreadful offense, maybe the worst in the NFL, but Elliott might be in line for 15 carries and five targets this week, plus whatever meager goal-line opportunities present themselves. That workload is enough to put him in the RB2 discussion.
- Roschon Johnson, RB, Bears (50%) – Because they were on bye in Week 13, you might have forgotten about Johnson's apparent emergence as the lead back for the Bears the last time they played. He led the team with 75 total yards on 10 carries and five catches, and he played 74% of the snaps, while Khalil Herbert played just 21%. The unknown factor here is how D'Onta Foreman 's absence due to an ankle injury during that game impacted Johnson's usage, and it makes it tough to just declare Johnson a starting-caliber Fantasy option this week. But Johnson is a talented young player with clear upside as a potential three-down back for the Bears, and he's a high priority even with the uncertainty about his role. If what we saw in Week 12 was real, Johnson could be a must-start back down the stretch.
- Tyjae Spears, RB, Titans (66%) – Derrick Henry is not in the concussion protocol as of Monday night, which is a surprise after he missed the end of Sunday's game after a shot to the head. However, Spears is still worth rostering in all Fantasy leagues, both because he has standalone value heading into what figures to be a trailing game script against the Dolphins and because if Henry does end up missing time, Spears could be a top-15 RB. That may not happen in Week 14, but Spears is still one of the best insurance policies in the league right now.
- Kenneth Gainwell, RB, Eagles (37%) – Hey, what do you know, another RB injury to talk about. It's not clear how significant the injury that chased D'Andre Swift from Sunday's game, given how much the Eagles were trailing by at the time he left. However, this is another one where, unless we hear specific details that suggest Swift is going to play in Week 14, Gainwell probably has to be one of the highest priorities on waivers this week, simply because the upside is too great to ignore. Gainwell isn't close to the kind of playmaker Swift is, but he has the trust of his coaching staff and could be in line for 15-plus touches. It's a tough matchup on the road against the Cowboys, but if Swift is out, Gainwell is probably going to rank as a top-25 RB. You want him available to you just in case.
- Isaiah Likely, TE, Ravens (42%) – Likely has been no sure thing when he's played without Mark Andrews, and that's been especially true so far this season – he had four catches for 40 yards in Week 12, and had no catches on two targets when Andrews left after just seven snaps in Week 11. However, if you need a tight end – a reminder, Trey McBride is on bye this week – Likely is probably the best bet you're going to find right now. It's not a sure thing, again. But he's ahead of the "pray for a touchdown" types you typically find on waivers. That's not nothing.
| | My Week 14 Rankings | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | |  | | | | | Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander bring college hoops to your ears, covering the biggest topics from around the sport. Listen Now
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