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Sunday, August 29, 2021
All we really want is to see everyone make it through the preseason unscathed, but that's always asking too much. That's just the nature of the game in football -- injuries are going to happen anytime players are on the field, and we saw some pretty big ones this weekend, unfortunately. 
For those of you who already drafted, there isn't much you can do -- though we'll have some early waiver-wire targets for you this week to consider if your first run is coming up before Week 1. For those of you still to draft -- and that's probably about two-thirds of you, based on historical trends -- it's time to update your draft boards. That's what tonight's special Sunday newsletter is all about.
First, to catch you up on the news you need to know about from around the league, beginning with big injuries to J.K. Dobbins, Irv Smith, and T.Y. Hilton, along with a handful of other notes. Then, I've got my latest rankings here for you if you're drafting tonight or early this week. I'll be keeping my rankings fresh throughout the rest of the preseason before switching over to Week 1 next week, and if you want to see the latest updates from Jamey Eisenberg, Dave Richard, and Heath Cummings here. And you can find everything else you need to prepare for your drafts in our Draft Day Cheat Sheet, including sleepers, breakouts, and busts, tiers, and much, much more.
Here's what you need to know right now:
Injuries, News, and Notes
  • J.K. Dobbins suffered a season-ending torn ACL -- This was what we feared when Dobbins left Saturday's game, and tests Sunday confirmed it. Gus Edwards steps into the starting role for the Ravens, presumably, and he'll fly up draft boards over the last 10 days before the start of the season. As well he should, though I'll caution against pushing him into RB2 territory -- his path to a high-end, must-start outcome in PPR is very narrow, and very touchdown dependent. He's a solid starter, but not someone I'm liking to pick where he is likely to be drafted. He's not a top-60 pick for me. You can read more about why here
  • Irv Smith will miss time after knee surgery -- Smith is set to undergo meniscus surgery that is expected to sideline him for "at least" the start of the regular season, according to NFL Network . The thing about meniscus surgeries is, there's no obvious timetable until after the surgery is done, typically. If Smith opts to have the meniscus repaired, he's likely to miss at least a month;  if he opts to have the meniscus removed, he could return within a few weeks, but with much worse long-term prospects. Given that he is expected to miss the start of the season, it seems safe to assume he's looking at more like a 4-6 week timetable for repair, putting him out until at least Week 4, and possibly longer. Smith is a promising breakout candidate, but you can probably leave him undrafted in most leagues -- just look for him in a few weeks when we start to get some positive news about his recovery. With Tyler Conklin also unlikely to be ready for Week 1, it's hard to see any Vikings tight ends being viable for the start of the season, so maybe this means more targets for Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson, and Adam Thielen early on. 
  • T.Y. Hilton "will miss some games" with a neck injury -- This is an incredibly vague situation right now, with coach Frank Reich simply telling reports he doesn't think the injury will be season-ending. So, somewhere between one and 17 weeks, I guess. That's frustrating because I liked Hilton as a potential bounce back candidate. Now, I expect Michael Pittman to be the No. 1 WR for the Colts to start the season, and this clears a path to a breakout for him, while Parris Campbell and Zach Pascal have some early-season sleeper appeal as well. Hilton is worth drafting in most leagues, but I may not touch him if my league doesn't allow IR spots. Also: Keep an eye on rookie Michael Strachan, a seventh-rounder who has drawn rave reviews from Colts camp. He's a fascinating deep sleeper to keep an eye on. 
  • Jameis Winston will start for the Saints in Week 1 -- Taysom Hill will surely have a role, but it's been apparent this should be Winston's job since his brilliant performance in the second preseason game. Winston is a very different type of quarterback from both Hill and the now retired Drew Brees , but his more aggressive, downfield approach introduces some new upside into this offense. Marquez Callaway has shown a rapport with him early, and he's one of the better late-round WR targets -- and Winston gives the now-injured Michael Thomas as much upside as ever once he gets healthy. 
  • Devin Singletary started ahead of Zack Moss again -- For the second straight game, the Bills gave Singletary the start and kept him on the field for a long stretch -- this time, for the entire first quarter. Moss came in for the entire second quarter, essentially, with Moss ending up with four carries and one target, while Singletary earned two targets. This is clearly going to remain a committee, with Singletary likely handling more passing work, though Matt Breida should figure into that as well. Moss should lead the team in carries, but given the likely split plus Josh Allen's role in the red zone, Moss is likely to be just an RB3 at best. This just isn't a good offense for running backs
  • Brandon Aiyuk is dealing with a hamstring injury -- This isn't considered a serious issue, and the 49ers expect Aiyuk to return to practice next week, though it's worth noting just because of how tricky hamstring injuries can be. Aiyuk is a popular breakout candidate, so hopefully this doesn't end up lingering. We'll watch it next week. 
  • Ryan Fitzpatrick will start for Washington -- Ron Rivera has consistently told us this was a competition, but there never actually seemed to be any sign of that, so this isn't a surprise at all. Washington's offense hasn't looked great in the preseason, but Fitzpatrick figures to be an upgrade on Alex Smith, and could help fuel breakouts for Logan Thomas, Terry McLaurin, and Antonio Gibson.  
  • The Eagles acquired Gardner Minshew for a sixth-round pick -- Technically, this amounts to some competition for Jalen Hurts, but things would probably have to go pretty wrong for him before it would matter. Minshew is a fine backup, but he's a pretty unexciting one, so let's just hope Hurts keeps him off the field. 
  • The Colts lost another left tackle -- Sam Tevi suffered a torn ACL and MCL and will miss the rest of the season, which really could create some issues with Eric Fisher unlikely to be ready for the start of the season as he is recovering from a torn Achilles. The left tackle spot has apparently been a consistent issue for the Colts in camp, and it looks like it won't be getting better anytime soon. 
And don't forget, the Fantasy Football Today Draft-A-Thon is this Wednesday, Sept. 1, at 6 p.m. on CBS Sports HQ and the FFT YouTube page. We'll be live all night long helping you prep for your drafts, taking your questions, talking to some of the best analysts from the Fantasy industry, and, of course, raising money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. We've still got plenty of awesome items up for auction on EBay, and you can join our FFT Draft-A-Thon Poker Tournament Monday at 7 p.m. ET, where you'll be playing for a spot in one of our podcast listener's leagues and a private Zoom call with the FFT team. It's all for our friends at St. Jude, so let's play some poker!
I've been sending my rankings out in the newsletter over the last few weeks, but now they've got a home on CBSSports.com through the end of the season. I'll continue to link to them here over the next 10 days, but you'll want to bookmark that link, because I'll be updating them there whenever news -- or inspiration -- hits. 
  1. Patrick Mahomes
  2. Kyler Murray
  3. Lamar Jackson
  4. Josh Allen
  5. Russell Wilson
  6. Dak Prescott
  7. Aaron Rodgers
  8. Jalen Hurts
  9. Ryan Tannehill
  10. Tom Brady
  11. Justin Herbert
  12. Joe Burrow
  1. Christian McCaffrey
  2. Alvin Kamara
  3. Dalvin Cook
  4. Austin Ekeler
  5. Ezekiel Elliott
  6. Joe Mixon
  7. Aaron Jones
  8. Saquon Barkley
  9. Najee Harris
  10. Derrick Henry
  11. Jonathan Taylor
  12. Nick Chubb
  13. David Montgomery
  14. Antonio Gibson
  15. James Robinson
  16. Clyde Edwards-Helaire
  17. D'Andre Swift
  18. Chris Carson
  19. Miles Sanders
  20. Josh Jacobs
  21. Chase Edmonds
  22. Mike Davis
  23. Myles Gaskin
  24. Kareem Hunt
  1. Davante Adams
  2. Stefon Diggs
  3. DeAndre Hopkins
  4. Tyreek Hill
  5. Calvin Ridley
  6. Allen Robinson
  7. A.J. Brown
  8. Justin Jefferson
  9. Keenan Allen
  10. Robert Woods
  11. D.K. Metcalf
  12. Terry McLaurin
  13. Amari Cooper
  14. CeeDee Lamb
  15. Julio Jones
  16. Tyler Lockett
  17. Cooper Kupp
  18. D.J. Moore
  19. Mike Evans
  20. Chris Godwin
  21. Diontae Johnson
  22. Tee Higgins
  23. Adam Thielen
  24. Ja'Marr Chase
  1. Travis Kelce
  2. George Kittle
  3. Darren Waller
  4. Mark Andrews
  5. T.J. Hockenson
  6. Kyle Pitts
  7. Logan Thomas
  8. Noah Fant
  9. Jonnu Smith
  10. Hunter Henry
  11. Dallas Goedert
  12. Tyler Higbee
  1. Christian McCaffrey
  2. Alvin Kamara
  3. Dalvin Cook
  4. Travis Kelce
  5. Austin Ekeler
  6. Davante Adams
  7. Ezekiel Elliott
  8. Joe Mixon
  9. Aaron Jones
  10. Saquon Barkley
  11. Najee Harris
  12. Stefon Diggs
  13. Derrick Henry
  14. George Kittle
  15. Darren Waller
  16. DeAndre Hopkins
  17. Tyreek Hill
  18. Jonathan Taylor
  19. Calvin Ridley
  20. Nick Chubb
  21. Allen Robinson
  22. A.J. Brown
  23. David Montgomery
  24. Clyde Edwards-Helaire
  25. James Robinson
  26. Antonio Gibson
  27. D'Andre Swift
  28. Chris Carson
  29. Justin Jefferson
  30. Keenan Allen
  31. Robert Woods
  32. Miles Sanders
  33. D.K. Metcalf
  34. Terry McLaurin
  35. Amari Cooper
  36. Patrick Mahomes
  37. CeeDee Lamb
  38. Julio Jones
  39. Tyler Lockett
  40. Cooper Kupp
  41. Josh Jacobs
  42. D.J. Moore
  43. Chase Edmonds
  44. Mike Davis
  45. Myles Gaskin
  46. Kyler Murray
  47. Michael Thomas
  48. Lamar Jackson
  49. Mike Evans
  50. Josh Allen
  51. Chris Godwin
  52. Mark Andrews
  53. Diontae Johnson
  54. T.J. Hockenson
  55. Tee Higgins
  56. Russell Wilson
  57. Kareem Hunt
  58. Kyle Pitts
  59. Aaron Rodgers
  60. Adam Thielen
  61. Ja'Marr Chase
  62. Jerry Jeudy
  63. Gus Edwards
  64. Darrell Henderson
  65. Brandon Aiyuk
  66. Deebo Samuel
  67. Corey Davis
  68. Will Fuller
  69. Kenny Golladay
  70. Chase Claypool
  71. Raheem Mostert
  72. Curtis Samuel
  73. Noah Fant
  74. Dak Prescott
  75. Robby Anderson
  76. Kenyan Drake
  77. Brandin Cooks
  78. Javonte Williams
  79. Melvin Gordon
  80. Jalen Hurts
  81. Ryan Tannehill
  82. Logan Thomas
  83. Courtland Sutton
  84. Odell Beckham
  85. Devin Singletary
  86. JuJu Smith-Schuster
  87. D.J. Chark
  88. Laviska Shenault
  89. Tyler Boyd
  90. Emmanuel Sanders
  91. A.J. Dillon
  92. James Conner
  93. Jonnu Smith
  94. Rondale Moore
  95. Jarvis Landry
  96. Jaylen Waddle
  97. Michael Pittman
  98. Mike Williams
  99. Justin Herbert
  100. Tom Brady
 
 
The FFT crew (& a ton of special guests) are back for the 4th annual Draft-a-Thon, supporting St. Jude Children’s Research Center. Tune in for everything you need to prepare for your fantasy draft, bold predictions included.
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