Another fantasy star goes down with injury 🫥

Make sure to stay tuned later on today for our full breakdown of yesterday’s games! Our takeaways post will be available over on our Instagram early this afternoon, and the full episode of the Upper Hand Fantasy podcast will be available today, as well.

• Texans WR Nico Collins exits Week 5 matchup vs Bills with hamstring injury, doesn’t return

  • In true Nico Collins fashion, he was able to leave fantasy managers with a more than serviceable performance before exiting the game for good early in the contest. His 15.8 PPR points were the most of any wide receiver in the game despite Collins playing on just 9 snaps and running just 5 routes. After suffering the injury, Collins was spotted walking off the field under his own power without any apparent pain, though he was unable to return to the game the rest of the way. In his place, second-year WR Xavier Hutchinson took over his role and played on 71% of the team’s snaps. That uptick in utilization yielded little production, with Hutchinson catching just two of three targets for 31 yards. As of the writing of this newsletter, there’s no indication or timeline available yet regarding whether or not Collins will miss any time (or how much) –however, hamstring injuries can tend to be a frustratingly week-to-week injury. Collins has been one of the brightest stars in a season that’s been marred by injuries to plenty of other top fantasy producers, and the hope is that Collins misses little, if any, time moving forward. Should he be sidelined at all, though, QB C.J. Stroud would receive a downgrade while WR Stefon Diggs would receive an increase to his week-to-week security.

• Dolphins RB De’Von Achane suffers concussion in Week 5 loss to Patriots, exits game early and doesn’t return

  • Unlike Nico Collins, Achane has been a fallen star since Tua Tagovailoa went down with a concussion of his own in Week 2. His absence has reduced Achane to a borderline flex play over the past three weeks, and his recent misfortune was only compounded by a concussion injury that took him out of the game in the first quarter. Fantasy managers who were brave enough to leave Achane in their lineups ended up getting burned by default – but there is a silver lining moving forward. The Dolphins have their bye in Week 6, which should give Achane enough time to recover so that he doesn’t wind up missing any game action as a result of the injury. There have been plenty of cases with concussions where players clear the league’s protocol within a week and aren’t forced to miss any time, so with two weeks between now and Miami’s next game, the expectation should be that Achane will be ready to go come Week 7. Of course, that will be the final week before Tua is eligible to return from IR, so fantasy managers will have to make the tough decision regarding inserting him into their lineup at that point. All things considered, this is most likely the best case scenario for any injury to Achane and his chances of not missing any time. However, if Achane would be inactive in Week 7, the Dolphins would likely turn to a committee approach in the backfield between Mostert, Jaylen Wright, and Jeff Wilson Jr.

• Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson suffers apparent knee injury, Panthers WR Xavier Legette a shoulder injury; both expect to play in Week 6

  • Rhamondre came through with a solid performance despite being verbally benched heading into yesterday’s game, but he was unable to finish after picking up an apparent knee injury in the fourth quarter. He talked to reporters after the loss and said that he doesn’t anticipate it being an issue moving forward, but the practice reports will tell the full story later this week. We’ll know more about his status and any potential designation on Wednesday ahead of New England’s clash with the Texans on Sunday. As for Legette, he exited the game in the second quarter with a shoulder injury after playing the same full time role we saw last week with Adam Thielen out. In his place, Jonathan Mingo became a full-time receiver, while Jalen Coker saw an increase in snaps with Legette sidelined. The Panthers offense came down to Earth after a pleasantly surprising two weeks with Andy Dalton under center, so it’s not necessarily a certainty that Legette returns to a productive role in Week 6 against the Falcons. However, Legette was optimistic that he’d be ready to play come Sunday, and fantasy managers will likely be able to plug and play him as a solid flex option should he be able to suit up.