It's Another Trip to IR for Waller 🫠

All of the most important fantasy news over the last 24 hours – all in one place.

• Giants TE Darren Waller placed on IR, will miss the next four games with hamstring injury

  • Faraz called this one out on our Instagram as a possibility earlier this week, and it might be time for him to place some bets after peering into his crystal ball to predict the future. Waller is headed to IR after aggravating the same hamstring injury that’s hampered him over the past two years of his career, and at 31 years old, it’s fair to speculate that he could be out for longer than the four weeks he’s required to miss with the injury. Waller had just been starting to round into form with the help of Tyrod Taylor (who was also placed on IR yesterday), but any momentum he had built up towards being a weekly top-5 TE play is essentially lost at this point. With their top weapon sidelined for the foreseeable future, the Giants will be forced to ride out the storm with WRs Jalin Hyatt, Wan’Dale Robinson, and Darius Slayton in the passing game.

• Cardinals RB Emari Demercado ruled out for Week 9 vs. Browns with toe injury

  • After assuming the lead role in Arizona’s backfield last week with a team-high 21 opportunities, Demercado will miss this week’s game and give way to second-year running back Keaontay Ingram. As if the matchup against the Browns defense wasn’t already bad enough, the Cardinals are also expected to trot out rookie QB Clayton Tune as their starting QB this week. The ceiling for the Cardinals offense is very low to begin with, and even Demercado would be a shaky start at best in this matchup. Ingram has limited flex appeal even with the potential to handle the bulk of the work this week, and shouldn’t be prioritized in fantasy lineups despite the injury to Demercado.

• Patriots WR Tuquan Thornton added to injury report late with foot injury

  • Why are we talking about a player that hasn’t been fantasy relevant all season? Well, that’s because if Thornton would miss Week 9’s action, that would free up even more targets for rookie Demario Douglas in a great matchup against the Commanders this weekend. With WR Devante Parker slated to miss the game with a concussion and Kendrick Bourne having been placed on IR earlier this week, Douglas was already in for what projects to be a significantly increased workload today. While Thornton hasn’t been a big piece of the offensive puzzle in New England this season, Douglas is suddenly the last man standing in a Patriots passing offense that should have solid production at the very least against one of the most vulnerable defenses to fantasy receivers. Douglas is still a shot in the dark play, but the upside this week can’t be ignored.