Brandon Aiyuk's 2024 season cut short ☹️

It was a huge week for running backs this week, with 10 different players at the position scoring at least 20 PPR fantasy points! See where they check in among this weekend’s top-10 overall producers pending MNF, and stay tuned later today for our full takeaways post as usual!

• Commanders QB Jayden Daniels exits game vs Panthers in Week 7 with apparent upper body injury, doesn’t return

  • It worked out for Daniels that the Commanders absolutely trashed the Panthers, thereby rendering Daniels’ return to the contest unnecessary. The sensational rookie QB left the game early having thrown for just six yards and rushing for 50 en route to his quietest fantasy performance of the season. It’s a rib injury for Daniels, but he was in undeniably good spirits upon his return from the locker room during game. While Daniels might not have been able to return to the game in a closer contest anyway, it’s likely that with the game already well in hand, the Commanders simply opted to have their QB1 take the rest of the day off. For what it’s worth, Daniels’ mom took to Twitter/X yesterday and said that her son was ‘fine’, but we’ll have to wait for the injury reports later this week for to know his official status heading into Week 8. Given that he didn’t appear to be at all concerned about his injury on the sideline, though, it does seem like Daniels at least has an outside chance of starting in Week 8. It’s worth noting that Marcus Mariota was able to come into the game in relief of Daniels and have an extra efficient outing (18/23, 205 yards, 2 TDs), though that could largely be attributed to playing against the most Swiss of Swiss cheese defenses in Carolina. It’ll be hard to replace Daniels off the waiver wire should he miss any time, but it seems like Mariota would be a good place to start on a still strong Commanders offense.

• 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk feared to have suffered torn ACL in Week 7 loss to Chiefs, per HC Kyle Shanahan

  • Things weren’t looking good for Aiyuk after he needed to be carted off the field, and Shanahan reiterated following the game that the fear is that the 49ers’ top pass catcher could have a season-ending knee injury. The unfortunate development comes on the heels of Aiyuk signing a monster four-year, $120M extension just days before the beginning of the season and after a contentious, season-long holdout to earn said contract. It’s an unceremonious end to a disappointing season for Aiyuk, who will likely finish the first season of his mega deal with just 25 catches and 374 scoreless yards. Without Aiyuk in the lineup, WR Deebo Samuel was able to rack up extra volu - oh wait, that’s right: Deebo Samuel was a surprise inactive yesterday, as well, leading the 49ers to lean on rookie WRs Ricky Pearsall and Jacob Cowing against the vaunted Chiefs defense. That went just about as well as you’d expect it to (no disrespect to Pearsall and Cowing, of course), with QB Brock Purdy floundering to a 3 INT performance. While Aiyuk is out, expect Deebo Samuel and George Kittle to dominate the top of what will likely be a top-heavy target distribution. Aiyuk’s absence takes the guesswork out of starting him for the rest of the season, and we hope for a speedy recovery for one of the league’s top wideouts.

• Seahawks WR D.K. Metcalf suffers apparent knee injury in Week 7 vs Falcons, doesn’t return after being carted off

  • While the exact extent of the injury remains to be determined, it was enough to keep Metcalf out of the rest of the game against the Falcons. Prior to the injury, Metcalf was having his way with Atlanta’s secondary posting 99 receiving yards and a touchdown on four catches. It could have been a much bigger day for the Seahawks’ top pass catcher, although his 19.9 PPR fantasy points still constituted a perfectly strong bounce-back performance after two consecutive weeks before this game scoring in the single digits. After the game, Seahawks HC Mike MacDonald said that the injury for Metcalf didn’t seem too serious. Speculation so far is that it could be a short-term knee injury for Metcalf (think MCL sprain), though we’ll have to wait for confirmation likely until later on today. Should Metcalf miss any time, WRs Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (6 targets apiece yesterday) would be in line for upgrades to their weekly bottom lines. Even if it’s only a 1-2 week absence for Metcalf, there’s a chance that could extend into a 3 week absence with Seattle’s bye falling in Week 10. Fantasy managers should be ready to hit the waiver wire this week in the event Metcalf ultimately misses time moving forward.