Can Ceedee Lamb Double Down as WR1? 🐑

There’s nothing better on a football Sunday than an early morning kickoff. Especially when it’s the Chiefs and the Dolphins!

What’s in store:

• First a reduced workload, and now an injury? Texans RB Dameon Pierce is going through it as of late.

• Matthew Stafford might not play in Week 9. Missing two practices to open the week isn’t a good sign, but there’s still a chance he could play.

• Can Ceedee finish as the WR1 two weeks in a row? 💿 A matchup with the Eagles is a good spot for Lamb to make it happen.

• Tony Pollard has fallen all the way down to Earth. See what’s got Pollard stuck in a rut since a standout Week 1.

• Texans RB Dameon Pierce misses practice for second-straight day Thursday

  • Just how many issues this actually causes for fantasy managers might not be as many as you would think – Pierce had seen a significant reduction in his workload over the past few weeks to the point where starting him was difficult as is. The glass half-full approach to Pierce potentially not playing this week: you won’t be forced to make any start/sit decisions involving him. Pierce isn’t guaranteed to miss the Texans’ Week 9 tilt against the Buccaneers, but things are certainly trending that way with just one more practice report remaining to be released. If he’s not able to log at least a limited practice today, Devin Singletary would be in line for a considerable uptick in work for the week, albeit in a tough matchup against the Buccaneers strong run D. Regardless, the volume alone would make Singletary a borderline RB2 play in a backfield that would become much more concentrated while Pierce would be out.

• Rams QB Matthew Stafford misses practice Thursday; Sunday status in considerable doubt

  • Stafford has yet to practice this week after sustaining an apparent thumb injury in their loss to the Cowboys last Sunday. Any time missed by Rams signal caller would significantly lower the ceilings of WRs Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, who both had quiet outings in Week 8 with backup Brett Rypien unable to get anything going in the passing game over a few drives. Fantasy managers should have a backup plan ready in the event that Stafford is unable to go while bearing in mind that the Rams’ bye comes next week. If the Rams wanted to allow Stafford an extended rest to make sure he’s all the way healed for the stretch run, it wouldn’t be the most surprising development in the world. Stafford would be a low-end QB2 once again if he ultimately does suit up on Sunday against the Packers.

• Colts WR Josh Downs pops up on injury report with knee, limited in practice Thursday

  • Downs has quietly been one of the most reliable flex starters in the league over the past few weeks, so landing on the injury report is definitely something to monitor moving forward. It’s worth mentioning that Downs was not on the team’s injury report on Wednesday, which suggests that the injury is a new one for Downs heading into their Week 9 clash with the Panthers. Given that the situation is relatively new, there’s no reason to panic just yet about Downs missing any time, but if he doesn’t participate in some capacity at today’s practice, fantasy managers should be prepared for life without him this weekend. If he would end up being good to go, Downs would profile as a mid-low WR3 in a relatively tough matchup against Carolina.

• Good matchups:

• Ceedee Lamb vs PHI

  • Talk about a perfect storm for Ceedee Lamb after coming off his best fantasy performance of his career. The Eagles are allowing the most fantasy points per game to wide receivers overall and the third most points to slot receivers in 2023, which should have fantasy managers licking their chops for a potential second week-winning outing from Lamb in Week 9. One interesting nugget that makes the matchup even more intriguing - QB Dak Prescott has scored 20+ fantasy points and 3+ touchdowns in each of his past three matchups against the Eagles, including one game last year where Ceedee Lamb had the second of his two WR1 finishes in 2022. Lamb has seen a 32% target share over the past two weeks with a 96% catchable target rate in that same time frame, and with the Eagles allowing the fewest fantasy points to running backs so far this season, Dallas is likely heading into this one with the plan to attack the Eagles secondary early and often. Lamb has top-5 potential for the second straight week.

• Davante Adams & Jakobi Meyers vs. NYG

  • Both Raiders receivers had just one catch apiece in the abomination of a performance we were all forced to watch on Monday night – but that isn’t likely to happen again. The Raiders have made changes at head coach, GM, offensive coordinator, and starting quarterback, opting to throw rookie signal caller Aidan O’Connel into the fray. The Giants are allowing the fifth-most fantasy points to perimeter wide receivers over the past four weeks, and the second-most fantasy points to right-side receivers in that same span. O’Connell peppered Davante Adams in Week 4, and fantasy managers can expect more of that to continue this week – but Meyers also has intriguing upside against a bad Giants team in Week 9. O’Connell and Meyers were able to connect for a touchdown late in very limited action against the Bears, which should give Meyers managers optimism that his 4 target, two catch performance against the Chargers is just an outlier performance. Adams should be started as a WR1 as long as he’s healthy, while Meyers is best suited as a mid-high WR3 this week. 

• Bad Matchups:

• Zay Flowers vs SEA

  • A few weeks ago, we were talking about buying Zay Flowers being a buy ahead of a handful of good matchups and after seeing an excellent target share. Well, we’ve made it to the end of that string of good matchups, and Flowers has yet to have a top-12 finish on the season. Not only has his target share fallen from 30% in weeks 1-4 to 25% in weeks 5-8, but his average depth of target ranks as the sixth-lowest (8.15) among WRs to run more than 250 routes this season. He stumbles into a matchup against an upstart Seattle secondary that’s allowed just the 2nd-fewest fantasy points to perimeter wide receivers over the past four weeks, and with Gus Edwards on a scoring spree as of late (four touchdowns over the past two games), Flowers has proven that the upside just isn’t there right now for him in the Ravens offense. Flowers is a fringe WR2 in this week’s matchup with limited upside.

Earlier in the week, we ran a stat of the day talking about how the Cowboys passing game got back on track against the Rams. That’s great news for Ceedee Lamb and Dak Prescott owners, but what about Tony Pollard? The Cowboys star running back has been the odd man out in Dallas’ retooled offense, and he’s been giving serious Josh Jacobs vibes going all the way back to Week 2 against the Jets.

Since scoring two touchdowns on the ground against the Giants in Week 1, Pollard has yet to hit the painted grass again so far this season. His 22.2 PPR points in his 2023 debut still stands after eight weeks as his highest weekly fantasy output on the season – and without two games this year where Pollard caught 6+ passes, Pollard’s production has been mediocre at best so far this season.

Consider this: from Weeks 2-8, Pollard is averaging just 12.65 PPR fantasy points per game. That would rank him as the RB23 in that time span, behind the likes of Brian Robinson (12.7), Joe Mixon (13.1), and Rachaad White (13.3). With the Cowboys passing attack coming alive in recent weeks (Dak Prescott has thrown for as many touchdowns in the past two weeks as he did in the team’s first five) and a tough matchup on tap this week against the Eagles, we could see Pollard slip into the low-end RB2 conversation on the year by the time Week 10 rolls around.