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49ers QB Brock Purdy & WR Jauan Jennings tending to injuries suffered in season opener; TE George Kittle lands on IR

• The 49ers facility is essentially an infirmary at this point, with all three of Purdy, Jennings, and Kittle working through injuries of various severities. Kittle’s, while the most serious, is the easiest to address as fantasy managers: we know he will miss at least the next four games (and potentially more) with his hamstring injury. Kittle is 31 years old today, and with a birthday on October 9, it’s very plausible that he doesn’t return to action until he’s 32 if he requires any additional time to recover beyond the allotted four weeks. Managers scrambling to find replacements for Kittle in their lineups should look beyond the 49ers roster to replace him (i.e. don’t add Jake Tonges), or consult our post on Instagram. As for Purdy and Jennings, both players appear to be day to day with a chance to play in Week 2. Purdy, who’s working through shoulder and toe injuries, popped up and is reportedly considered ‘in doubt’ for this weekend’s game against the Saints, while Jennings has a shoulder injury and recently received clean scan results. He could be trending towards playing this weekend, but a big part of his viability as a fantasy starter regardless of his own health and availability is the health of Purdy. If Purdy is unable to go, both Jennings and Pearsall would receive significant downgrades despite the lack of target competition around them with Kittle and Aiyuk banged up. One thing is certain, though – regardless of who is able to play and who isn’t, Christian McCaffrey will only become more of a focal point in this offense after handling 30+ opportunities last week.

Make sure to tune in to the latest episode of the Upper Hand Fantasy Podcast! Faraz talks Week 1 takeaways, waivers, addressing injuries, and more ⬇️

Jaguars trade RB Tank Bigsby to the Eagles in exchange for 2025 5th and 6th-round draft picks

• Rumors have swirled all offseason about one of either Tank Bigsby or Travis Etienne being made available via trade, especially following the regime change to the Gladston-Coen administration this offseason. They proceeded to draft Bhayshul Tuten, who worked in lightly with the Jaguars offense in Week 1 alongside Bigsby behind Etienne. Tuten won’t have to contend with Bigsby moving forward, however, with Bigsby shipped over to the Eagles in exchange for two Day 3 draft picks in the upcoming 2026 draft. Bigsby lands essentially in no-man’s land behind Saquon Barkley, who will prevent Bigsby from having any potential standalone value as long as Barkley is healthy. However, it’s a big opportunity for Bigsby as a handcuff – if anything would happen to the reigning offensive player of the year, he could surpass Will Shipley as the backup or assume a very lucrative early down role in the high-flying Eagles offense. The real ramifications from the trade, however, lie in the Jaguars backfield: with Bigsby vacated, the door is officially open for Travis Etienne to continue to dominate opportunities in the short term and for Bhayshul Tuten to establish a role for himself alongside Etienne. For Bigsby managers, not much has changed in the way we need to treat Bigsby; his upside remains high as a handcuff, but his standalone value does take a dip a little compared to where it was while he was in Jacksonville. Tuten managers should continue to stash him, as he can have standalone value as well as provide plenty of upside as a handcuff if anything would happen to Etienne.

Raiders HC Pete Carrol says that TE Brock Bowers is ‘day-to-day’ with a knee injury suffered in Week 1

• Bowers racked up 103 yards on five catches in his first game with Geno Smith under center before exiting with a knee injury that cut his Week 1 short. While day-to-day isn’t a death sentence when it comes to a recovery timeline, it certainly doesn’t inspire confidence that the all-world tight end will be ready to go in time for the Raiders’ Week 2 clash with the Chargers. One thing to bear in mind: the Raiders play on Monday Night next week, allowing Bowers and additional day to get right before potentially suiting up. The other edge of that sword is that fantasy managers might have no choice of a substitute for Bowers if his availability isn’t announced until Monday, which seems to be in the cards given the inexact nature of his injury and timeline. Michael Mayer saw not insignificant snaps in Week 1 even with Bowers on the field, so he would be the default backup option for managers who want to be able to roll through this week of fantasy action without having to worry about having a zero at their tight end spot. However, other options exist on the waiver wire similar to the names that can be used to replace Brock Bowers, including Juwan Johnson, Harold Fannin, and Brenton Strange, to name a few. Ultimately, all that’s left to be done is monitor practice reports ahead of MNF this week – if Bowers is active, he’s a must start even if he’s playing at less than 100%. If Bowers doesn’t go, expect Jakobi Meyers to continue to command the lion’s share of targets in the Raiders passing attack from Geno Smith.

Juwan Johnson, NO

• Go and pick him up on waivers if you need a TE in general - he had really good usage in Week 1. They have no one behind him, and he’s getting targeted like crazy – 96% route participation (which is nuts for a TE), 27% target share, 30% air yards share - he’s my #1 option right now.

Harold Fannin Jr., CLE

• He’s running out of the slot, the backfield, inline... he’s a little chess piece for them. 65% route participation isn’t a big number, but it’s not absolutely terrible since he was targeted on 29% of his routes. Now, will that stick? Probably not – Njoku will get some targets too. Despite Njoku’s role being unchanged, you can also start Fannin as a high-end TE2.

Hunter Henry, NE

• He’s facing Miami this week fresh off being carved up by Daniel Jones and Tyler Warren in Week 1. Henry posted a 19% target share to open the year and ran a route on a healthy-enough 74% of dropbacks last week – he can hold down the fort and provide low-TE1 upside week-in and week out.

Brenton Strange, JAX

• Similar to Hunter Henry, Brenton Strange saw a respectable route participation (70%) in Week 1 against the Panthers. Of course, competing with Brian Thomas Jr. and Travis Hunter is going to complicate things – but he still managed a 14% target share, which will get things done in a pinch.

Jonnu Smith, PIT

• He’s an option considering the type of talent he is – but keep in mind that he’s sharing a role with Pat Freiermuth on an Arthur Smith offense. Jonnu isn’t going to be a set-and-forget-it type of replacement for Kittle, and his routes need to go up from 53% – but there can be highs sprinkled into the lows.

Chig Okonkwo, TEN

• Okonkwo is a deep cut for the most desperate of fantasy managers, but let’s not overlook his 82% route participation in Week 1 with Cam Ward under center. The Broncos are a tough defense, and while a 16% target share isn’t anything to get excited about, there’s room for that to go up.

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