Good News, Isiah Pacheco Managers!

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

• Bengals WR Tee Higgins expected to return to starting lineup in Week 13 vs Jaguars

  • Higgins returns after missing three weeks of game action to a lineup sans Joe Burrow, which will prevent him from being startable as anything more than a WR3 or flex in Week 13 and moving forward. That being said, the game script is almost sure to be a negative one against the Jaguars and there could be enough volume to give him some upside in this one, but given the fact that Jake Browning couldn’t give Ja’Marr Chase a ceiling in last week’s game, it’s unlikely that happens for Higgins. Fantasy managers should start Higgins only in desperate circumstances – the Bengals offense scored just 10 points last week against the Steelers and there looks to be no end in sight for their struggles besides after Week 18. Higgins has seen his 2023 season marred by injury and bad QB play, and it’s unlikely that he’ll able to overcome those circumstances to turn things around in the final quarter of the season.

• Chiefs RB Jerick McKinnon officially ruled out for Sunday night’s game vs Packers

  • McKinnon had participated in a limited fashion at practice this week and appeared to be on track to return to the lineup in tonight’s game, but he’s ultimately been ruled out. That cheering sound you’re hearing is the sound of Isiah Pacheco’s fantasy managers who are ready to see him dominate the backfield target share for the second straight week after a strong outing against the Raiders in Week 12. With McKinnon out, Pacheco should have a much larger role in the receiving game while also holding onto his usual work in the ground game. He has a shot to earn a similar workload to last week, and that’s enough given his hard running style to rank him among the Top 12 running backs for Week 13.