Happy Thanksgiving from Upper Hand! 🦃

ICYMI: There will be no Thursday and Friday episodes of the Upper Hand Fantasy podcast. In the meantime, tune in to yesterday’s episode! Wishing you the best for your Thanksgiving (and of course, plenty of fantasy points)!

• Commanders RB Brian Robinson Jr. practices Wednesday despite ankle injury suffered in Week 12 vs Cowboys

  • Given that Robinson wasn’t able to return to the game in Week 12 this past weekend, the fact that he’s practicing today is somewhat of a surprise – and a good one. With RB Austin Ekeler likely to miss Week 13 against the Titans with his concussion, the valuable touches in the backfield should belong to Robinson as they have all season long. This, assuming that Robinson is able to carry on throughout the week practicing without any setbacks. It’s worth noting that Robinson has practiced during the week on a limited basis and missed the game at the end of the week before, but a limited on Wednesday likely means he has a good chance of suiting up. Jeremy McNichols could still be worth a desperate play as a flex this week considering Kliff Kingsbury’s penchant for running the backfield by committee, but in a relatively tough matchup against the Titans, waiver wire warriors may be better served looking elsewhere for a one-week replacement.

• Chargers HC Jim Harbaugh says that RB J.K. Dobbins will miss ‘some time’ with knee injury sustained Monday night vs Chargers

  • It was a good run while it lasted. While ‘some time’ doesn’t necessarily stick a fork in the rest of J.K. Dobbins’ 2024 season, it seems to suggest that this could be more than a one-week injury to his knee. It’s a tough break for fantasy managers who had been relying on him as one of the most pleasant surprises of the year, with Dobbins ranking as the overall RB14 currently in total fantasy points scored. It’s officially an MCL sprain, and in the meantime, fantasy managers can expect Gus Edwards and Kimani Vidal to work in tandem to replace the production vacated by Dobbins’ absence. Edwards’ 3.27 yards per carry this season pales in comparison to Dobbins’ 4.85, and there’s a good chance that continued struggles on the ground for Edwards could result in rookie RB Kimani Vidal earning more touches than he’s had all season in Week 13. With a matchup on the horizon in Week 15 against the Buccaneers, Dobbins will be worth holding on to in the event he’s able to return for that game – however, until then, Gus Edwards will profile as a desperate RB3/flex play while Kimani Vidal offers intriguing upside as a potential solid RB3.

Tony Pollard takes advantage of opportunity

Without Tyjae Spears, Pollard took his bell cow opportunity (27 touches, 94% of snaps), and turned it into the overall RB5 finish on the week. Pollard is the third RB (Aaron Jones, Jonathan Taylor) to rush for over 100 yards against a tough Houston run defense, and his 119 rushing yards is the most of any RB against Houston this season. When Spears returns next week, Pollard will still be a solid RB2 start against a vulnerable Commanders run defense.

Bucky Irving can’t be denied

Both Bucky and Rachaad White split carries each and snaps 50/50 , but Bucky did a lot more with his opportunities - 12 carries for 87 yards and a TD, adding 6 of 6 for 64 yards through the air on 63% route participation (that’s good). He was stopped at the 1 yard line multiple times, and they proceeded to bring in Sean Tucker as the vulture in those situations. Bucky could’ve had a three TD day, and his play makes him a solid RB2 with upside moving forward. Great schedule the rest of the way.

Tyrone Tracy fumbles away opportunity

Tracy was the only RB to get opportunities until he fumbled in the red zone early in the second half. He seemed to have been benched until late in the 4th quarter where he salvaged some PPR points on the last drive with some catches. I would hope Tracy the backfield back, but it’s a bit up in the air at the moment. Because of the quality of the Giants offense, I can’t feel too confident in him, but seeing Dallas on the schedule next week cheers me up a bit.

Chuba Hubbard’s role untouched in Brooks’ debut

Jonathon Brooks was on the field for a total of 5 snaps, while Chuba Hubbard handled 89% of snaps while raking up 21 opportunities. There’s a pretty good chance Hubbard remains the workhorse for the rest of the season while Brooks is a pure handcuff. Keep in mind that Brooks could potentially be an every-down workhorse if Hubbard gets hurt, so a high-value handcuff at that.

Bears offense taking steps forward

Caleb Williams showed a lot of promise in this game, and has shown more promise in the last two weeks since Shane Waldron was fired than he had just prior to that. DJ Moore has been extremely efficient, catching all 14 of his targets over the past two weeks, while going over 100 yards this week with a TD. Moore is back in the WR2 conversation. Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze have been up and down, so we have to treat them both as flex plays with upside, particularly Odunze.

JSN is on a heater

JSN has out-produced DK Metcalf for the second straight week, and he’s now had three straight Top-15 finishes. I hate to put a damper on this awesome run, but his average depth of target was 1.7 yards in this past game. We’re just lucky he’s a damn good WR and he was able to gain so many yards after the catch in this game. We need some downfield usage for JSN if this is going to be sustainable. In the mean time, enjoy the production. I would still consider DK Metcalf the WR1 on this offense right now.