It's another ACL tear for Jonathon Brooks :(

It’s official: the fantasy football regular season is in the books, and it’s time to gear up for the playoffs. If you have a bye, congratulations – you’re safe this week, but don’t get complacent. If you’re gearing up for the first of three potential playoff matchups, we’ve got you covered. Catch up on yesterday’s takeaways episode of the Upper Hand Fantasy Podcast, and stay tuned later today for the waiver wire pod!

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• 49ers RB Isaac Guerendo confirmed to have sprained foot in Week 14 win over Chicago, will be ‘evaluated over the next few days’

  • The news comes after Guerendo initially suggested that his removal from the end of the blowout against the Bears was a precautionary measure. After initial ambiguity surrounded the health of Guerendo following his instant-impact performance in Week 14, it’s been confirmed that the 49ers running back is dealing with a foot sprain. The exact extent of the injury remains unclear at this point, but HC Kyle Shanahan didn’t rule out Guerendo for the team’s divisional clash against the Rams Thursday night. However, the team’s plan to monitor his health over the next few days doesn’t exactly sound like a glowing report on his status, either. Had the 49ers’ next game been on a Sunday and not a Thursday, there would likely be a much higher probability that we see Guerendo suit up for the 49ers as they look to claw their way into the playoffs. However, fantasy managers who scooped him up off the waiver wire last week and reaped the benefit this week could be without their newest toy in the first week of the fantasy football playoffs. In the meantime if Guerendo is ultimately ruled out, fantasy managers can set their sights on Patrick Taylor and Izzy Abanikanda to help weather the storm that’s eviscerated the depth in the 49ers backfield.

• Panthers RB Jonathon Brooks suffers another torn ACL in loss to Eagles in Week 14, will be out for remainder of 2024 season

  • An absolutely brutal break for the former 2024 second-round pick out of Texas, who has re-injured the same ACL that he tore late in the season in college. Not only is Brooks set to miss the remaining four games of the Panthers’ schedule this year, but the injury sets him on a similar course for 2025 as he entered this season. He could very well miss a majority of the 2025 season as he looks to make a recovery from his second-consecutive right ACL tear, and the unfortunate sequence of events for Brooks has shades of J.K. Dobbins’s injury saga. Brooks had seen his work increase from his first start to his second, but with him sidelined once again, Chuba Hubbard will reprise his role as the unquestioned RB1 atop Carolina’s backfield depth chart. It’s a role he earned with his strong play this season and in years prior, and his recent contract extension signed just a few short weeks ago solidifies his status as the Panthers’ workhorse in an upstart Panthers offense. Given that Carolina has been more than hanging around with some of the best competition the league has to offer (they took the Chiefs and Eagles down to the wire), Hubbard will continue to be a fringe RB1 start the rest of the way. Up next: a date with Dallas’ less than solid run defense on Sunday.

• Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell avoids serious injury in Week 14 vs Buccaneers, did not tear ACL: diagnosed with bone bruise

  • Rarely do we hear positive follow ups on injuries after a player exits in the fashion that O’Connell did yesterday, but this is the exception. Less than 24 hours after HC Antonio Pierce said O’Connell’s leg injury ‘didn’t look good’, he’s been officially diagnosed with nothing more than a bone bruise. In hindsight, we may have given too much credit to the medical acumen of Pierce, who’s simply an NFL head coach hoping to make it to next season on the coattails of Sincere McCormick. With O’Connell revived from certain doom, the floors of his top weapons Jakobi Meyers and Brock Bowers are once again re-elevated to pre-O’Connell injury scare levels. Having O’Connell under center as early as possible would beat the hell out of a full game of Desmond Ridder next week, especially in a matchup as good as the one the Raiders have against the Falcons in Week 15. O’Connell didn’t have much to offer to fantasy managers who started him out of desperation against the Buccaneers, throwing for just 104 yards and an INT while punching in a touchdown on the ground to prevent a total bottoming out on the day. Pay attention to practice reports this week, but it seems like O’Connell has a shot to play in Week 15 – a huge change from what appeared to be long odds for O’Connell to play another down in 2024.

Tank Bigsby, JAX

• Bigsby’s snap share was the highest it’s been against the Titans since Week 9, and he handled 75% of the carries compared to just 17% for Travis Etienne. Etienne was the clear passing down back while Bigsby was the short down and distance runner, and he turned that role into the only touchdown of the game. We’ve seen Bigsby dominate the backfield before even on limited opportunity, so the fact that he’s back to this kind of workload makes him worth a look off the waiver wire.

Alexander Mattison, LV

• Not an ideal pickup by any means, but he was inactive this past week after being limited all week in practice. Assuming he’s able to get right this week, he should have some kind of role in the Raiders backfield after leading it before going down in Week 11. Ameer Abdullah lost out to Sincere McCormick against the Buccaneers, but Mattison could be a significant obstacle to McCormick handling 65% of the team’s carries moving forward.

Tyler Allgeier, ATL

• Bijan Robinson is unquestionably the guy in the Falcons backfield, but Allgeier remains one of the top handcuff options in the NFL and a threat to vulture a touchdown here and there. Matchups against the Raiders and Giants make him more attractive as a desperate play in a pinch, but his true value would only be unlocked if something would happen to Bijan.

Blake Corum, LAR

• Another handcuff. His role has increased over the past four games from 6% snap share to 20% and 11% rush attempts share to 18%, but he’s not doing enough with that work to warrant any consideration in starting lineups. If anything would happen to Kyren, though, he clearly has the juice to be one of the top replacement RBs in the NFL.

Isaiah Davis, NYJ

• Without Breece Hall in the lineup, Braelon Allen wasn’t the guy, pal. The dreams of Allen getting a Zach Charbonnet workload have been dashed by Isaiah Davis, and the two backs split carries almost down the middle at 55:45. Allen and Davis earned 14% and 16% target shares, respectively, but it was a touchdown run by Davis that gave him the edge in the box score. Davis doubled Braelon Allen’s short down and distance snaps and took a clear majority of long down and distance snaps, as well, making him an intriguing add with the Jets having one of the best schedules for running backs the rest of the way: Jacksonville, the Rams, and Buffalo round out the schedule for the fantasy season.

Kendre Miller, NO

• Alvin Kamara is still the guy obviously, but Kendre Miller scored a touchdown in his first action since Week 8 and handled a respectable 31% of the rush attempts in the Saints backfield. Miller is viable as a waiver stash primarily as a handcuff to Kamara, but he could wind up with some standalone value with the way the Saints weapons have been depleted due to injury. 

Patrick Taylor Jr., SF

• Since Guerendo has a foot sprain, it doesn’t seem like he should be in danger of missing too much time – but the short turnaround for Thursday’s game against the Rams is going to be hard to overcome. Enter Patrick Taylor, who handled mop up duty against the Bears last week. He’s not going to be quite the start that Guerendo was – think high RB3 – but if Guerendo is out, the backfield will have to rely on the next man up. Izzy Abanikanda is also a name to watch off the waiver wire if the 49ers would decide to platoon their running backs as they get to four players deep this season.