Listen to the Mega-Matchup Pod Now! 🎧

Reminder: there will be no episode of the Upper Hand Fantasy Podcast dropping today. In the meantime, listen to yesterday’s episode for a full positional review of this week’s matchups covering quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends wherever you get your podcasts!

• Bills RB James Cook practices in full on Thursday while rookie RB Ray Davis gets in limited session

  • It’s good news, bad news for the Bills RB room, which seems to be primed to return its lead rusher after Cook missed last week’s action after being declared inactive shortly before kickoff this past Monday. Cook has been dealing with a toe injury since picking it up towards the end of Buffalo’s road loss to the Texans in Week 5, but it seems like he’ll be good to go this weekend against the Titans after being upgraded to a full participant in yesterday’s practice. As for rookie RB Ray Davis, he was a new addition to the Bills’ injury report yesterday after getting a limited session in. Buffalo is calling it a calf injury for Davis, who practiced in full on Wednesday. The timing of his addition to the report suggests that he picked up the designation yesterday during practice and that it’s a new ailment, so fantasy managers will want to monitor his status today and going into the weekend to have a better idea of his availability. Davis could have made some headway in the backfield last week with his 152 all-purpose yard performance against the Jets, but any limitation as a result of this injury will likely dampen his hopes of establishing a more consistent role alongside James Cook. As long as Cook is playing, he’ll be the RB to start this week and moving forward.

• Patriots rookie QB Drake Maye practices in full on Thursday after MRI on knee; RB Rhamondre Stevenson misses for second straight day

  • Seems like the Patriots were just trying to get a rise out of the fantasy community ahead of a fantastic matchup for this year’s 3rd overall pick. To be clear, Maye has seemingly gone about his week as usual and practiced in full on both Wednesday and yesterday, but a surprise MRI being scheduled for his knee opened up a can of worms that proved to be empty. The MRI revealed nothing of concern for Patriots’ rookie signal caller, and barring any further complications or false alarms, Maye should be able to take the field in London this weekend against the Jaguars. Meanwhile, the outlook isn’t quite as rosy for the recently embattled Rhamondre Stevenson, who’s working through fumbling issues and a knee injury of his own in the lead up to the game. Stevenson hasn’t practiced yet this week, which is a bad sign for his availability this weekend. For all intents and purposes, Antonio Gibson will once again be the play as a low-RB2 in Week 7 with Stevenson likely out. If Stevenson would somehow miraculously recover and be able to suit up for the game, he’d have to be in lineups given the matchup – though that outcome would be a real surprise at this point.

• Colts RB Jonathan Taylor misses practice Thursday; RB Trey Sermon practices in limited capacity

  • Your daily Colts injury update is back for another installment, this time with a look at a banged up backfield. Jonathan Taylor has missed each of the past two games for the Colts and has yet to take the practice field in any capacity since Week 4 with his high ankle sprain. It seems as though that sprain is likely to keep him off the field once again in Week 7, as he’s opened the week with two straight DNPs on the injury report and said that he’s ‘not sure’ if he’s going to practice this week. At this point, it would be a surprise to see Taylor take the field this weekend. As for his immediate replacement, Trey Sermon filled that role in Week 5 but lost ground to Tyler Goodson last week for the lead role. Sermon himself has been dealing with a knee injury early this week, and he was a DNP on Wednesday before getting a limited session in yesterday. Another limited session on Friday wouldn’t move the needle too far in favor of him suiting up this weekend, though it’s a possibility as long as he is taking the field. Regardless, it sounds like Sermon could be limited or miss the game entirely this weekend, which would make Goodson the preferred start in a very solid matchup against the Dolphins. He’d profile as a low-RB2 should Sermon miss.

Q: Are we going to see Sam Darnold regression or can he keep this up?

A: He can absolutely keep this up, and that’s because he’s not doing anything earth shattering besides being very efficient. Having Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Kevin O’Connell’s scheme and T.J. Hockenson soon, too will help with that… and look at his upcoming matchups out of the bye! He’s got Detroit this weekend, the Rams next week, then the Colts, and then the Jags. He’s averaging just over two passing touchdowns per game, which is perfectly sustainable – even if there’s a correction, he’s not going to fall far. And with these matchups coming up being as good as they are, he’s probably going to be much closer to the hyper efficient side of the spectrum than less efficient.

Q: Concerned about James Conner? Can Juju be the long-term answer as a flex?

A: Asking if Juju can be a flex sets the bar very low – we’re looking for like 8-10 points a game from a flex with upside. So in that sense, yeah – he’s an ideal candidate for the flex spot now and long term. His production is much more sustainable than Xavier Worthy, but there’s also a chance we see Xavier Worthy get some more work than he’s getting right now as the season wears on. But even then, Juju earned a very nice target share at 24%, which is more than enough to classify him even potentially as a low WR2. So yeah, he can be trusted there.

As for the concern about James Conner, there’s not really any reason to be concerned about James Conner the player… but the team that he’s on and the situation he’s in is an entirely different conversation. Arizona is very hot and cold on offense, and we saw the cold end of the spectrum last week against Green Bay when they went down 24-0 in the second quarter. That led to season lows in snap share (29%), rush attempts (37%), and route participation (22%). Up until last week, Conner was sitting at 67% snap share, 64% rush attempts share, and 50% route participation from Weeks 1-5. Given just a one week sample of Conner not coming through – and in a game script where an early down RB like he is wouldn’t traditionally rack up volume anyway – I’m not overly concerned about Conner at this point. He’ll continue to be a quality RB2 start.

Q: Do you think Diontae Johnson gets traded – and if so, where?

A: The only destination that I think really makes sense and would make everyone happy in real life and in fantasy land is Kansas City. He’s killing it in Carolina thanks to some negative game scripts and I think he’s going to keep doing that as long as Andy Dalton is under center, but I could totally see the Panthers moving him if the right offer came in. I know Juju looked pretty good filling in for Rashee in Week 5, but that was one game – there’s a chance that doesn’t happen again (even though his usage points to that being his role).

The nice thing is that it’s not like Diontae is stuck in a situation like Amari Cooper was in where he was getting all these targets but they were hardly catchable and the offense stank – he’s perfectly fine where he is. And because of that, I don’t really feel like I want to see him moved because he’s able to be a fantasy WR1 right now. It’s not broke, so let’s hope the Panthers don’t try to fix it.