Monty tears MCL, out for rest of 2024 😓

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• Lions RB David Montgomery diagnosed with torn MCL, expected to miss the remainder of the 2024 season

  • Well, that escalated quickly. Just a day after his quietest day of the season from a production standpoint – and a game where Jahmyr Gibbs dominated RB touches and snaps – the Lions announced that Montgomery would miss the remainder of the season with an MCL tear suffered in Sundays loss to the Bills. It’s a brutal blow to Montgomery’s managers who relied on him week-in and week-out for reliable RB2 production, but the shockwaves from his absence will be felt most by Jahmyr Gibbs managers around the world. Without Monty in the lineup, Gibbs should have total control of most, if not all, of the work out of the Lions backfield, and this is what we’ve been waiting his entire career to see. He’ll be locked in as a high-end RB1 the rest of the way barring an absolute coming out party for Craig Reynolds over the next two games. With matchups against the Bears and 49ers, as well, Gibbs could challenge for the overall RB1 spot in rankings this week. It is important to note, however, that the Lions could become more pass heavy as a result of Monty’s injury just as they did in this game: Goff threw the ball 59 times with four different Lions pass catchers garnering at least 7 targets. Detroit more than likely won’t be chasing points the rest of the way like they were against the Bills, but a shift in philosophy could be in the cards if the Lions would decide they don’t want to make Gibbs the true workhorse (something they’ve never had to do with Monty around).

• Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel says that WR Jaylen Waddle is considered day-to-day with his knee injury, avoided major issue

  • This is good news both for Waddle himself – who was beginning to gain a foothold in Miami’s offense over the past few weeks – and Tua Tagovailoa, who muddled his way through a tough conference matchup against the Texans in Week 15. The target share is undeniably concentrated among the three of Jonnu Smith, De’Von Achane, and Tyreek Hill at this point, but two finishes inside the top-12 (and with at least 23% target share) from Weeks 12-14 had things looking promising for Waddle to close out the season strong. However, just like a rising tide lifts all boats, a falling tide lowers them, as well. Tua hit rock bottom against Houston in what was likely his worst performance of 2024, and with Waddle not earning a consistent enough target share this season to trust him even when he’s healthy, it’s going to be even harder to drum up the nerve to start him whenever he returns. With a difficult matchup against the 49ers on tap in Week 16, he should likely be left out of lineups even if he does play this weekend; however, he could be in consideration for Week 17 against the Browns assuming he’s healthy enough to return at that point.

• Browns HC Kevin Stefanski was non-committal when asked about naming a starting quarterback for the team going into Week 16

  • Of all weeks for Jameis Winston to potentially get benched, this week would be the most backbreaking ahead of a fantastic matchup against the Bengals. Alas, that horrific fever dream could very well become reality after Jameis Winston’s first true stinker of a game materialized this past Sunday against the Chiefs. It was the first time since he took over at QB this season that he’s tossed multiple interceptions without counterbalancing it with at least a touchdown, and it seems like that has Stefanski weighing his options at this point in the week (unlike in weeks prior). Stefanski has reassured the media multiple weeks in a row that Jameis would remains starter up to this week, so the fact that he didn’t could mean there’s a legitimate chance we see Dorian Thompson-Robinson trotted out in what would be a matchup for the ages for Jameis. The fates of all of Cleveland’s receivers – besides maybe Jerry Jeudy – hang squarely in the balance with Jameis Winston’s status as Cleveland’s QB1 in question, and should Winston ultimately find himself delivered from pick sixes and onto the bench in Week 16, it would be difficult to recommend any Browns pass catchers in the second round of the fantasy playoffs. With Cedric Tillman and David Njoku potentially returning to the lineup next week, it would be a crying shame if the fantasy community and NFL fans alike were deprived of one more week of Jameis Winston under center.

QB Jameis Winston, CLE

• It would be a disgrace in coaching to take Jameis Winston out of this weekend’s game against the Bengals. They’re allowing the third-most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season, and Winston is still averaging 40 attempts per game even after last week’s abomination against the Chiefs.

• Chances are that you don’t have to stream a quarterback this week – but Patrick Mahomes is week-to-week with his ankle injury. We’ve seen Winston’s ceiling, and it was his first real stinker of the year last week. Outside of Week 15, Winston scored at least 13 points in every game he’s started – and sprinkled in four top-12 finishes. As long as he starts, he’ll be a fringe QB1.

RB Tyjae Spears, TEN

• Spears saw his highest snap share (55%) and route participation (68%) of the season, and that led to Spears’ best fantasy day as a pro. But the carries stayed in Tony Pollard’s favor even with Pollard re-aggravating his ankle injury, as he took 68% of them to Spears’ 15%.

• A lot of that had to do with the game being a blowout. The Titans were shellacked by halftime, and with Pollard leaving the game, it made even more sense for Spears to be on the field given the negative game script. He came through on his opportunity and gave us a glimpse of what he could be should Pollard miss any time – which is a real possibility with his ankle injury.

• Spears isn’t the top option on the waiver wire this week, or even number two… but he could fit in fantasy lineups as a nice flex play if Pollard would be out or limited moving forward.

RB Jerome Ford, CLE

• One of the priority additions this week with Nick Chubb suffering a season-ending broken foot. The numbers in this game don’t stand out since Chubb actually played a majority of the game before exiting, but Ford’s role in the receiving game remains perfectly intact with a potential increase in the ground game on the horizon.

• The fact that Cleveland has been playing from behind in a lot of games has worked wonders for getting Ford on the field, especially over Chubb. And in five games earlier this season from Weeks 1-5 where Ford was healthy without Chubb in the lineup, he averaged 14 opportunities 12 PPR points per game. That was with D’Onte Foreman in the lineup, who essentially had no role in the passing game. 

• He’s not a slam dunk add or play this week or moving forward because of the pass-happy nature of the Browns offense and low quality of it, but he should have a solid floor as a nice flex play each week.

TE Brenton Strange, JAX

• Did we know that Strange’s role would increase with Evan Engram out? Yes. But Mac Jones was the quarterback, for crying out loud – how could we expect him to support not only Brian Thomas Jr. to a top-5 finish, but also Strange? Strange had a 28% target share in the game this past weekend (12 targets) and played a season-high 84% of snaps.

• That role and utilization will more than likely normalize a bit, but even once that happens, it’s a role that qualifies Strange as a low-TE1 in Week 16. Strange wound up corralling 11 passes and with nobody else on the offense challenging BTJ for work, there’s plenty of room for him to step in as a potential clear No. 2 target for Mac Jones.