The Colts are suddenly all banged up 🤕

Well, Nico Collins’ hamstring injury escalated quickly. Every day waking up without him in lineups is certain to feel like this:

• Colts RB Trey Sermon, WRs Josh Downs, Michael Pittman Jr. all miss practice Wednesday with collarbone, toe, and back injuries, respectively

  • And just like that, the Colts’ top-3 offensive weapons are all on less than solid ground regarding their status heading into Indy’s Week 6 clash against the Titans. Sermon handled the bulk of the work in relief of Jonathan Taylor last week and had a very solid outing, but now appears to be in jeopardy of missing time this week. In that event, third-string RB Tyler Goodson would assume the role of the Colts’ primary ballcarrier and be worth a pickup from the waiver wire. As for the receivers, Downs continues to have what’s been very effective production marred by injury. The Colts receiver has played a full time role in just two games this season, and with Downs missing practice yesterday, there’s a possibility he could be limited in Sunday’s action or miss the game altogether. Pittman is dealing with a back injury, as well, which means Anthony Richardson could be down nearly all of his offensive weapons in what’s presumed to be his return to the lineup in Week 6. Should Downs and Pittman miss, WRs Alec Pierce and rookie Adonai Mitchell would be the next receivers up against a stingy Titans secondary. Fantasy managers should monitor this situation closely, especially considering the fact that this matchup, on paper, is not advantageous for Indy’s WR corps. or Anthony Richardson’s fickle arm.

• Bills RB James Cook misses practice Wednesday with apparent foot injury, works with rehab group instead

  • The Bills will take on the Jets on Monday night, so we won’t have the first official practice report to dissect until later on today. That being said, Cook was spotted without a helmet during practice working on the stationary bikes while tending to what’s being described as a foot/toe injury. The Bills RB landed awkwardly on his foot towards the end of Buffalo’s Week 5 matchup against the Texans, after which he exited the game and didn’t return. With gameday still four days out and no word yet regarding Cook missing any time, fantasy managers will want to monitor this situation at a distance until further notice. It’s worth noting that RB Ty Johnson has run ahead of rookie RB Ray Davis through five games this season, playing a higher number of snaps, running more routes, and scoring more fantasy points as a result. He’d be the preferred start in the backfield between the two, though neither player profiles as a must start in a tough matchup against the Jets. The immediate speculation is that the Bills held Cook out of practice as a precaution, but keep a thumb on the pulse here as we draw nearer to the weekend.

• Texans RB Joe Mixon continues to miss practice, RB Dameon Pierce expected to play after participating in practice Wednesday

  • It’s been a whirlwind of a day for injury news out of Houston, with the aforementioned Nico Collins development headlining a long list of updates. For yet another week, Joe Mixon missed practice on Wednesday – a bad sign for any potential availability in Week 6 against the Patriots. HC Demeco Ryans did say that Mixon has progressed in his recovery, but it’s just a drop in the bucket considering that Mixon’s original ‘week-to-week’ designation has turned into more of a ‘month-to-month’ situation. What is encouraging for the Texans: RB Dameon Pierce practiced on Wednesday for the first time in a while, and Ryans said after practice in a presser that he expects Pierce to play in this weekend’s game. With the two-headed attack of Cam Akers and Dare Ogunbowale yielding mixed results at best for the Houston offense, Pierce will almost certainly get a crack at being a difference maker this week – especially with Mixon starting the week on the wrong foot. Most in jeopardy are Cam Akers’ touches in the backfield, as Ogunbowale saw a drastic increase in his utilization in the ground game in Week 5 after an ineffective Week 4 performance from Akers. Pierce shouldn’t be in lineups outside of the most desperate circumstances, though he’s certainly intriguing given the potential for Mixon to continue missing time moving forward.

Buy Dolphins weapons - WR Tyreek Hill, RB De’Von Achane

• It’s looking clearer and clearer that Tua is going to be back sooner rather than later, so now is the time to start putting offers out for Tyreek Hill and De’Von Achane.

• Both players offer Top-2 upside at their respective positions. At the current juncture, it seems like Tua is trending towards a return in Week 8 - that’s in two weeks.

• If the Tyreek manager in your league is losing, he’ll take a low offer - he has to deal with the bye week and then another week without Tua. And the good thing about trading for him is that you can still start him in Week 7 in a good matchup against Indy. Miami’s offense looked a little better last week, and Tyreek had 6 catches for 69 yards on 9 targets. So you still have a potential WR2 on your hands regardless even without Tua for Week 7, and then it’ll be wheels up once Tua is back in the lineup presumably in Week 8.

• As for De’Von Achane, look at the two games he had with Tua earlier this season – he was the RB2 only behind Alvin Kamara. He was the RB1 during those two games with 23.4 expected fantasy points/game, and he did even better than that with 26.3 fantasy points/game.

• Achane had 145 yards receiving in those two games as a running back.. According to Fantasy Life’s utilization report, he was Top-3 in target share and Top-2 in targets/route run. That resulted in Achane’s utilization score checking out at a sublime 9.1 out of 10 on Fantasy life’s Utilization report, which was one of the best among all players during those two weeks.

• Achane has a claim for the title of overall fantasy RB come the end of the season, especially given how he was used when Tua was healthy and this offense was operating at full strength.

Buy WR Keenan Allen - CHI

• This is a cheap buy. You can buy him for pennies right now since He’s been averaging 6 fantasy points/game, but his expected fantasy points per game based on his utilization is all the way up at 10. Now, that number isn’t anything to write home aboyt, but his separation numbers still look elite so he hasn’t lost a step. He was coming back from the heel injury and he was over 90% route participation for the first time this past week - 33% target share in Week 1, 23% for the year - I think he’ll end up being fine, and going from someone no one wants to upgrade right now to a startable WR3 at the very least, with WR2 upside at some point. Caleb Williams is looking like he’s getting better, too… so as he gets better and as this offense gets better, a rising tide lifts all boats.