Tyjae Spears just can't stay healthy 🤕

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Week 11 made up for Week 10 being very quiet, with tons of excellent fantasy performances across the board. Here’s a look at the top-10 players heading into tonight’s MNF matchup!

• Raiders RBs Zamir White, Alexander Mattison exit game vs Dolphins with quad, ankle injuries respectively; neither return

  • The Raiders already had a quality problem in their backfield between the three of Mattison, White, and Abdullah – but now, they could be facing a quantity problem as well with both of their top two running backs on the depth chart exiting yesterday’s game without returning. None of the Raiders running backs were particularly productive against the Dolphins relatively squishy run defense, with Ameer Abdullah leading the backfield in points scored with 10.7 despite reeling in a late touchdown pass from Gardner Minshew. At this point, Alexander Mattison’s injury appears to be more serious than White’s given that he was ruled out shortly after leaving the field, whereas White wasn’t ever officially ruled out of the game. If one or either of the Raiders ballcarriers would miss next week’s game against the Broncos, Ameer Abdullah would be worth a look off the waiver wire this week given his chops in the receiving game. Rookie RB Dylan Laube would also likely be activated in the event that one of Mattison or White would miss. Laube profiles more as a pass catcher than a bruiser in the backfield, which could limit touches in the backfield for Abdullah if they would choose to deploy a RB by committee approach. For now, fantasy managers needing a running back should scoop up Abdullah for his prospective value in the short-term.

• Falcons WR Darnell Mooney exits game Sunday vs Broncos with hamstring injury, doesn’t return

  • The Falcons offense has been hot and cold all season long, and Sunday was especially wintry for Atlanta’s offense against a stout Broncos defense. Adding injury to insult in the 32-point loss, standout WR Darnell Mooney was forced to leave the game in the third quarter and didn’t return. The extent of the injury remains unclear, but it’s hard to take much from Mooney not returning given that the game was already well out of hand when he was originally sidelined. It was an off day overall for the Falcons offense, with no wide receivers topping Drake London’s 61 scoreless yards on the afternoon. Should Mooney miss any time with his hamstring injury – which wouldn’t be surprising, given the finicky nature of these injuries – WR Ray-Ray McCloud would be in line for a larger role and be worth a waiver wire pickup this week. The good news for Mooney and his managers: the Falcons are heading into their much-needed bye week after two consecutive tough losses over the past two weeks. With the extra time afforded to him to get right, Mooney could be able to turn around and be ready to go for their Week 13 matchup against the Chargers. However, fantasy managers should be prepared with other options in the meantime if the ailment proves to be a longer-term one.

• Titans RB Tyjae Spears exits game late vs Vikings to be evaluated for a potential concussion, doesn’t return

  • We talked about it on the podcast this week after seeing Spears split work almost 50:50 with Tony Pollard: can Tyjae Spears stay healthy enough to consistently be a factor in the Titan backfield? So far this season, the answer has been a resounding ‘no’. Just two games after making his return from a hamstring injury that held him out for three games from Weeks 7-9, Spears left the game yesterday to be evaluated for a concussion and didn’t return. That doesn’t bode well for his immediate prospects heading into a divisional clash with the Texans in Week 12, and it’s likely he winds up in the league’s concussion protocol in the near future (if he’s not already in it at the time of this newsletter’s publication). If Spears would miss next week, Tony Pollard would have a chance to return to the workhorse role he enjoyed sans Spears over the past few weeks. After a very quiet Week 10 and 11 with Spears in the lineup, that’s exactly what Pollard would need to give his managers confidence starting him once again – especially on an offense that struggles like the Titans do on a weekly basis. Pay attention to the injury report later this week to have a better idea of how Spears is trending, as that will likely determine whether or not Pollard is in consideration for a spot in your starting lineup next week.