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For more in-depth analysis and discussion of these injury scenarios, tune in to the Fantasy Finish Line Podcast, Week 3 Preview: The Replacements

QUARTERBACK

Ben Roethlisberger (elbow) – Big Ben will be out for the season after undergoing surgery on his elbow this week. This elevates Mason Rudolph to a permanent starting position for the Steelers offense which has been struggling over the first two weeks of the season. Strangely, Rudolph was able to spark the offense against Seattle more than Ben had earlier in the game. Whispers that this elbow issue had been going on with Roethlisberger since before the season even started would make some sense of that. The Steelers just traded for a new safety to bolster their secondary and Rudolph and the offense are being undervalued right now. They all make for good ‘buy’ targets.

Drew Brees (thumb) – Brees had thumb surgery today, and according to Ed Werder from ESPN the target date for a return will be Week 10, after the Saints bye. Teddy Bridgewater becomes the starter in New Orleans and immediately puts a damper on the offense there. Michael Thomas still received plenty of targets with Teddy under center, but surprisingly Alvin Kamara (13 for 45 on the ground, 1-of-3 for 15 yards receiving) did not. This will lower Kamara’s ceiling and push Latavius Murray off the radar. One interesting note, Sean Payton today was very ambiguous when asked about the starting QB going forward – maybe we’ll see Taysom Hill take over, or possibly even QBBC?

Cam Newton (foot) – This could be the end of an era for the Panthers’ QB. He looks beat up, is apparently nursing a foot (left, same as in preseason), and hasn’t been able to throw the ball downfield consistently and accurately since his shoulder issues. If Cam can’t run, and can’t throw.. it makes sense that someone else should step up in Carolina. But Christian McCaffrey can’t also be the Quarterback. Newton’s primary backup is Kyle Allen and they also drafted rookie QB Will Grier in the third-round this year, but neither seems primed to be a difference-maker or take the mantle from Cam. It just looks rough out there in Charlotte. (update via Ian Rappaport: Cam is in a walking boot)

Jets QBs are unusable (Sam Darnold w/ Mono out until Week 5 at the earliest, Trevor Siemian (leg), only Luke Falk left so no hope for Jets fans until October. This also decreases the fantasy viability of Jamison Crowder based on his usage in Week 2. It does look like Robby Anderson (4-of-6 for 81 yards) and Le’Veon Bell (21 for 68 on the ground, 10 for 61 in the air) will still be forced the ball, so while Falk being under center is certainly not a long-term positive change for them, both players should still be considered for your starting lineup.)

RUNNING BACK

James Conner (knee) – All signs point to Conner playing against the 49ers this week, but we’ll likely see a little more of Jaylen Samuels. Of course, the Steelers tend to just pepper the starting RB with carries as long as they’re playing so I ultimately wouldn’t start anyone but Conner as long as he’s active and starting.

Damien Williams (knee) – and LeSean McCoy (ankle). It could be Darwin Thompson time somewhat soon. He will certainly be getting more snaps in the coming weeks with both starting RBs on the Chiefs already showing up on the injury list.

Josh Jacobs (groin) – Interesting that Jacobs isn’t being used in the passing game (zero targets last week) currently, but that may be completely because of his injury. Something to monitor, but if he’s only rushing and getting no passes in the backfield, his value is slightly depressed (and so will you be while watching the game!)

Devin Singletary (hamstring) – Devin played well last week (6 rushes for 57 yards and 1 TD) but was ruled out late in the game with a hamstring injury. Clearly the best RB in Buffalo right now, this is another situation to monitor. Frank Gore (19 for 68 and 1TD on the ground, 2 receptions for 15 yards) is still chugging along and is startable this week, especially if Singletary is limited or out.

Marlon Mack (calf) missed practice Wednesday – Nyheim Hines gets a boost if Mack can’t go.

WIDE RECEIVER

Alshon Jeffery (calf) – The Eagles canceled practice on Wednesday since their entire team is injured. At this point, it’s not likely that Jeffery plays in Week 3 and that may work in Nelson Agholor’s favor (8-of-11 for 107 yards and 1 TD). Agholor and Ertz (8-of-16 for 72 yards) are going to have a fantasy field day in Week 3 against the Lions. Lock n’ load!

DeSean Jackson (groin) – Jackson is getting old. He’s been injured in every game so far, and Tom Pelissero from NFL.com reports that he will not play in weeks 3 or 4.

Michael Gallup (knee) – Gallup has been killin’ it on the Cowboys (6-of-8 for 68 yards last week after 7-of-7 for 168 yards in week 1) and would surely have been an excellent play against the hapless Dolphins this week, but he’s dealing with a meniscus tear that will sideline him for 2-4 weeks. Perhaps Devin Smith will take some of those targets, and Jason Witten will be getting a few extra as well.

Tyrell Williams (hip) – It’s a hip pointer! Not horrible news, but still questionable for Week 3. He’ll also be going up against Xavier Rhodes this week, so it was already a bad matchup. May be a player to avoid starting against the Vikings, knowing that he has a bit of an injury going into the week. Darren Waller might be sucking up even more targets than usual.

Tre’Quan Smith (ankle) – Didn’t practice, probably won’t matter anyway with Bridgewater in.

TIGHT END

David Njoku (concussion, wrist) – Not only did Njoku suffer a concussion during the crazy fall to the head/neck that happened at the beginning of Monday Night Football in Week 2, he has also been confirmed to have broken his wrist. This will leave Njoku on the sidelines for several weeks, and early speculation from beat reporters has him coming back in Week 8 – one week after the Browns’ bye. At least he’ll have enough time to get over his concussion, yipes!

For more in-depth analysis and discussion of these injury scenarios, tune in to the Fantasy Finish Line Podcast, Week 4 Preview: Say-Say, What?

QUARTERBACKS

Case Keenum (foot) – Keenum did not practice today, and according to ESPN beat reporter John Keim, he is in a walking boot for precautionary measures. The expectation ‘as of now’ is that he will play but that is clearly questionable. Whether or not Dwayne Haskins (2% owned) ends up making his first NFL start this week, Keenum is banged up and coming off of his worst game of the season against the Bears, who managed 5 forced turnovers including 2 fumbles from Keenum. It’s looking rough in Washington.

RUNNING BACKS

LeSean McCoy (ankle) & Damien Williams (knee) – Darrel Williams (109-total-yards) led the Chiefs’ backfield in touches Week 3 against the Ravens, but McCoy was still out there and productive (80-total-yards, 38% of the snaps, 2 TDs). The info to know for now is that Darrel Williams (40% owned) is definitely in front of Darwin Thompson (19% owned) on the depth chart, which is why he was a big waiver pickup this week with all of the prolonged injury concerns with Damien Williams (who is still not practicing and doesn’t figure to suit up in Week 4), and that LeSean McCoy tweaked his injured ankle in that game, and didn’t touch the ball in the 4^th quarter – he is currently limited in practice. Williams will continue to have an impact.

Devin Singletary (hamstring) – According to the humorously named website ‘Buffalo Rumblings’, Singletary (78% owned) is still not practicing after suffering a hamstring injury in Week 2. There is not much indicating that things will change for the Bills’ backfield – leaving Frank Gore (57% owned) to continue as the unchallenged starter. In Week 3, Gore put up 76 yards on 14 rushes and 1 TD.

Ito Smith (concussion) – Smith’s (15% owned) absence after leaving in Week 3 because of a concussion only helps the underperforming Devonta Freeman. We’re finally able to look at trends, and here we see Freeman’s carries going up from 8 to 11 to 16 from Weeks 1 to 3 and putting up 88-yards on 16 rushes and 7 yards on 3 receptions in the game last week was a good sign. Not explosive, but enough work to be an every-week starter if this pattern continues. This guy needs a TD!

Rashaad Penny (hamstring) – Penny (60% owned) injured his hamstring during the walkthrough before the game last week, but the word from Pete Carroll is that he should be ok to practice on Thursday. With Chris Carson having already lost 3 fumbles this year, it’s possible that Seattle could start to give Penny the majority of the carries but all of the talk from Carroll has continued to back up Carson as the starter so I wouldn’t count on anything changing just yet in that backfield. C. J. Prosise (1% owned) is also a RB on the Seattle Seahawks.

Saquon Barkley (high-ankle sprain) – Oh gosh. Big news for fantasy football team managers, and every year you have one of the top guys go down – this year it’s Saquon. Although he’s getting a second opinion on the ankle, these kinds of sprains don’t fully heal for months. It’s my opinion that we don’t get Barkley back as himself for the remainder of the fantasy season. The interesting thing here is that some other opportunities may arise for fantasy points in New York, either from backup Wayne Gallman (71% owned), or from elsewhere (Kenyan Drake (58% owned), or free agents like Jay Ajayi (2% owned), CJ Anderson (5% owned), and Spencer Ware (0% owned)). Although Gallman was arguably at the top of waiver wire adds this week, I just don’t see the upside. He’s never averaged more than 4.3-yards per rush, and never scored more than 1 TD in a season. I think the Giants must obtain someone else, at least for short yardage.

WIDE RECEIVERS

T.Y Hilton (quad) – Hilton was already nursing a quad injury when he suited up and played in Week 3 (8 receptions for 65 yards and 1 TD), and he had to leave the game after aggravating the same injury before halftime. He’s not practicing this week and looks to be a game-time decision against the Raiders in Week 4. Not good for the Colts but look at Deon Cain (0% owned) and Parris Campbell (4% owned) to start getting a little more spotlight if Hilton has an extended absence.

Desean Jackson (abdomen) – Already ruled out as of today, Jackson is not ready to get back into the game just yet on this short week (Thursday night game against the Packers). Although most of the experts thought that J.J. Arcega Whiteside (4% owned, 1 catch for 10 yards) would benefit from Jackson being off the field, it turns out that Mack Hollins (1% owned, 3^rd year receiver, 4 catches for 62-yards) ended up being the guy in the stat book last weekend.

Julian Edelman (ribs) – After coming off the field in week 3, Edelman was taken for chest X-rays in the locker room, but everything came back negative. Both Edelman and Josh Gordon (hip/finger) should be good to go in a match-up against the Bills this week, but it’s a situation to monitor. In the meantime, Phillip Dorsett (50% owned) is again on the radar with Antonio Brown outta town, and he made the most of his playing time last week with 6 catches for 53 yards and 1 TD. He also rushed twice for 12 yards.

TIGHT ENDS

Vance McDonald (shoulder) – Earlier in the week it looked like McDonald (84% owned) may have suffered a major injury and some were reporting that Nick Vannett was traded to the Steelers from the Seahawks because of those injury concerns. Turns out, though, that it’s Xavier Grimble (calf) that has been put on injured reserve – the Steelers were just looking for another big-bodied blocking tight end to replace Grimble’s production. It’s not 100%, but there’s a good chance that McDonald ends up playing against the Bengals for Monday Night Football.

The semifinals are here, congratulations to all of you that have made it past the first week of the playoffs and are looking towards this week's matchups as well as players to stow away for starts in the championship if you make it! Players to look for good performances in Week 15 include: Andrew Luck, Damien Williams, Kenny Golladay, and Adam Humphries. Pay attention to these rankings throughout the week, as they will continue to evolve based on the latest injury updates, news, and player/matchup analysis. Good luck in Week 15 and remember, you can tweet us @drinkfive with any of your lineup questions!

Welcome to Statistically (in)Significant, the place to find great stats that probably only matter at the water cooler (or bar). Each week I'll dig through the stats of the week gone by and deliver you some choice conversation starters. All fantasy stats are standard Yahoo scoring, unless otherwise noted.

29.24 Fantasy Points

Once again, Derrick Henry led all RBs in fantasy points - this time it was a much more reasonable point total. Henry has a whopping 408 yards and 6 TDs over the last two weeks. If you started him these last two weeks, then you're probably looking at a championship matchup next week. Those numbers also account for basically half of his entire production in the 2018 season, so it's no surprise if he was riding your bench last week and you didn't want to chase points this week. Either way, it's been an impressive two weeks for Henry, and perhaps he's starting to live up to the potential he was touted to have coming out of college. This week, el "Tractorcito" will be taking on the Redskins, whom have fallen to the middle of the pack in rush defense after starting strong. Might as well fire up Henry and ride this hot streak while you still can.

142 Rush Yards

Steelers backup RB Jaylen Samuels put up a total of 172 yards from scrimmage in a tough win against the Patriots, a team that the Steelers haven't beaten since 2011. His 142 rush yards were the first time that the Steelers had a player cross the 100 rushing yard threshold since week 9 in Baltimore. Samuels' performance once again shows that it's the offensive line of the Steelers that is the real MVP here. It was the difference in a game that featured two perennial giants that have seen better days. Adding to the fun was Samuels' eligibility as a TE in Yahoo leagues. He was by far the highest scoring TE of the week, and only one of two players to hit double digits. The other player was Garrett Celek, owned in 0% of leagues. Now, the Patriots are in line to have to play during the wild-card weekend for the first time since 2009. Finally, someone else is getting a bye in the AFC.

4 of the top 8 TEs Owned in 0% of Leagues

OK, it's getting ridiculous at the TE position this year. Not only is it hard to get any kind of consistency at the TE position (the TE10 scored just 5.4 points), there are guys every week doing all the scoring instead of the ones in starting fantasy lineups. Week 15 saw Garrett Celek, Jeremy Sprinkle, Darren Waller and Lee Smith all wind up in the top 8 scoring TEs this week. All of those guys are basically rounding errors to us, as they're all owned in 0% of leagues. To look at this from another angle, all 6 TEs owned in 90% of leagues or more (we're throwing Jaylen Samuels out of this) scored a combined 18.6 points, good for a 3.1 point average. Might as well throw out the TE slot and just make it another flex position in order to take a bit of the sadness out of fantasy football.

4 of the top 10 WRs Owned in 51% of Leagues or Less

OK, it's not quite as ridiculous at the WR position, but it's not exactly full of guys you expected to be putting up big games. Starting off, you've got Mike Williams (51% owned) who scored 3 TDs and a 2 pointer for the win, led the week with 29.5 fantasy points. Then you've got Robert Foster (14%), Robby Anderson (27%) and Chris Hogan (28%) all scoring a touchdown and finishing in the top 10 WRs. Whatever happened to standards? You also had Adam Thielen, Tyreek Hill and Keenan Allen combine for a whopping 6 points - all of those guys are owned in 100% of Yahoo leagues. We've said it for a while now at drinkfive, but WR performances really get inconsistent when you near the end of the season, so here's hoping you turned some of those early stars into RBs at some point this season.

8 of the top 8 RBs Owned and Started Everywhere!

Now here's a position with some consistency, and let me elaborate. These top 8 guys are all owned in at least 88% of leagues, with the exception of Damien Williams (67%), who is being used in leagues that are paying attention, at least. Weather is a factor somewhere almost every weekend in the NFL, and bad or cold weather definitely favors the run game over the passing game, but there's something else to this trend of RBs being better than WRs this time of year. Later in the season, you wind up with teams that are able to improve their offensive line, since the only true way to practice a run game is to play real games. This is how you wind up with 8 players scoring at least 20 points at one position, and it being at least mildly predictable. Rounding out the top 10, honorable mentions go to Kalen Ballage (nice 75-yard TD) and Wendell Smallwood, both owned in 14% or fewer Yahoo leagues.