Brian Barker

Mike Davis has been doing his best to keep Christian McCaffery's Fantasy Owners afloat during his season of injuries. I hope everyone held on to Davis for this reason. With CMC taking limited reps during practice this week with a new thigh injury, the Panthers have listed him as "Doubtful" to play. Carolina also got hit with some positive COVID tests within their receiving core. D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel were both placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list and Samuel has now been activated off of the list, while Moore is not expected to be back in time to play Week 14. Davis could have a very big week against a Denver D that has given up the most Rush ATT/G (29.77) so far this season and also ranks 23rd worst for Rush YDS/ATT (4.56) and 24th worst for Rush TD/G (1.08). Denver has a very stout Pass D who give up the 15th fewest REC/G (20.85), 6th fewest YDS/REC (9.68), and 4th fewest REC TD/G (1.23). The Rams (1.08), Dolphins (1.08), and Colts (1.15) are the only teams that give up fewer REC TD/G. Davis is only a must-start if CMC does not play, but he will definitely have a much bigger ceiling if Moore also does not play this week. With CMC being listed as "Doubtful", I do not expect him to play. The only commonality of Davis playing with CMC amd without is that he has received 4.33 REC/G for both. He has averaged a healthy 13.51 0.5PPR FPTS/G without CMC and I expect the same and more this week. If he is dealt with the added bonus of Moore not playing, I expect a few more receptions and many more yards from rushing and receiving. I currently have him ranked at RB12 for the week, which lands him in the low end of the RB1 category, but that is still better than RB2. There is a good possibility that I move him up in my rankings before Sunday's game.

Aaron Jones is officially questionable for GB's Thursday night game vs. SF. Jones wants to play and feels up to the challenge, but the GB coaches and training staff are understandably hesitant about his return. With much of the backfield out this game due to COVID protocols, GB could really use Jones. If Jones does not play, then Dexter Williams and Tyler Ervin will step up to bat and it could get ugly back there. I believe Williams would be the better producer between the 2 of them because of his size advantage and has the better odds of falling into the end zone. The San Francisco 49ers defense is the 12th best for RUSH ATT/G against (26.25), 9th best for RUSH YDS/ATT against (4.02), and 3rd best for RUSH TD/G against (0.53). This would be a tough matchup for any RB, but if Jones suits up, I still have him projected as RB #7 on for this week.

Cristian McCaffrey has been practicing this week and is hopeful in playing this week. If McCaffrey were to suit up, I believe that he will be the obvious starter and I have him as RB #3 for this week, but Mike Davis has proved himself as a decent backup and will steal some of the snaps from CMC. The Carolina Panthers are going to want to protect their $64M RB and that will play into Davis' advantage. The Kansas City Chiefs defense is currently the 8th worst for RUSH ATT/G against (25), 5th worst for RUSH YDS/ATT against (4.80), and 15th best for RUSH TD/G against (0.88). KC gives up a lot of rush attempts and rush yards, but the have been fairly good at stopping rush TDs from happening. You have been waiting so long for CMC to come back and he is a definite start if he suits up, but don't expect the production that you are used to for this game.

With Gardner Minshew II inactive for week 9, I expect James Robinson to be used a lot on the ground. With Mike Glennon or Jake Luton (R) filling in at QB, there are a lot of uncertainties surrounding how involved DJ Chark Jr and Keelan Cole will be. HOU D has given up the 3rd most OPP Rush ATT/G (31.86) and the 2nd most OPP Rush YDS/ATT (5.21) and Robinson is averaging 15.29 ATT/G with a team avg. of 21.43 ATT/G, Robinson should have a higher than average ATTs and Rush YDS in this game. I expect James Robinson to have the highest fantasy points on this team and possibly the highest in the game, besides Deshaun Watson.

The sad reality of this offense is that besides Cam's 5 rush TDs, Rex has the 2nd most TDs on this offense with 2 rushing TDs and 1 receiving TD. The only other players with a TD are Sony Michel (1 rush TD), N'Keal Harry (1 receiving TD) and Jakob Johnson (1 receiving TD) and N'Keal and Michel are both currently out this week. The only good news is that the Bills D has given up the 10th most rushing TDs/game (1.3), 12th most rush yards/game against (126.9), and 7th most Red-Zone TDs/game (2.7) with a 65.5% RZ TD conversion. If there is going to be any production from the NE offense, it will be from Cam or Rex. There are probably much better options out there than having to count on a NE RB, but Rex has been the most productive RB and I would pick him as being the "best" NE RB for this matchup.