Fantasy Football Player Notes

As of this writing we've been told that Adam Thielen is dealing with a high-ankle sprain. It's unclear how much time he will miss just yet, but any amount of absence could lead to an eruption for Jefferson's usage. The sophomore wideout has a chance to go nuclear in the fantasy playoffs if Thielen misses considerable time.

In the three games that Dalvin Cook has missed this year, Mattison has touch counts of 32, 32, and 25. In Week 13 against the Lions he ran 22 times for 90 yards and a score while adding 34 yards on three receptions through the air. Minnesota plays on Thursday night in Week 14, which means it's unlikely that Cook returns against Pittsburgh. Mattison should therefore once again be treated as a borderline RB1. This isn't a spot to sell high. We also can't be certain that Cook will even return after that.

Cook wasn't limited at all in his return to the offense in Week 6. The fantasy superstar was on the field for 74% of the snaps and handled 89% of the RB attempts. Additionally, he handled 100% of the SDD snaps, LDD snaps, and two-minute offense. Minnesota has a Week 7 bye, but Cook has a claim to be the top player in fantasy football with Christian McCaffrey currently on IR.

Entering Week 6, the 31-year-old might be on the verge of a decline, at least according to his targets per routes run metric (per PFF). Here are his TPRR since 2017: 2.33, 2.10, 1.86, 1.86, and 1.34. Thielen remains a presence in the red zone for Minnesota, but it seems as if we should begin valuing him as a WR3 rather than the WR2 we thought he might be prior to Week 1.

Osborn's number of routes run will likely fluctuate week to week depending on game script, but he's suddenly locked in as Minnesota's No. 3 wide receiver. Note that the Vikings are using far less 12 personnel sans Kyle Rudolph and Irv Smith Jr.