Boy oh boy. Another one bites the dust and this one was a big hit to the league in Green Bay Packers quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers suffered a broken collarbone in the first quarter of Sunday's loss to the Minnesota Vikings after outside linebacker Anthony Barr planted him following a throw. The hit wasn't malicious but unfortunate the way Rodgers came down on his shoulder.

Another big loss this week will be for the Dallas Cowboys who got a terrible bye week present in finding out that Ezekiel Elliott's six game ban had been reinstated. That certainly caused Zek owners to rush to the waiver wires to pick up either Alfred Morris or Darren McFadden.

I do have a bit of good news though fantasy players, there are only two teams on a bye this week: The Houston Texans and Detroit Lions. However, this does mean that'll you'll have to replace Lamar Miller, Matthew Stafford, DeAndre Hopkins, and of course Deshaun Watson who leads the league in touchdown passes with 15.

Let's try and get you some help.

Running Backs:

Orleans Darkwa (NYG, 4.5% Owned in ESPN Leagues):

The New York Football Giants finally did something right this season. They had Head Coach Ben McAdoo hand over play calling duties to Offensive Coordinator, Mike Sullivan. Without Odell Beckham Jr, Brandon Marshall, or Sterling Shepard the Gmen were able to defeat a talented Denver Broncos team in Colorado. The key to this game? It was the commitment Sullivan showed to the running game and it paid off for Darkwa. This is the formula New York is going to lean on without their high powered weapons on the outside, jump on the Darkwa bandwagon while he's still available

Chris Ivory (JAX, 5.4% Owned):

There's no denying that rookie Leonard Fournette has been an absolute beast early and often this season but on Sunday he went out with an ankle issue. The injury wasn't a real serious one, he's been medically cleared but there's always that scary risk of, "what if". What if Fournette were to miss time? Well, if that were the case than the job would be all Chris Ivory's to run with, literally. In limited time, Ivory's shown he's still got a good burst and is a hard runner. If I were a Leonard Fournette owner I would make sure to grab Ivory this week off the waiver wire for insurance purposes.

 

Wide Receivers:

Eric Decker (TEN, 54% Owned):

Holy cow, we've been waiting for Decker to do something this entire season! Finally, on Monday night we saw quarterback Marcus Mariota utilize the Titans off-season acquisition to the tune of seven catches on nine targets for 88 yards. This is certainly an encouraging sign for the veteran wide receiver who I thought was going to have a more productive season thus far than he's had. He'll be a strong flex play candidate this week versus the Cleveland Browns.

Brandon Coleman (NO, 3.8% Owned):

If the Green Bay Packers were smart they would consistently double cover, or at least attempt to, Michael Thomas this week. If that's the case and honestly even if it doesn't happen most of the time the Packers corner backs have been so underwhelming that I could see Coleman breaking out in this match-up. Willie Snead is hard to trust at this point as he works his way back into game shape. The way you beat the Packers is by throwing the football and we know that Drew Brees is more than capable of spreading the wealth around. I like Brandon Coleman's chances of getting in the end zone this weekend as a possible flex play.

 

Tight End:

Greg Kittle (SF, 9.2% Owned):

Quarterback Brian Hoyer got benched on Sunday and rookie, C.J. Beathard will be getting the opportunity to start from here on out. Beathard looked decently capable of moving the ball and over the past few contests we've seen San Francisco start to utilize their athletic tight end Greg Kittle. Over the span of the last two games he's hauled in 11 of 17 targets for 129 yards and a touchdown. If you're an owner in need of a tight end option don't be afraid to look Kittle's way, 49er quarterbacks have been.

 

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