Fantasy Injury Updates: Latest news on Darren Waller, Mike Evans, Elijah Moore, more affecting Week 17 start ’em, sit ’em calls

December 30, 2021 admin

Darren Waller, Mike Evans, Elijah Moore, and Pat Freiermuth have all been contributors to fantasy rosters set to compete for championships, so their statuses heading into Week 17 will mightily affect start ’em, sit ’em calls. As always with pass-catchers, the fantasy outlooks of their teammates will be important to discuss, as receivers could come out of nowhere for monster weeks thanks to newfound opportunities (like Isaiah McKenzie in Week 16). We have the latest updates on each player below.

For updates on ailing QBs Lamar Jackson, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Carson Wentz, click here; for the latest on banged-up RBs Jordan Howard, Elijah Mitchell, D’Andre Swift, James Conner, and Clyde Edwards-Helaire, go here. For all the latest fantasy news, follow us on Twitter @SN_Fantasy.

Darren Waller COVID/injury update

Just when it looked like Waller (knee) was finally set to return, he’s been placed on the reserve/COVID list. Since he was placed on the list Wednesday, it seems like there’s an ultra slim chance he’s cleared for Sunday. Even if he was cleared, there’s a chance he would miss this game, so don’t count on him being out there against the Colts.

Foster Moreau has been a solid producer his three of his five starts this season and since the Colts allow the third-most fantasy points to TEs, he’s a sneaky TE1 candidate and should be viewed as the top streaming TE in Week 17.

Mike Evans COVID/injury update

Evans (hamstring, reserve/COVID list) has an uphill battle to play in Week 17 against the Jets, but he reportedly returned to practice on Thursday and ran routes. We should prepare like he’s going to be out, but he’s obviously a must-start if he does play. If he’s out, Breshad Perriman will fill in outside and is a boom-or-bust upside play in crunch time. At very least, he’s a great DFS GPP tournament dart throw. We can also expect Antonio Brown to get an absurd target share, too.

Even will be comfortably ranked inside our top 10 in all formats if he can play, and Antonio Brown is a WR1 whether Evans plays or not. It’s worth noting Tyler Johnson could also be a decent GPP tournament play, as he had zero targets in Week 16 and the general public will be off of him. However, his dud performance makes him impossible to trust in regular fantasy leagues.

Elijah Moore injury update

The Athletic’s Connor Hughes reports that Moore (quad) “is in the 50/50 range” for being able to play in Week 17 against Tampa Bay. That said, we’ll just have to wait and see on his status around game time on Sunday, but in what should set up to be a pass-first attack for New York, he draws consideration as a boom-or-bust option. We believe he’s a good receiver, but ultimately, Zach Wilson could have a disastrous performance, which could keep Moore quiet. There’s also a chance Moore could go off in garbage time, so the range of outcomes here is extremely wide.

We like Moore as a mid-to-low WR2, but again, he has WR1 upside but a low floor. If he’s out, Jamison Crowder (if he’s over his calf injury) and Braxton Berrios certainly have appeal, but their upsides are clearly capped.

Pat Freiermuth injury update

Freiermuth (concussion) missed the game against the Chiefs, and we don’t have updated practice reports, but he posted on Instagram “see yinz Monday night”. We can assume that means he’ll be ready to go for the matchup with Cleveland, but as always, we can’t trust what the player says and will have to see what his status is later in the week.

Freiermuth leads all tight ends in red-zone targets (18), and he’s caught seven touchdowns on the year. At tight end, touchdown upside carries a lot of weight since the position as a whole isn’t super productive, so he always has heavy starting consideration. We view him on the border of a TE1 in a top-13 matchup for tight ends.

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