The NFL schedule started off with another win for the Panthers and another loss for the Buccaneers on Thursday night and the fantasy football week is going on hard and with six byes, owners are looking for players to start or sit and the top options in CBS leagues and others includes Danny Amendola, Roddy White, Brandon Jacobs, James Jones, Rashard Mendenhall.
The New England Patriots were thrilled to get Rob Gronkowski back last week and now Danny Amendola could be returning as well, as he participated in practice on Thursday after missing out in the last game against the New York Jets on Sunday. Amendola is dealing with concussion and groin injuries and while he was limited in practice on Thursday, he could be getting the start once again on Sunday against the Dolphins in a big divisional game. Amendola has a chance to play and fantasy owners should keep an eye on the injury report, as the team has a 1 pm start time.
Amendola has not played much this season and has only appeared in three games and while he was great in the opener with 10 catches and 14 targets, he left that game with a groin injury and now that has been nagging him all season. He played against the Bengals and had four catches on nine targets with 55 yards and then he ended up having to leave the game after making two catches and gaining zero yards on four targets. Tom Brady would love to have him back with Julian Edelman also ailing and even though Gronk is back, the team needs to get moving more on offense and that is one reason why they lost to the Jets.
Amendola has 16 catches for 159 yards this season and he is a start option but only if he is in the lineup and fantasy owners should watch closely for the injury report this weekend. Roddy White is a SIT player this week and that just adds more frustration to fantasy owners, as he has been hampered all year by an ankle injury and now he will miss the game against the Arizona Cardinals. White has not been himself this season and with Julio Jones out for the year, the Falcons are really lacking at wideout and Harry Douglas is now the top option.
Douglas had seven catches for 149 yards and a score last week and he will continue being the number one option now that White is out and he played two weeks ago against the Jets and had four catches and he has not been in double digits in the past five weeks. White has not been over 50 yards in each of the past five games he has played and he only has 14 catches for 129 yards, forcing fantasy owners to find some other options and Douglas is the best one on the Falcons right now.
Brandon Jacobs is likely out after missing the Monday night matchup against the Vikings and that makes Peyton Hillis the prime START option, while Jacobs should SIT on Sunday against the Eagles. In his last game Jacobs had over 100 yards rushing, but he has not played since that Thursday game against the Bears and now he could be out longer if he doesn't heal up. The team has a bye coming up and then they play the Raiders, so that is the target date for owners to watch.
James Jones and Rashard Mendenhall are SIT players this week after each did not practice late in the week. Other options are needed for these two, as they are dealing with injuries this week heading into the games on Sunday.