A.J. Green Carted Off, Derrick Henry In Walking Boot, Golden Tate Suspended
Hope you're prepared for news avalanche that'll be the next six weeks. Let's recap the recent headlines! Follow me on Twitter @mattkdelima
Green Carted Off From Practice
The extent of his foot/ankle injury remains unknown as the news fleshes out today. A.J. Green was seen on crutches leaving the practice facility. He was very animated when seen by team doctors, showing his frustration and punching the bench on the sidelines before getting on the cart. This is unrelated to Green's previous right foot injuries.
Tyler Boyd would move up to WR1 if Green missed significant time. Beyond that, the Bengals WR depth chart is a bit of a mess as John Ross, Cody Core and Josh Malone are in a competition to see more playing time. Ross has only been drafted in 8 of the last 10 FFWC high-stakes drafts.
Henry In Walking Boot Saturday After Friday Injury
Derrick Henry was an early exit from practice Friday and was unable to go Saturday. There is no update and details are pure speculation at this point. It is an ankle or foot injury.
We're all expecting big things from Henry as he shined to close out the 2018 season. This is another wait-and-see situation. In his 2019 Titans Outlook, FullTime Fantasy's Shawn Childs has a crazy stat-line projection for Henry:
Tate Suspended Four Games For PED Violation
Sterling Shepard has a fractured thumb which might keep him out all preseason. Corey Coleman tore his ACL. And now Golden Tate will miss a quarter of the season because of this suspension. The Giants WR depth chart offers little consolation. Journeymen Bennie Fowler and Russell Shepard are next up. New York drafted Darius Slayton out of Auburn so he'll get a long look as well. Tate might've been the safest choice of this group for Fantasy owners but missing four games puts a serious dent in his Fantasy value. Maybe grab him as your WR5 and hope you can stash Tate until he returns. In his Giants Team Outlook, Shawn Childs had this to say about Tate (written before his suspension):
Riddick Released By Lions
Great news for those of us on the Kerryon Johnson bandwagon. Theo Riddick had 61 receptions a year ago on 74 targets and those presumably will mostly go to Johnson now. Rookie Ty Johnson is getting some buzz in dynasty leagues but I think Danny Amendola is the sneaky beneficiary here as he'll work the short area of the field. Zach Zenner was a popular sleeper candidate in recent memory so we'll have to watch the preseason to see who is given the edge from this coaching staff. Even before Riddick's release, Shawn foresaw an expanded breakout role for Johnson:
Beat Writer Thinks Ballage Has Shot to Win Starting Job
Sorry Kenyan Drake! The bandwagon has been slowly losing momentum for months now. Kalen Ballage has been the first back in team drills thus far and may be the preferred early-down back in this offense. Drake never quite got it going last year but you could say the same for most of this Miami offense in 2018. Ballage recently went 97th in recent a FFWC high-stakes draft according to our premium Advanced ADP tool.