Welcome back to Week 14 of Keeping it Real With Fantasy! After having our routine bye week, The Lance is ready to help you make that playoff push for your fantasy league. This past week had many interesting games that made waves in leagues across the board. The Buccaneers beat the Falcons off the four touchdown game from Tom Brady. The Eagles defeated the Jets off of backup QB Gardner Minshew’s two touchdown performance. Minshewmania is back as Jalen Hurts is out with a left ankle sprain. The Rams defeated the Jaguars as Odell Beckham Jr. has scored his second touchdown in two weeks. This next week has many great matchups, with two games in particular that we would keep an eye on. The Bills and Buccaneers face off on Sunday, which could prove to be a potential Super Bowl matchup. Tom Brady has a history of having his way with Buffalo, but times are changing as the Bills are one of the stronger teams in the league. The Rams and Cardinals are another great game we’d look into. Two division rivals that are both sitting atop their division and conference. The Cardinals are 10-2 and continue to dominate each week. The Rams have completed a new look with a star studded lineup. Players including Von Miller, Aaron Donald, and Jalen Ramsey lined up on the defense, matched with big names like Cooper Kupp, Odell Beckham Jr. and Matthre Stafford. On both offense and defense, This game is going to be great. We wish you the best of luck heading into Week 14.

News/Injuries:

Adam Theilen (WR) – The Vikings took two L’s this past week. One to the winless Lions, and another when their star receiver went down with a high ankle sprain. Unfortunately, this is a common injury in the league today. Theilen is expected to miss around two to three weeks. 

Logan Thomas (TE) – The Washington Football team’s tight end went down with a knee injury against the Raiders. Although Coach Ron Rivera claims that he didn’t tear his ACL, Thomas will be out for the remainder of the season. He was subject to a dirty hit by the Raider’s Yannick Ngakoue. Ngakoue dove at Thomas’ legs while both were well removed from the action. Low hits are frowned upon, and Coach Rivera voiced his disapproval as he claimed that the hit was avoidable. 

Kenyan Drake (RB) – The Raider’s running back broke his ankle during the second quarter of the Raiders’ game against the Washington Football Team. For leagues with many players, he was an excellent flex running back, but with a broken ankle, he will be out for the remainder of the season. This leaves RB1 Josh Jacobs to take even more snaps for the Raiders. 

Starts:

Javonte Wlliams (RB) – With Melvin Gordon out with an injury, Williams took the spotlight, rushing 23 times for 102 yards to go along with six receptions for 76 yards and a score. After this performance, how can the Broncos go back to Gordon? If both Williams and Gordon are active for this week’s matchup, the roles should be reversed, making Williams the top option from here on out. Taking on the win hungry Lions, injury status on Gordon will be monitored. If he’s active, Williams is seen as a solid RB2 in fantasy. If he’s inactive, Williams then becomes a low-end RB1. 

Elijah Moore (WR) – This past Sunday Moore saw 12 targets, catching six of them for 77 yards and a touchdown. This statline put Moore in the top 10 for fantasy wideouts, making his value rise. The season began shaky for the rookie, but since week 7, Moore is averaging 18 PPR points per game and was as high as No.3 in fantasy receiver rankings. Unfortunately, the Jets announced that Corey Davis, the former No. 1, is done for the season, dealing with a core muscle injury. This means there is now nothing standing between Moore and his continued success, making him a must start. 

Sits: 

Ezekiel Elliot (RB) – Although many of you will continue to start Zeke and hope for his production to return, we would recommend taking our advice, and sitting him, especially with playoffs around the corner. Over his last four games, Elliot has not averaged more than 3.6 yards per rush, continuing to deal with knee problems. To add to this slump, Elliot has scored fewer than 13 fantasy points in four of his last six matchups. Dallas takes on the Washington Football Team this week, who hold running backs to a whopping 46.5 rushing yards. We would be careful with Elliot, as his reliability is at a low and the production is not where it should be, especially considering the running back was a top 10 pick in the past drafts. 

Melvin Gordon (RB) –  Denver has finally turned to the running back that they drafted in the preseason. Gordon was injured this past week, so Javonte Williams got the starting spot for the Broncos, and he delivered. Williams had 178 total yards during Sunday’s game. Coming off this game, it’s going to be hard to not give him the ball when he’s been doing such great things with it. Because of this, Melvin Gordon should not be trusted going forward. 

Waiver Wires:  

Jalen Guyton (WR) – The Chargers might be without their two best pass-catchers against the Giants on Sunday afternoon. Both Keenan Allen and Mike Williams have hit the COVID-19 list leaving Jalen Guyton currently on top of the depth chart. If Keenan and Williams can’t go, Guton could see a lot of targets on a pass-heavy offense that’s led by star quarterback, Justin Herbert. 

Samaje Perine (RB) –  At the end of Sunday’s game, running back Joe Mixon was banged up. When unhealthy, Perine is the top back on a Bengals offense that utilizes the running back position quite well. If Mixon were to miss any time with his injury, Perine would be in line to start and take more snaps.