Fantasy Sports

It was the definition of “saved his fantasy night with a touchdown.” Pro Football Focus charted Breida as dominating the Giants’ backfield snaps, but he wasn’t able to cobble together touch volume since the G-Men spent the entire evening playing from behind, frequently by two scores. He also got out-gained 36-18 by Gary Brightwell despite the No. 2 back also handling just six touches. With Saquon Barkley finally admitting before the game he is battling a high-ankle sprain, it is probably going to be these two backs again for Week 4 against the Seahawks, but it could be Brightwell who gets a chance to operate as the 1A the second time around. Breida can’t be trusted as a FLEX even in what should be better game script against a softer opponent.

McCaffrey’s four-yard touchdown in the second quarter made it 12 straight games he has found the end zone as a 49er. Special stuff. McCaffrey was running angry this evening, routinely tacking on extra yardage after first contact. With the 49ers playing on just three days’ rest, Elijah Mitchell was finally a little more involved, but CMC still made it three straight 2023 appearances that he has cleared 20 touches. In fact, he has yet to notch fewer than 23 handles. He now has 10 days to rest up for Week 4 against the Cardinals.

Playing behind a makeshift offensive line against the 49ers’ ferocious front seven, Jones had his second scoreless outing in three 2023 starts. Jones, as always, was overly conservative, but there just wasn’t much he good do against this defense with the limited number of playmakers at his disposal. Jones and play-caller Brian Daboll tried to force the issue with Darren Waller, but it resulted in an inefficient night for the pass catcher and an interception for Jones. Waller let a fourth quarter target clang off his hands and into the air for the pick. Jones has bookended last week’s strong fantasy effort against the Cardinals with dominations at the hands of Dallas and San Francisco’s elite defenses. The Seahawks should offer a Monday night respite in Week 4.

Limited to 43 yards on nine first half targets, Samuel finally got rolling after the break. The highlight was his 27-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, where the blitzing Giants left Samuel 1-on-1 with Adoree’ Jackson. He did not lose the hand fight. Tonight was another Samuel YAC masterpiece, with a massive chunk of his yardage coming after first contact. That led to a scary moment in the fourth quarter where several G-Men landed on Samuel’s mid-section after a rugged run and he remained down on the field. He finally staggered to his feet after “only” seeming to have the wind knocked out of him. The definition of a “rolling ball of butcher knives,” Samuel has re-solidified his WR2 value regardless of Brandon Aiyuk’s health status. Aiyuk should be back from his shoulder injury in Week 4 against the Cardinals.

It was another “point guard” performance for the 49ers’ second-year starter, one where he was very lucky to escape without any turnovers. As seemed to often be the case last season, Purdy had several dropped interceptions in the first half, though he was far crisper after the break. He also got the ball to his play-making weapons more than enough times in space, allowing them to rip off chunk gains and tack on major yards after the catch. Purdy’s main skill seems to be his quick processing, though his physical limitations do occasionally get him into trouble. He’s probably overdue for a multi-turnover performance, but he is doing his job in this execution-based offense. That included two touchdowns vs. man coverage this evening. Purdy is a solid QB2 streamer, one who catches the cellar-dwelling Cardinals in Week 4.

There have been a truly absurd amount of word games going on with Barkley’s injury, but he has finally confirmed what seemed obvious when he required the assistance of two other players to get off the field on Sunday. Barkley told Rooks his Thursday absence was a “pain-tolerance issue,” but not even the most highly-rehabbed NFL player could play through a high sprain four days after the fact. Two weeks is a bit of a different story, though those kinds of heroics are usually saved for the playoffs. Barkley does have 11 more days to get healed up for Week 4 with the Giants playing on Monday Night Football. We would still expect him to need at least one more week.

It ended up being a relatively quick recovery for the impressive 2022 rookie, who went down last Week 11. The Giants still badly need play-making ability in their skill corps, but Robinson figures to be nowhere close to ready for a high-volume role. For now, he is merely worth monitoring in 12-14 team leagues. Inactive for the Giants are RB Saquon Barkley, LT Andrew Thomas, LB Azeez Ojulari, OG Ben Bredeson, CB Cor’Dale Flott, S Gervarrius Owens and DT Jordon Riley.

Aiyuk probably would have played were it not for the short week. Instead, he’ll now have 10 days to get healthy for San Francisco’s Week 4 walkover against the Cardinals. Jauan Jennings and rookie Ronnie Bell will pick up Aiyuk’s lost snaps, but Deebo Samuel and George Kittle are the only Niners pass catchers worth rolling out there in re-draft.

It means that, barring an unexpected setback, Meyers will be ready to return against the Steelers after missing one game. One of Week 1’s biggest surprises with his 9/81/2 line, Meyers feels like he could probably stick around as a WR3 in this narrowly-distributed offense.

This was what we expected from Burrow, as the Bengals opened their first practice of the week in preparation for Monday night’s matchup against the Rams. Burrow said earlier that his calf is “not as sore” as it was earlier in the week, but didn’t commit to playing on Monday. Fantasy managers waiting to hear on Burrow’s status should have a backup plan in place, given that way may not know whether or not he’s playing until closer to kickoff. If Burrow is unable to go, Jake Browning would be in line for the start. Fantasy managers shouldn’t bank on Browning as their contingency plan.