Fantasy Football: Last-Minute Injury News and Lineup Changes

It’s finally here: The Super Bowl of fantasy football often takes place in Week 16 of the regular season, as many teams are resting their key players in Week 17 in hopes of making a deep-run in the NFL playoffs.

First off, here are the players dealing with injuries and their latest status as to whether they’ll play today or not:

*Despite being listed as questionable with a hamstring injury, Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew is expected to play today. That significantly devalues Jordan Todman.

*Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald are expected to play Sunday at the Seattle Seahawks after being listed as questionable last week. WR Michael Floyd is also listed as possible and will play.

*Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is officially questionable for Week 16 against the New England Patriots, but CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora says Flacco will play Sunday vs. the Patriots.

*After missing last week’s game against the Eagles with an ankle injury, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is expected to play vs. the Cincinnati Bengals. The decision may not be made until game time but AP said Friday that he was “ready to roll.”

*The New England Patriots will be without offensive tackle Nate Solder and wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins. The loss of Tom Brady’s blindside protector causes his value to drop against a Baltimore Ravens team that’s outside pass-rushing duo of Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil have a combined 18.5 sacks.

*The Green Bay Packers will be without Aaron Rodgers again this week, and you should bench any Packers players outside of WR Jordy Nelson and RB Eddie Lacy.

*The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will not have safety Mark Barron against the Rams, as he did not make the trip with the team to St. Louis. This means Rams running back Zac Stacy will have even more open running lanes and should get a small boost with Barron out.