Coming off his worst game of the season for fantasy football (and real-life NFL purposes), Baltimore Ravens TE Mark Andrews enters Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as questionable and might be in danger of missing Week 8. What is the latest news on Andrews, and should he still be in consideration for fantasy managers if active after his goose egg last week?
Update: Per Adam Schefter, Andrews is expected to play in Week 8.
Is Mark Andrews Playing Tonight?
I saw a poll on Twitter earlier in the day on Wednesday that asked a simple question: “are you having fun playing fantasy football this year?” Only 35% of people said yes, and I will bet 99% of them have either Travis Kelce or Andrews on their roster.
Going TE early has been a significant advantage in fantasy, and that proves to be the case again in 2022, as Andrews sits second only to Kelce in basically every single category. Andrews is the TE2 in both overall and in PPG (16.5 PPR) and sits one back of Kelce in targets at 59, receptions (39), yards (455), and touchdowns (five).
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Throw in Rashod Bateman missing two weeks with a foot injury, and Andrews is second only to Lamar Jackson as the most valuable player for Baltimore. However, there is a catch in Week 8.
Andrews is nowhere near 100%. Dealing with a knee injury, the star tight end went catchless for the first time since his rookie year on just two targets last Sunday.
Unfortunately, the short week has not given him the proper amount of time to get back to full strength, as Andrews has missed practice this week and is listed as questionable.
Barring a setback, it does feel that Andrews will likely play on Thursday night, but there are no guarantees, especially in 2022. Baltimore is playing for a divisional title, and the team needs Andrews as healthy as possible for the long run.
More than likely, we won’t find out Andrew’s game time status until 90 minutes prior to kick-off when in actives are published. But he does seem to be closer to playing than sitting.
If Active, Is Andrews Worth the Risk in Fantasy?
So what should fantasy managers do? Andrews has proved to be one of the most valuable second-round picks you could have made this year and has kept managers out of the dreaded tight end purgatory. Just ask a Kyle Pitts manager how they feel so far.
If Andrews is active and playing on Thursday night, he’s got to be in the starting lineup for your fantasy team as well. Andrews is going for his third-straight road game with 85 yards or more and a touchdown. Plus, he has an affinity for playing his best when the lights are brightest.
MORE: RB Injury Report Week 8
Andrews has scored a touchdown on all three of his career Thursday Night Football games and is looking to make it five straight primetime games in which he’s found the end zone.
With Bateman questionable as well, Andrews has the potential to see double-digit targets, something that he did in all but one game between Weeks 2 through 6. Tampa Bay is slightly above average in DVOA versus TEs (14th), but they are also bottom 10 in points allowed at 14.1 PPR and just gave up a touchdown to Tommy Tremble last week. With Kelce on a bye, it’s hard to look at Andrews as anything other than the TE1 overall for Week 8.