It seems like we’ve been asking whether Josh Jacobs is playing through one injury or another all season. With Jacobs now having been questionable entering the last four games, fantasy football managers will be hoping the Las Vegas Raiders RB can go again as we hit the first week of the fantasy playoffs. Let’s examine the latest update for Jacobs’ Week 15 status and the fantasy impact of that news.
Update: Josh Jacobs is active for Week 15.
Is Josh Jacobs Playing Today?
There never seemed to be a huge amount of concern that Jacobs would not play this week. On Sunday morning, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Jacobs is expected to play. With him being limited all week at practice, this is largely what we expected.
At this stage of the season, teams will be managing their assets, especially at running back. A lot of players are dealing with injuries of one sort or another, so it’s easy to manage by limiting them at practice, which is what it feels like the Raiders are doing with Jacobs over the past few weeks.
When you look at Jacobs’ usage in games, there appears to be little in the way of load management. Despite being questionable for the last three games, Jacobs has carried the ball 86 times with 11 targets in that stretch. That is an average of 32.3 opportunities per game.
Is Jacobs a Player To Trust for Underdog Fantasy?
Jacobs has proven over and over again in recent weeks his worth to both the Raiders and to fantasy managers. He’s rushed for a total of 472 yards, with a minimum of 99 in a single game in the past three weeks. He has added a total of 95 receiving yards on 10 receptions in that stretch.
When it comes to fantasy returns, Jacobs’ worst output in half-PPR scoring during that time was last week, when he had 18.4 fantasy points. Therefore, if you’re playing in Underdog Fantasy Best Ball leagues, there should be no real hesitation in drafting Jacobs this week.
When it comes to the Underdog Pick’em contest, things are intriguing. Jacobs has a projected rushing total of 82.5 yards, with projections of 17.5 receiving yards, 103.5 total yards, 0.5 rushing touchdowns, and 17.75 fantasy points in half-PPR scoring. Other than the receiving yards, Jacobs has topped all of those numbers in the last three weeks.
MORE: Is Rhamondre Stevenson Playing Today vs. Raiders?
However, the Patriots have been a good run defense for the most part in recent weeks. They struggled against the run game in the first five weeks, but since then, have only allowed 100-yard rushing games on two occasions. It’s worth noting that one of those came last week against James Conner and the Arizona Cardinals.
Of the projections for Jacobs this week, it feels like he should be able to volume his way to going higher than the 82.5 projected rushing yards. Las Vegas has leaned heavily on their lead running back in recent weeks. It would be a surprise if, barring injury, Jacobs does not carry the ball at least 20 times this week, and perhaps even as much as 25+.
Fantasy Outlook for Jacobs, Zamir White, Ameer Abdullah, and Brandon Bolden
If you have Jacobs on your roster this week, there is next to no chance you are considering sitting him if he’s active. Jacobs has only scored fewer than 10 fantasy points in half-PPR on one occasion since going over that mark for the first time in Week 3.
During that time, he has scored at least 20 fantasy points on five occasions and gone over 15 fantasy points on eight occasions. Therefore, the risk-reward ratio with Jacobs is heavily slanted towards the reward side.
If Jacobs were to suffer a setback on Sunday and be inactive, then things twist drastically. The Patriots have allowed an average of just 15.58 fantasy points per game to opposing RBs in the past four weeks. Although the last two weeks have seen opposing running backs for the Bills and Cardinals go over 20 fantasy points in both games.
It would be tough to trust rookie RB Zamir White to have the same success we’ve seen Jacobs have if he were to step in. It’s certainly not out of the question, but trusting your fantasy playoff future to White against a Bill Belichick defense would be a brave move.
An intriguing option in deep leagues, if Jacobs is ruled out, might be Ameer Abdullah. The Patriots struggled a little to contain James Cook in the passing game two weeks ago. Abdullah has seen 14 targets in the past five weeks and could see more if Jacobs is inactive.