The question of is Josh Jacobs playing this week has been ever-present for fantasy football managers in the last three weeks. With Jacobs having been listed on the injury report for the last seven practice sessions, the concerns are starting to mount for the Las Vegas Raiders RB.
Let’s take a look at the latest regarding the status of Jacobs for Week 14 and whether fantasy managers should rely on him on Thursday night against the Los Angeles Rams.
Update: Jacobs is not on the NFL inactives list for Week 14. He will play during Thursday Night Football against the Rams.
Is Josh Jacobs Playing Tonight?
A calf injury has caused Jacobs to be questionable for the last two games, and that continues into Week 14. However, Jacobs also has a quad designation on the Raiders’ final Week 14 injury report. It is worth noting that the Raiders’ injury reports this week were all estimations. The team did not practice on Monday and then just conducted walkthroughs on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Despite the two questionable tags, Jacobs has been superb in the last two weeks. Against the Seattle Seahawks, he racked up 229 rushing and 74 receiving yards on 39 touches and 40 opportunities. He then added another 144 rushing and six receiving yards from 28 touches against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 13.
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So far, Jacobs has not missed a beat due to the calf injury, but things are now starting to stack up. He is now dealing with both a calf and a quad injury, as well as managing his body on a short week. That is a tough combination for an RB to overcome entering Week 14 of the 2022 NFL season.
Early on Thursday morning, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero tweeted that Jacobs is expected to play tonight. However, we will likely not have official confirmation until the Raiders announce their inactives. Therefore, fantasy managers are left hanging on the announcement of the inactives for Thursday Night Football to see if the RB is active.
Fantasy Outlook for Jacobs and Zamir White in Week 14
There is a lot for fantasy managers to balance this week. If he is active, it is virtually impossible to bench a player who has three straight games with over 150 yards from scrimmage and more than 600 yards from scrimmage and three touches in the last three weeks.
The problem is that we do not know exactly how much he will play this week. The Raiders are 6.5-point favorites on the road this week against the Rams. Therefore, there is a chance this game becomes a little one-sided into the second half. If that is the case, we could see the Raiders try to limit Jacobs’ touches in the second half, which will potentially cap his ceiling.
On the short week, we may even see the Raiders mix in more of rookie RB Zamir White, as well as veteran options Ameer Abdullah and Brandon Bolden. That would be a wise call from a team who still has a shot to make the playoffs but needs their lead back fully healthy if they are to have a chance of causing some upsets later in the season.
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The last two month has seen the Raiders ride Jacobs hard. He has more than 25 touches in each of the last four games and more than 20 touches in the last five. In fact, Jacobs has touched the ball fewer than 20 times in just one game since their bye in Week 6.
Right now, it is working, with Jacobs averaging more than 5.5 yards per rush attempt in the last three weeks. All of that, as well as the 10 rushing touchdowns this season, means that if Jacobs is active, it would be a brave call to bench him. That is especially the case with options being limited by six teams on a bye this week.
What that uncertainty does is present an opportunity for Zamir White to be a deep-league consideration. Although, it would be another brave call to start a player who has just 12 rushing attempts this season and 10 offensive snaps in the past four games.
Where there could be room for value in the Raiders’ backfield this week is in Underdog Fantasy Best Ball leagues. The attention in drafts will undoubtedly be on Jacobs, but the other trio could all make for intriguing late-round picks. If one of them breaks a big play or finds their way into the end zone, they could be a matchup winner for managers.