Is Josh Jacobs playing today vs. the Seattle Seahawks? That’s the question on the minds of fantasy football managers after the Las Vegas Raiders‘ RB was listed on the Week 12 injury report with a calf injury.
With late-week injuries never being the greatest situation, let’s look at the latest on Jacob’s status for this week and the fantasy implications of the situation for the Raiders.
Update: Josh Jacobs is active for Week 12.
Is Josh Jacobs Playing Today?
Early on Sunday morning, we got positive news, with a report that Jacobs is expected to play in Week 12. ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted that barring a setback in pregame, Jacobs is expected to be on the field this week. However, Schefter did not shine a light on how much of a role Jacobs might play this week against the Seahawks.
Anytime a player is a late-week addition to an injury report, it presents a major issue. This week, Jacobs was listed as limited for Friday’s practice on the Raiders’ final injury report. We did not get any major details on the situation, most likely because the Raiders themselves did not have a full picture at the time.
MORE: Week 12 Start/Sit Advice
Injuries like that can often be tough to judge for fantasy managers because the team themselves are fighting to get a full picture, let alone those outside of the organization.
What we can look to assume with Schefter’s report is that whatever issue Jacobs had was relatively minor. Therefore, his limited and questionable status was as much the Raiders being cautious as it was a major concern over the issue.
The problem now for fantasy managers is that we have no idea how much Jacobs will actually play. His limitations could mean we see him playing on a reduced snap count, especially if the game gets lopsided in the second half. That uncertainty means that both Jacobs floor and ceiling output are uncertain this week.
Fantasy Outlook for Jacobs in Week 12
This week’s matchup for Jacobs against the Seahawks was already somewhat hard to judge. Overall on the season, the Seahawks have allowed an average of just 23.49 fantasy points to the RB position. That is the seventh-lowest output against any defense this season.
However, in their last outing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Seahawks allowed the worst rushing attack in the NFL to score a total of 40.3 fantasy points against them. That was the sixth time the Seahawks have allowed over 20 fantasy points to opposing backs, but only the second time allowing over 30 fantasy points to RBs this year.
However, if Jacobs was fully healthy and expected to dominate the work for the Raiders’ RBs, he is, to some extent, matchup-proof. The Seahawks have only held opposing backs under 10 fantasy points once. Therefore, while Jacobs’ ceiling might be limited in this matchup, he should still have been able to return starting value for fantasy managers this week.
MORE: Week 12 Fantasy RB Rankings
But this picture now looks very different. While we saw Zamir White listed as inactive in Munich, he very well could be active this week in case Jacobs does struggle with his calf issue. The Raiders also have Brandon Bolden and Ameer Abdullah on their roster, both of whom could spell Jacobs in certain situations.
If Jacobs is limited by the calf injury, then we could see more of Bolden and Abdullah in passing situations, as that is the easiest way to limit Jacobs’ snaps this week. That will have an impact on the ceiling for the lead RB, but unless we get an indication that he will be sharing snaps on early downs, it will be hard to bench him.
There is certainly more risk to Jacobs this week. However, right now, we have to assume he is still the lead back this week and start him accordingly. If you are absolutely loaded with potential starting options this week, then you might consider benching Jacobs, but it is an incredibly tough thing actually to do, especially with a player averaging 18.3 rushing attempts and 4.1 targets per game this year.
The main situation where you might consider playing it safe and benching Jacobs is if you have to make your decision ahead of the 1 p.m. ET games. With Jacobs playing in the late window, if he does end up inactive, fantasy managers may have limited options to turn to.
It doesn’t seem likely at this stage, but if you are worried and have other viable starters this week, then being cautious might be prudent.