It has been an eventful week in terms of fantasy football relevant injuries in Baltimore. Entering Sunday morning, there are questions about whether Mark Andrews or Rashod Bateman are playing in Week 7, while RB J.K. Dobbins was placed on the injured reserve on Saturday.
Let’s take a look at the latest status updates for Mark Andrews and Rashod Bateman, and examine the fantasy impact and implications of those updates.
Update: Mark Andrews and Rashod Bateman are active for Week 7
Are Mark Andrew or Rashod Bateman Playing Today?
We appear to have clarity over Andrews being available for Week 7, but the status of Bateman is less sure. While ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport both reported that Andrews is set to play in Week 7, the wording from Rapoport over Bateman was less certain. Rather than definitely saying Bateman is expected to play, Rapoport stated there is “optimism” that he plays.
However, Rapoport also pointed out that the Ravens did not elevate DeSean Jackson from the practice squad for this week. Having signed Jackson ahead of Week 7, there was an expectation that if Bateman were unlikely to play, we would see Jackson elevated. With Jackson not being elevated, we are expecting Bateman to be active.
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Fantasy Implications of Andrews’ and Bateman’s statuses
The news that Andrews is set to play will have fantasy managers breathing a sigh of relief. Whenever he is active, it is virtually impossible to bench him. Through the first six weeks, Andrews has 455 receiving yards and two touchdowns from 39 receptions on 57 targets.
Just once this year has the star tight end had fewer than 50 receiving yards, and he has scored touchdowns in four of the six weeks.
The matchup this week for Andrews, on the surface, appears to be less than ideal. The Browns have allowed an average of just 7.77 fantasy points to the TE position through the first six weeks. However, they allowed 21.2 fantasy points to the position last week as both Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry found success.
MORE: Garrett’s Week 7 Start/Sit Advice
Additionally, Andrews is one of a handful of tight ends who you would consider matchup-proof. Therefore, assuming he does not have a setback in pre-game, it is hard to imagine anyone choosing to sit him this week.
Bateman is a slightly tougher situation for fantasy managers to judge this week. He has more than 50 receiving yards in each of the first three weeks. However, in Week 4, he was held to just 17 yards on six targets, which is also the week he suffered the foot injury.
The matchup for Bateman is largely neutral, with the Browns allowing 28.8 fantasy points to the position. That number is the 14th-highest and just a fraction above the league average. Therefore, with Bateman’s usage level set to be uncertain, he is not someone you can start with confidence this week.
However, with four teams on a bye in Week 7 and the RB position being unreliable, wide receiver values this week are elevated.
Bateman is a Flex consideration in 12-team leagues as the WR26 in our WR fantasy rankings. It is risky because we don’t know how many snaps or targets he will see, but he has so much upside as the primary receiver in the offense.
If Bateman is active, then there are unlikely to be enough targets for any other WRs to have fantasy value this week. However, if Bateman is inactive, Devin Duvernay is an intriguing upside play in 16-team leagues and deeper.