The one thing fantasy football managers cannot afford is for their superstar to miss several games. Unfortunately for Mark Andrews’ fantasy managers, the stud tight end is dealing with a knee injury prior to Thursday Night Football’s matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We have the latest on Andrews’ injury update for Week 8.
The Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers square off in what, prior to the season, was supposed to be a potential Super Bowl preview. But with the Ravens at 4-3 and the Buccaneers at 3-4, this is anything but that. Still, this should be a fun game with huge playoff implications.
Update: Per Adam Schefter, Andrews is expected to play in Week 8.
Mark Andrews Injury Update
It’s never great to see a big man with a knee injury. Though Andrews played in Week 7 against the Cleveland Browns, he was nowhere near his usual self. He’s historically destroyed the Browns but instead caught zero passes on two targets.
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There’s no question about the impact Andrews has when he’s healthy. He’s the TE2 in our expert PFN PPR Fantasy Football Rankings, and only Travis Kelce has a ceiling as high as Andrews’ in any given week. The Ravens’ stalwart has 39 receptions, 455 yards, and five touchdowns, ranking second in every category to Kelce, even though the former had a bagel for his stat line last week.
But his knee injury could be worse than advertised. Andrews was held out of practice on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this week before earning the dreaded “questionable” status from the team. Even if Andrews plays as he did last week, he could be a decoy.
MORE: RB Injury Report Week 8
Maybe last week had less to do with Andrews and more to do with the Browns’ awful run defense. After all, he played on 88 percent of Baltimore’s offensive snaps against Cleveland, albeit in a run-heavy gameplan. It was strange usage for Andrews, regardless.
Playing against the Buccaneers’ defense is rarely promising since their unit has terrific speed on every level, but tight ends have had some success in 2022. Tampa Bay has allowed 5.1 receptions, 53.1 yards, and 0.43 touchdowns per game to the position. That equals an average of 14.1 fantasy points per game.
Andrews can certainly reach those numbers, even in the first half alone. He’s producing 16.5 fantasy points per game this season. The question is how much he’ll be ailing and involved.
It’s unlikely you’ll have a high-end replacement on your bench, so making this decision on Thursday is a tough one. That said, going with Andrews is the right call. Simply put, he’s one of two tight ends who really matter in fantasy football, and he can win you a matchup in any given week.
There is a real possibility he gives your roster very little, as well. The Buccaneers can throw Devin White and Lavonte David at Andrews in order to keep Lamar Jackson from finding clean passing windows. These are challenges but not enough to keep Andrews shut out completely.
Play your star tight end on Thursday night.