DeAndre Hopkins has been on the injury report often this season, and after failing to practice this week because of a hamstring injury, he’s officially “questionable” for Thursday Night Football against the Packers. The Cardinals’ star hasn’t missed a game this season, but you can’t blame fantasy football owners for wondering if he’s playing and searching for the latest injury updates prior to kickoff so they can securely make their first start ’em, sit ’em decisions of Week 8.
We’ll continue to update this article with news on Hopkins up until the official active/inactive report comes out on Thursday around 6:50 p.m. ET. For all the latest fantasy updates, follow us on Twitter @SN_Fantasy.
MORE THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL:
FD lineup | DK lineup | Start ’em, sit ’em | MVS update
Is DeAndre Hopkins playing on Thursday night?
UPDATE: ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Thursday afternoon that Hopkins is expected to play on Thursday night.
UPDATE 2: Hopkins is officially ACTIVE.
There’s no definitive answer at this point to whether Hopkins (hamstring) will play, but CardsWire of USA Today sports figures he “will certainly play”. How many times have we seen veteran WRs go without practice yet still play and play well when game day rolls around. Hopkins himself did it back in Week 3. This feels like a similar situation, but you never know until things are official.
WEEK 8 PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
The Packers have been a top-10 unit against fantasy WRs, but they haven’t exactly faced many prolific passing offenses this season. Cincinnati is the best passing offense they’ve faced, and Ja’Marr Chase produced a 6-159-1 line in that contest. Just last week, Terry McLaurin caught seven passes for 122 yards and a touchdown against the Pack. So, while their passing defense looks solid by the numbers, context shows us their secondary is not good enough to cause concern, especially now that Jaire Alexander (shoulder) is banged up. Either way, we know Hopkins is always a must-start.
WEEK 8 STANDARD RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
If Hopkins does miss the game, it’s tough to tell who would be the best option in the Arizona passing game. Even without Hopkins, there are a lot of mouths to feed with A.J. Green, Rondale Moore, Christian Kirk, and Zach Ertz. However, Moore would be the guy who most benefits in relation to his role when Hopkins is on the field. Kirk mostly occupies the slot, so we’d likely see Green and Moore do damage on the outside. All four pass-catchers mentioned would have strong starting consideration in Hopkins’ absence, but none would be guaranteed to have a big role.
WEEK 8 FANTASY: Sleepers | Busts | Start ’em, sit ’em
If Hopkins is good to go, we rank him as the WR7 in standard and WR6 in PPR leagues. He hasn’t been one of the elite fantasy assets people expected him to be — and a hamstring injury usually limits explosiveness — but he’s always a candidate to score and has had strong enough performances to keep him ranked as a mid-tier WR1.
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