Is Marquez Valdes-Scantling playing on Thursday night? Fantasy injury update

Marquez Valdes-Scantling (hamstring) hasn’t played since Week 3 after being placed on IR, but he has a shot to return to the Packers’ lineup for Week 8 Thursday Night Football against the Cardinals. His return couldn’t come at a better time, as Davante Adams and Allen Lazard are expected to be out after being placed on the reserve/COVID list. The loss of those receivers has already thrown early start ’em, sit ’em decisions into flux for fantasy owners, and MVS’s potential return only further complicates matters. Knowing the latest injury updates is the first step toward making your first lineup decision of the week. 

We’ll continue to update this article with news on MVS 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.

WEEK 8 FANTASY: Sleepers | Busts | Start ’em, sit ’em

Is Marquez Valdes-Scantling playing on Thursday night?

UPDATE: Valdes-Scantling will travel will the team to Arizona, so it sure feels like he’s going to suit up Thursday night. Still, nothing is official, so check back for more updates.

UPDATE 2: Valdes-Scantling apparently is now UNLIKELY to be activated for Thursday night, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. That leaves Randall Cobb, Equinimeaous St. Brown, and Amari Rodgers as Aaron Rodgers’ primary wide receiver targets. 

UPDATE 3: Valdes-Scantling is officially OUT for Thursday night.

The expectation is Valdes-Scantling (hamstring) will be activated off injured reserve and will play Thursday night against Arizona. However, nothing is set in stone yet, so be on the lookout for status updates moving forward. 

MORE THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL:
FD lineup | DK lineup | Start ’em, sit ’em | Hopkins update

If he does play, he has every opportunity to be productive due to the absences of Davante Adams and Allen Lazard, who are both on the reserve/COVID list. That said, it’s not as if MVS would be the only option. In seven career games without Adams, MVS has caught just 14-of-31 targets and one touchdown. However, he has averaged 21.1 yards per reception, racking up 296 yards. He’s been a boom-or-bust guy throughout his career, and we should view him as such in this game.

Even if he does play, he’s surely not 100-percent healthy. Arizona’s secondary has also improved since it was torched by Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen in Week 2. Since that game, only Van Jefferson and Donavan Peoples-Jones have scored over 15 fantasy points against them, and those were in blowouts with garbage time. Additionally, DPJ is the only WR to go over 100 yards when facing the Cards, and a good chunk of his production came on a Hail Mary.

WEEK 8 STANDARD RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker

All that said, Valdes-Scantling still could have a decent day. He’s probably the guy with the most upside among Packers’ WRs, but he also looks to have the lowest floor. Randall Cobb looks to be the safer play, especially in PPR, as he’ll surely draw plenty of targets. In reality, none of the Packers’ players are must-starts with the exception of Aaron Jones.

WEEK 8 PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker

It’s worth noting we have MVS ranked as our WR42 in standard and WR43 in PPR leagues. Again, we like Cobb more as a fringe WR2/3.

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