Week 16 Friday Injury Report: Guerendo Out, Waddle Doubtful, Hill Questionable

Injury hotspots for Week 16 include Miami's wide receivers and offensive tackles, Buffalo's secondary, San Francisco's backfield and, per usual, the Saints' entire offense.

Below you'll find four different categories, with our lists including key offensive linemen and defensive players whose presences/absences might impact fantasy decisions. The bottom section — truly questionable — is sorted by kickoff times and can be used as a checklist/cheatsheet for Sunday morning and afternoon when inactives come out. First, let's see who's definitely in and who's definitely out...

Good to Go 💯

• QB Aidan O'Connell (knee)
• QB Drew Lock (heel)
• QB Geno Smith (knee)
• RBs Kenneth Walker (calf) & Zach Charbonnet (oblique)
• RB Bucky Irving (hip/back)
• RB Roschon Johnson (concussion)
• WR A.J. Brown (knee)
• WR Hollywood Brown (IR/R - shoulder)
• WR Jakobi Meyers (ankle) 
• WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (ankle)
• TE Brenton Strange (shoulder)
• TE Tyler Conklin (personal)
• TE Tyler Higbee (knee)

Ruled Out/Doubtful 🚑 

• QB Derek Carr (hand)
• QB Justin Fields (abdomen)
• RB David Montgomery (knee)
• RB Nick Chubb (IR - foot)
• RB Alvin Kamara (groin)
• RB Isaac Guerendo (hamstring)
• RBs Trey Benson (ankle) & Emari Demercado (IR - back)
• WR Jaylen Waddle (D - knee)
• WR George Pickens (hamstring)
• WR Alec Pierce (concussion)
• WR Xavier Legette (hip)
• WRs Nelson Agholor (concussion) & Diontae Johnson (personal)
• WR John Metchie (shoulder)
• WR Jalen Brooks (knee)
• TE Cade Otton (D - knee)
• TE Tanner Hudson (knee)
• TE Cade Stover (illness)

Players likely to take on more snaps due to the injuries listed above include Saints QB Spencer Rattler, Lions RB Craig Reynolds, Browns RB Jerome Ford, Saints RB Kendre Miller, 49ers RB Patrick Taylor, Dolphins WR Malik Washington, Steelers WRs Calvin Austin and Mike Williams, Colts WR Adonai Mitchell, Panthers WR David Moore (concussion), Ravens WR Tylan Wallace, Texans WRs Robert Woods and Xavier Hutchinson and Bucs TE Payne Durham

Of that bunch, there's a reasonable case to include Ford, Miller and Taylor in fantasy lineups, with Washington, Austin and Mitchell being deep-league options for the WR-needy. Taylor is my favorite play among the group, likely taking the lead role in San Francisco's offense, although it isn't the same Kyle Shanahan attack of past years (literally it is, but for practical purposes.... well, yeah).

Key Defensive Players + Offensive Linemen

• S DeShon Elliott (D - hamstring)
• S Chamarri Conner (concussion), LT D.J. Humphries (hamstring)
• G Juice Scruggs (foot), DT Folorunso Fatukasi (ankle)
• LB Bobby Okereke (back), G Aaron Stinnie (head)
• LT Paris Johnson (knee), LB Mack Wilson (head)
• SCB Michael Carter (back)
• DE Sam Hubbard (knee), DT Sheldon Rankins (illness)
• LB E.J. Speed (knee)
• SCB/RS Marcus Jones (hip)
• LT Trent Williams (ankle)
• S Antoine Winfield (knee), LB K.J. Britt (D - ankle)

Listed as Questionable - Should Play 👍

Nobody clearly fits the category this week, although there are certainly players listed below who are more likely than not to play. Some of them, however, are on non-playoff teams that may be more inclined to caution at this point of the year.

Truly Questionable / Game-Time Decisions 🤔

Saturday

• WR Rashod Bateman (foot)

Early Games

• RB Tony Pollard (ankle)
• RB Tyrone Tracy (ankle)
• RB DeeJay Dallas (illness)
• RB Braelon Allen (back)
• WRs Jalen Coker (quad) & David Moore (concussion)
• WR Cedric Tillman (concussion)
• TE David Njoku (hamstring)
• TE Zach Ertz (concussion)
• WR Ashton Dulin (ankle) & TE Mo Alie-Cox (hip)
• K Matt Gay (neck)
• K Nick Folk (abdomen)

There are a lot of potential game-time decisions for the early window Sunday, but none of them are guys you want to be starting in fantasy, except for maybe Njoku, Pollard and Tracy. Even those two are on thin ice, with Tracy and Pollard having yielded more work to their backups last week and Njoku now stuck with Dorian Thompson-Robinson as his QB. Tracy and Pollard seem likely to play, or at least around 50/50, whereas Njoku is more of a toss up, if that.

Late-Afternoon Games

• WR Tyreek Hill (wrist/personal)
• WR Curtis Samuel (shoulder)

Hill is the big injury question mark entering this weekend, having downgraded from full practice participation Thursday to limited Friday before being listed as questionable on the final injury report. He's been playing through a wrist injury all season without missing a game, and it seems any doubt about his Week 16 availability may not be related, as the Dolphins added 'personal' to his injury report listing Friday. It at least seems like the type of situation where we'll get updates Saturday, or at least early Sunday morning. With Jaylen Waddle (knee) doubtful after missing practice all week, rookie WR Malik Washington is poised for a big role. If Hill ends up sitting out as well, the Dolphins likely would start River Cracraft across from Washington and do their best to avoid three-wide formations.

Primetime Games

• QB Derek Carr (hand) - MNF
• RB Alvin Kamara (groin) - MNF
• WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling (illness/chest) - MNF
• TE Juwan Johnson (foot) - MNF

Carr and Kamara are highly unlikely to play but hadn't been ruled out by the Saints as of Friday. It figures to the Spencer Rattler and Kendre Miller show in one of the least anticipated primetime games in recent memory. MVS seems much more likely to play, as does Johnson.

Key Defensive Players + O-Linemen

• CB Donte Jackson (back), DT Larry Ogunjobi (groin)
• CB Deonte Banks (ribs), OLB Brian Burns (ankle)
• CB Jaylon Johnson (illness), OT Braxton Jones (head), G Teven Jenkins (calf)
• DB Brian Branch (calf), G Graham Glasgow (knee)
• LT Ikem Ekwonu (illness), G Robert Hunt (illness), OLB Jadeveon Clowney (illness)
• G Evan Brown (illness)
• RG Alijah Vera-Tucker (ankle), DT Quinnen Williams (hamstring)
• S Jeremy Chinn (concussion)
• G Alex Cappa (concussion), LT Orlando Brown (leg)
• CB Martin Emerson (concussion)
• FB C.J. Ham (ankle), S Harrison Smith (foot)
• CB Rasul Douglas (knee), S Damar Hamlin (ribs), LB Matt Milano (leg), S Taylor Rapp (neck)
• S Jabrill Peppers (leg), G Cole Strange (knee), DE Keion White (groin)
• CB Nate Hobbs (illness)
• LT Terron Armstead (knee), RT Kendall Lamm (back)
• DE Nick Bosa (hip), LB Dre Greenlaw (knee)
• DE Micah Parsons (illness), LB Eric Kendricks (calf), CB Jourdan Lewis (elbow)
• S Mike Edwards (hamstring)
•  S Javon Bullard (ankle), LB Quay Walker (ankle)