Hot Fantasy Football Picks

San Diego Chargers WR Vincent Jackson (calf) practiced Thursday and Friday and is expected to return for Sunday’s game against Kansas City. Jackson stated his strained calf is still bothering him, but it looks like he’ll return after missing just one game. He’s a very high-risk play this week, and we would be hesitant to [...]

New York Giants WR Hakeem Nicks (leg) and WR Steve Smith (pectoral) are both expected to return for Sunday’s game against Minnesota. Nicks had the stitches removed from his wound Thursday, and is on track to start and play a hefty amount of snaps. Smith could be limited in his return, but he is expected [...]

Kansas City Chiefs QB Matt Cassel underwent an appendectomy on Wednesday and his status for Sunday’s game against San Diego is in question. Cassel has to be considered highly unlikely to play, despite undergoing a less severe version of an emergency appendectomy. Cassel has an outrageous 19:1 TD-to-INT ratio over his last nine games, as [...]

New Orleans Saints RB Pierre Thomas (ankle) returned to a full practice Wednesday and is expected to play Sunday against St. Louis. Thomas has missed the last nine games with a severe ankle injury, and his role will be unknown heading into Sunday. He certainly can’t be trusted as a fantasy option this week, especially [...]

Detroit Lions QB Matt Stafford made some short throws during Wednesday’s practice and is expected to return before the end of the season, barring setbacks. Tom Kowalski of MLive.com predicts Stafford could return in Week 16 if everything progresses as planned. We don’t see why the team would rush their franchise quarterback back on the [...]

Indianapolis Colts WR Austin Collie (concussion), RB Joseph Addai (shoulder), and RB Mike Hart (ankle) are all unlikely to play Thursday against Tennessee, according to Owner Jim Irsay. Irsay indicated as much via Twitter, which surely doesn’t figure to sit well with Coach Jim Caldwell. LB Clint Session (arm) is also likely to sit out, [...]

Miami Dolphins WR Brian Hartline will be out indefinitely after undergoing hand surgery on Tuesday, according to Jeff Darlington of the Miami Herald. Hartline will almost certainly miss the remainder of the regular season, but with so few injuries right now, the team is going to wait to place the #2 receiver on injured reserve [...]

The Washington Redskins have suspended DL Albert Haynesworth for the rest of the 2010 season for conduct detrimental to the team. Haynesworth reportedly showed up hungover and late to Friday’s practice last week, causing his deactivation for Sunday’s game against the Giants. The Redskins obviously had no choice but to rid themselves of the distraction [...]

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have placed CB Aqib Talib (hip) on injured reserve, ending his season. Talib tore a tendon in his hip while running down the sidelines during Sunday’s loss to Atlanta. While Talib is a solid IDP-contributor in his own right, his fantasy impact is considerable for opposing wide receivers, as well. Talib [...]

The San Francisco 49ers have announced QB Alex Smith will start Sunday against Seattle, replacing QB Troy Smith. Smith went 3-2 as the 49ers’ starter, but the team will go ahead and take the final few weeks to re-evaluate Smith. Smith’s re-insertion is good news for both Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree.