After he missed Week 14 due to a lingering shoulder issue, Raiders running back Josh Jacobs is expected to return to action on Sunday.
Oakland Raiders running back Josh Jacobs missed Week 14 against the Tennessee Titans due to a shoulder injury, which he has apparently been playing through since Week 7. That surely drew some ire from his fantasy owners in the first playoff week in a lot of leagues, which the rookie back seemed to respond to on Twitter.
Jacobs was slated for an MRI on Wednesday to help determine if he would be able to play this week. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the MRI came back clean and Jacobs is expected to play Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Even with that missed game, Jacobs is over 1,000 rushing yards this season (1,061) and is a top-12 fantasy running back regardless of scoring format (in more simple terms, he has been an RB1). His absence in Week 14 certainly hurt his fantasy owners, except for those who were able to make a quick change with the later kickoff to another option, including possibly picking up backup DeAndre Washington and plugging him in. Washington had 96 total yards on 20 touches (six catches) against the Titans, and was a priority waiver wire add this week on the notion Jacobs would miss another game. Barring a setback, so much for that rise in Washington’s fantasy stock.
In his return on Sunday, Jacobs is set to get back in the good graces of his fantasy owners. Those who are still alive in the playoffs, anyway.
The Jaguars enter Week 15 allowing the third- or fourth-most fantasy points to running backs, depending on Yahoo! scoring (0.5-point PPR) or ESPN PPR scoring, respectively. They are also allowing a league-high 5.5 yards per carry to running backs, with nine total touchdowns allowed to the position over their last four games.
If you picked up Washington, as a Jacobs owner or not, I wouldn’t drop him back to the waiver wire just yet. But Jacobs is set to return as a high-end RB1 in Week 15 and deliver his fantasy owners who survived his absence last week into championship games.