Nico Collins, Marquise Brown, and Odell Beckham Jr. Impacting Week 16 Rankings

It’s always a challenge to navigate through injuries in fantasy football. The WR position has several players dealing with issues and the time to set Week 16 lineups is near, which makes our start/sit decisions this week a little bit more difficult. What are the latest injury updates on Nico Collins, Marquise Brown, and Odell Beckham Jr.?

Latest News and Injury Updates Impacting Fantasy

Nico Collins, WR, Houston Texans

Analysis last updated Wednesday, Dec. 20 at 4 p.m. ET

Collins missed last week’s game with a calf strain. He did not practice all week and did not appear particularly close to playing. While that does not mean he can’t recover in time for this week’s game, it’s not a great sign.

Collins opened up the week by missing Wednesday’s practice. It’s important to note that missing a Wednesday practice doesn’t mean much overall, but a return would have been a significantly positive sign.

According to Aaron Wilson, head coach DeMeco Ryans said Collins will be evaluated throughout the week.

Reading between the lines here, I do not interpret Ryans’ comments to be overly optimistic. They are more matter-of-fact than hopeful. While coach speak doesn’t necessarily help anyone, faux optimism is better than pessimism. While we didn’t exactly get the latter, we certainly didn’t get the former.

The Houston Texans still have playoff aspirations. That means the team won’t hold out Collins if he’s physically able to play, but whether he can get there physically remains to be seen.

If Collins can’t return to a limited session on Thursday, it is extremely unlikely he will play this week. His absence would once again put Noah Brown in the WR1 role against a tough Cleveland Browns defense with Case Keenum at quarterback.

Brown thrived last week and would once again be a volume-based WR3. No one else on the Texans outside of Devin Singletary would be startable.

Marquise Brown, WR, Arizona Cardinals

Analysis last updated Wednesday, Dec. 20 at 4 p.m. ET

Despite being on the injury report for much of the season, Arizona’s Marquise Brown has yet to miss a game. Unfortunately, that is very much in jeopardy as we head into Week 16.

Brown did not practice on Wednesday, which is not a great start to the week. Of course, Wednesday practices only matter for a player’s availability if they practice. Missing a Wednesday practice at this point in the season is commonplace for any player dealing with just about anything.

It is clear the Cardinals intend to play hard for the remaining three weeks of the season. According to Darren Urban, head coach Jonathan Gannon said the team needs a healthy Brown “to help us win.” The Cardinals are still trying, and if Brown can play, he will.

With that said, Brown has been battling this heel injury for a couple of weeks now. It has now knocked him out of multiple games early. I fully expect Brown to do everything he can to play, but at this point, sitting out a game might be necessary.

If Brown can’t go, Kyler Murray would rely even more heavily on tight end Trey McBride, who would serve as the top option in the passing game. Michael Wilson would operate as the primary outside receiver but would not be a recommended fantasy starter.

Odell Beckham Jr., WR, Baltimore Ravens

Analysis last updated Wednesday, Dec. 20 at 4 p.m. ET

Last week, Beckham played just 54% of the snaps. While that’s nothing new given his role this season, his one catch on three targets was a significant drop in production from the previous month. It certainly seemed like something was amiss. Sure enough, Beckham did not practice on Wednesday.

Missing a Wednesday practice for a veteran like Beckham isn’t necessarily alarming. We’ve seen him play through injuries before. According to Jeff Zrebiec, it might be a lower leg issue this time.

Head coach John Harbaugh said there’s “no concern” about Zay Flowers’ status. However, he did not say the same thing about Beckham.

Fantasy managers will need to see if Beckham can return to limited participation in practice on Thursday, but even a lone limited session on Friday would give Beckham a chance to play.

If he can’t go, Rashod Bateman would be in line for an increase in snaps. However, he hasn’t done anything this season, even in situations where his playing time increased. He would not be a recommended fantasy starter.

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