Matthew Stafford COVID Update Crushes Fantasy Outlook in Week 9

The Detroit Lions have placed Matthew Stafford on the COVID/reserve list, which likely rules him out against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 9. This is obviously a devastating blow to the Lions, who went 0-8 without Stafford in 2019.

But it's also a crushing blow to both Stafford's fantasy outlook, and the fantasy value of the rest of Detroit's skill-position players as well.

Matthew Stafford Fantasy Outlook

Fantasy managers have been waiting for a true Stafford breakout stretch all year. It unfortunately hasn't come, and this news certainly doesn't help matters. He's just fantasy's QB23 on the year, and he's only the QB25 on a per-game basis, averaging 18.0 per outing.

Unless you're in a 2-QB format or a deeper league, this news probably makes Stafford droppable in most formats.

Marvin Jones Jr. Fantasy Outlook

Marvin Jones Jr. is probably looking at the biggest hit now that Stafford is likely out in Week 9. It's an especially crushing blow to fantasy managers who spent a bunch of FAB or used a high waiver priority on Jones this week.

He was shaping up to be a solid WR2 in a juicy matchup with the Minnesota Vikings this week, but this news makes him more of a WR3.

T.J. Hockenson, Adrian Peterson and D'Andre Swift are all looking at a similar drop in value this week as well.

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Max Staley is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Max Staley also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mstaley1212. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.