The Dolphins’ offense has looked like a fish out of water since Tua Tagovailoa ($6,100) went down with his concussion in Week 2’s Thursday Night Football loss to the Bills. We’re still awaiting the official answer to, “Will Tua Tagovailoa play in Week 8?” If we assume he does clear the NFL Concussion Protocol and returns to action, what would his return do for the Dolphins’ receivers vs. the Cardinals this week? Let’s take a look:
Tyreek Hill’s ranking with Tua Tagovailoa at QB
Aside from players who have gotten injured themselves, no player has been hampered by injury from a fantasy football perspective more than Tyreek Hill ($7,000).
Since arriving in Miami, Hill and Tua have been an amazing connection. Their regular connections on deep passes for big plays made Hill one of the top receivers coming into the season. Even in Week 1, Hill racked up 29 fantasy points with seven catches for 130 yards and a touchdown.
However, Hill hasn’t found the end zone since then and has averaged only 7.4 fantasy points in his last five games. In Week 7 against the Colts, he managed a season-low one catch for eight yards and 2.3 fantasy points.
If Tua is back, though, Hill will jump right back up in my WR rankings. I have him at No. 23 for this week, but if Tua is cleared and returns I’d jump him to just outside the top 10, probably around No. 11. It would be hard to feel quite as confident in him as a top option while Tua shakes off the rust, but he’d be worth starting in season-long leagues. Without Tua, I’d have him as a fringe starter down at No. 23.
What does Tyreek Hill think? He answered the question after Wednesday’s practice:
Jaylen Waddle’s ranking with Tua Tagovailoa at QB
I also think Jaylen Waddle ($5,400) will return to regular starter status in standard leagues. Waddle has been a little more consistent than Tua with at least four catches every single week until last week when he cratered to just one catch for 11 yards and 2.1 fantasy points.
Waddle had 109 yards and 19.2 fantasy points in the only game Tua completed this year, and he will jump right back into the top 25 as soon as Tua is back. I’d probably rank him right around No. 25 this week while we see how ready Tua is to return, but his ceiling jumps right back up to where it was early in the year.
Waddle has WR1 potential any week with Tua at QB but is barely startable without him.
The matchup for these two receivers this week is a good one since the Cardinals are allowing the eighth-most DraftKings points per game to opposing receivers. Last week on Monday Night Football, even the Chargers WRs posted 13 catches for 195 yards. The previous week, the Packers receivers scored four touchdowns against them. WRs have produced 150+ yards in six of seven games against Arizona, including each of the last four weeks.
The Bottom Line
If Tua is back this week, both Hill and Waddle are very startable options in season-long fantasy football. Hill is a borderline WR1 and Waddle is a borderline WR2 in most standard-sized leagues.
For DFS contests like the NFL $2.75M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st], Hill is still extremely expensive but Waddle’s salary has slid enough to the point where he could be excellent value if he and Tua can pick up where they left off before the injury.
The Dolphins are 3.5-point home favorites for this contest, but the line could move significantly depending on Tua’s status. Hill is +110 to score a touchdown and Waddle +165, but no yardage props are posted yet since the QB has not been officially determined.
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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
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