With just one game remaining in Week 7, the fate of most fantasy football matchups has been decided. For those of you with big-time players like Alvin Kamara or DK Metcalf, there’s nothing to do other than wait and watch. However, there is one question that remains unanswered: Is Alex Collins playing on Monday night?
Update: The Seattle Seahawks have announced that Alex Collins will be active for tonight’s game.
What is Alex Collins’ status for Monday Night Football?
The Seattle Seahawks are a notoriously difficult team to get a handle on as it pertains to injuries. Head coach Pete Carroll has a reputation for being … less than truthful, to put it kindly, when it comes to outlooks on player injuries.
Starting running back Chris Carson remains on injured reserve due to a neck injury. In his stead, Collins has been the lead back, with DeeJay Dallas and Travis Homer mixing in on passing downs.
Injury update
Last Sunday night, in Seattle’s loss to the Steelers, Collins did not play at all in overtime due to what Carroll later described as “wear and tear.” The team ultimately revealed that “wear and tear” is actually a hip/groin injury.
Carroll said Collins would practice on Thursday this past week. Shockingly, Carroll lied. Collins did not practice on Friday either. The good news is he was able to get in a limited session on Saturday, leading to the Seahawks listing him as questionable.
Will Collins play tonight?
Fantasy managers would love nothing more than a definitive answer on Collins’ playing status. Unfortunately, we’re just not going to get it until inactives are announced around 6:30 PM ET tonight. The best we can do is make an educated guess.
Following Saturday’s practice, Carroll said that Collins would play Monday night. My reaction to that statement is, to quote Ron Burgundy, “I don’t believe you.”
If Collins plays tonight, what can fantasy managers expect?
Rashaad Penny is set to return from another lengthy absence and is fully healthy for what may very well be the first time in his career. Even if Collins is active, I would expect the Seahawks to heavily involve Penny.
Collins touched the ball 17 times in Week 5 and 21 times in Week 6. He played 71% and 60% of the offensive snaps. It would surprise me to see Collins reach those numbers tonight.
The Seahawks certainly like Collins, but they have no allegiance to him. They also have no reason to give him heavy touches when he’s very clearly not 100% healthy. Between Penny, Dallas, and Homer, there are too many avenues for Collins’ workload to be reduced.
What should fantasy managers do?
At this point, fantasy managers that rolled the dice on Collins likely have to stick with him. If he’s active, you certainly cannot sit Collins for Dallas or Homer. The only potential pivot would be to Penny, which is just as a dicey of a proposition. Be aware that the possibility of Collins being active but barely playing is a very real one.
