The NFL season is in full swing. As happens every year, injuries are rearing their ugly heads. As fantasy football managers prepare to set Week 14 lineups, it’s important to stay informed on the latest injury news. Dalton Kincaid was limited at practice this week due to injury. What is his current status and outlook for this week?
Is Dalton Kincaid Playing Week 14?
Update:Â Kincaid is ACTIVE
Kincaid’s hamstring problem occurred during the third quarter of Buffalo’s Week 10 road defeat to Miami when he visibly grabbed at his hamstring while exiting the field. ESPN’s Jordan Schultz labeled him week to week the Monday following the injury, indicating the issue was significant enough to keep him out for multiple weeks rather than a minor ailment that could heal quickly.
Kincaid has missed three consecutive games with the hamstring injury. He sat out all practice work ahead of Week 11 and was ruled out before Buffalo’s home victory over Tampa Bay. The Week 12 short turnaround to Thursday Night Football against Houston made his absence a foregone conclusion.
Head coach Sean McDermott said last week that Kincaid would practice and had a chance to play against Pittsburgh. He did not practice Wednesday, which represented a bad sign for his Week 13 availability. However, Kincaid returned to limited sessions on Thursday and Friday before being listed as questionable heading into Sunday’s game. The Bills did not officially rule him out until game day, suggesting he was closer to a return than initially thought.
Kincaid opened Week 14 preparations with limited practice participation on Wednesday, marking progress from the previous week when he missed Wednesday entirely. He was limited again on Thursday and Friday. While that aspect is encouraging, what is concerning is the addition of a knee issue to the injury report.
Kincaid was spotted wearing a brace on his left knee at Thursday’s practice. Head coach Sean McDermott said the knee injury is related to an issue Kincaid sustained during training camp that flared back up while he was rehabbing the hamstring.
McDermott explained that one thing kind of affected a little bit of the other, noting Kincaid had worked himself away from the knee issue at the beginning of the year but the hamstring showed up and over the course of trying to get the hamstring right, the knee popped up again.
Kincaid is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against Cincinnati. He was moving around pretty well at practice despite the knee brace. There’s certainly a chance he misses a fourth consecutive game, but he appears more likely to play than not.
On Saturday night, Adam Schefter reported that Kincaid “plans to try to play.” This is not the most encouraging report. It also suggests a potential scenario where Kincaid is fake active, which would be a worst case scenario. Unless we get some sort of pregame report that Kincaid looks healthy, he is a very risky fantasy option despite the most favorable of matchups.
Kincaid’s Fantasy Football Outlook
It came down to the wire last week, but this hamstring injury was enough of a concern to Kincaid for one more week.
MORE:Â Free Fantasy Football Start/Sit Optimizer
With him practicing ahead of Week 13, prevailing wisdom has him being active for this advantageous spot. If you’ve been waiting on Kincaid, that means you lack optionality at the position and are going to plug him in when given the opportunity to do so.
Cincinnati has proven allergic to guarding the position for two seasons now and we know that Kincaid has TD equity at the very least (one of every nine targets this season has resulted in a score). The floor is low because the target earning skills are a work in progress (36 in eight games) and an injury like this could act up in-game, but he’s better than what is available in most leagues and that’s really all you’re looking for.
— Kyle Soppe, PFSN Fantasy Analyst
