The NFL season is nearing its end. As happens every year, injuries are rearing their ugly heads. As fantasy football managers prepare to set Week 15 lineups, it’s important to stay informed on the latest injury news. Jake Ferguson missed some practice time this week due to injury. What is his current status and outlook for this week?
Is Jake Ferguson Playing Week 15?
Ferguson was listed as limited on Wednesday’s practice report with a calf injury. It was later revealed the injury did not occur during last week’s game against the Detroit Lions. Ferguson sustained the calf injury at practice.​
The situation appeared to worsen on Thursday when Ferguson did not practice. However, he was on the field doing rehab work with trainers.​
Ferguson returned to practice on Friday in a limited capacity. The Dallas Cowboys listed Ferguson as questionable on their final injury report heading into Sunday night’s crucial matchup against the Minnesota Vikings.​
The Sunday night game creates less than ideal circumstances for fantasy managers. Fantasy managers will need a replacement ready if they decide to roll the dice on Ferguson. The 8:20 p.m. ET kickoff time means managers must make their decision well before knowing whether Ferguson will be active.​
The good news is the Cowboys provided a positive update from the team. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer said he expects Ferguson to be able to “answer the bell” on Sunday night. Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones also revealed Friday that the team expects its top tight end to be available Sunday night.​
The expectation is that Ferguson will play. Schottenheimer’s comments about Ferguson answering the bell suggest the coaching staff is confident in his availability. Jones noted that Ferguson looked good during Friday’s practice, which provides additional reassurance.​
If Ferguson is unable to play, Luke Schoonmaker and Brevyn Spann-Ford would handle tight end duties. Schottenheimer expressed confidence in both players stepping up if necessary. However, neither backup possesses Ferguson’s production level or chemistry with quarterback Dak Prescott.​
Ferguson’s Fantasy Football Outlook
The Ferguson gravy train halted a while ago and it might be time to jump off completely.
OK, that’s a bit dramatic, but if he played a deeper position, I certainly wouldn’t be chasing the early season production. His target share has declined in consecutive weeks and hasn’t reach 20% since Week 7, a major problem for a player who is on the wrong side of scoring variance at the moment (one touchdown in his past six games after scoring six times in four games: regression doesn’t always work this cleanly) and isn’t much of a per catch producer in terms of yards (10.7 in 2023, 8.4 last season, and 7.4 through 13 games this season).
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Ferguson hasn’t cleared 60 receiving yards in a game since Week 3, so if he’s going to continue to be the fourth banana in scoring situations (CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, and Javonte Williams), there really isn’t a ceiling to chase.
Think about it. Unless you’re an avid banana consumer, go to the store and buy four bananas that are all aged the same. By the time one is ready to eat, the other three are hours away from dying. Maybe you can salvage one in a protein shake. The other might be iffy, but toss it in oatmeal and you probably don’t notice.
But can you save all four? Probably not. That’s Fergsuon in terms of scoring equity.
The volume and efficiency (83.3% catch rate this season) keeps him inside my top 12 across the board and top 10 in PPR settings, but the odds of his rediscovering his near elite form from early October are low if not zero.
— Kyle Soppe, PFSN Fantasy Analyst
