The New England Patriots just got thinner at wide receiver. The team has announced that Aaron Dobson was placed on injured reserve, ending his season. Although Dobson is under contract with the team until 2016, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was released in the offseason.
Dobson has never lived up to his potential and happens to be one of the worst draft picks in Bill Belichick’s history. He has hauled in 13 passes for 141 yards this season, but the team needed him to be much more effective with Julian Edelman out and Danny Amendola dealing with an injury of his own.
His rookie season was by far his best season when he hauled in 37 passes for 519 yards and four yards. Unfortunately, he has only regressed in the past two seasons.
The Atlanta Falcons are preparing to start rookie Tevin Coleman at running back over Devonta Freeman who has yet to be cleared from concussion protocol. Assuming he starts, Coleman can be considered a RB2 against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday afternoon.
This is a huge blow for everyone who owns Freeman. He has been one of the best fantasy football surprises of the season, which is amazing considering the team tried to have Coleman carry the load to begin the season, but an injury opened the door for Freeman. Freeman took advantage of his opportunity with 764 yards on 167 carries for an average of 4.6 yards per carry. He has nine touchdowns on the ground. In addition, he has been a star in the passing game with 48 receptions for 420 yards and an two more touchdowns through the air.
Meanwhile, Coleman has 59 carries for 231 yards for an average of 3.9 yards per carry. He has only one touchdown thus far this season, but that will likely change if he starts against the Vikings.
In other news, Antonio Gates was a full participant in practice with the San Diego Chargers on Thanksgiving day. This is great news for the Chargers and Gates’ fantasy football owners. Through five games this season he has 29 receptions for 318 yards and two touchdowns.
The Chargers have a great matchup this week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. I would consider Gates a TE1 this week, especially considering Philip Rivers does have many options when it comes to receivers. I wouldn’t be surprised if Gates put up 20+ points for his fantasy owners this week.