With Marcus Wheaton (shoulder) having been ruled out for the Steelers' Monday night contest against Washington, Chris Adamski of Triblive.com is reporting that Darrius Heyward-Bey is expected to operate as the No. 3 receiver. This certainly gives Heyward-Bey added value, as his ability to stretch the field could result in him seeing a couple deep passes—of the course the bigger question is whether or not he'll hang on to the football, a problem that's plagued him throughout his career. That said, he's now a low-salary dart throw option in DFS. In addition, it appears that Sammie Coates' poor training camp could result in him being little more than a backup option to spell the three receivers ahead of him.
On the eve of the opening Sunday of the NFL season, there was little in the way of news, but there were a few items to cover as we post our last edition of this year's training camp blogs. Good luck to everyone in Week 1 and the entire season.
• The 'questionable' tag could end up being one of the most frustrating things that fantasy owners will deal with all year, but even though Matt Jones (shoulder) is listed as questionable for the Monday night game against the Steelers, he put in a full week of practice. As a result, ESPN.com is reporting that Jones is on record as saying he plans to play this week, so he should be safe to use in fantasy lineups. However, if he suffers any type of setback, Chris Thompson and Rob Kelley could end up seeing additional snaps. If using Jones, the fact he has a game on Monday could present major lineup problems if he's declared a late inactive, so unless a fantasy owner had a player to swap out from either of the Monday games, there is an element of risk by starting him.
• Anyone who drafted Will Tye with the expectation of putting him into their fantasy lineups need to be aware that Larry Donnell is currently atop the team's depth chart. Although the designation may not mean anything, it could also mean that Tye won't see enough snaps to be viable in fantasy lineups. For now, this is something to be aware of until we see how the Giants handle their tight end usage in a game. It also makes either of the Giants' tight ends very risky fantasy options.
• After dealing with an Achilles injury throughout the offseason, Josh Doctson has been listed as questionable for the Monday night game against the Steelers. With very limited preseason snaps, even if he's active, it's difficult to think the rookie would see very much action with DeSean Jackson, Pierre Garcon and Jamison Crowder all ready to roll in the opener. It would be best to see Doctson play in a game before considering him as a lineup option.