Just as I was about to hit send on Monday's Fantasy Football Today Newsletter, a couple of major stories broke. It's a good thing I waited. First, we learned that the Ravens-Steelers game scheduled for Tuesday night has reportedly been moved to Wednesday. Then, we learned that Will Fuller has been suspended for the rest of the season for a positive test for a banned performance enhancing drug.
If you want our usual Week 12 review content, you can find my early look at the waiver wire here, plus Heath Cummings' breakdown of the top storylines, and my Winners and Losers for each game. And, if you have questions about the upcoming waiver wire, Week 13 matchups, or anything else, send 'em my way for Tuesday's #AskFFT mailbag. Hit me up at Chris.Towers@CBSInteractive.com with the subject line "#AskFFT" with your toughest questions for tomorrow's newsletter.
And now, here's what you need to know about Steelers-Ravens and Fuller's suspension:
Steelers-Ravens moved to Wednesday
Why is the game being postponed? The Ravens have had probably the most extensive COVID-19 outbreak of any team this season, with players or staff members testing positive over eight straight days. Monday's results showed just one new positive, a player who had already been isolating as a close contact, so that could be a sign that they have finally contained the spread. However, the Ravens players have apparently been pushing to get a second straight day of negative tests before they travel to Pittsburgh for the game.
When will the game be played? The current schedule has the Ravens and Steelers playing at 3:40 p.m. ET Wednesday.
Will this game still count for Week 12? Yes it will count for Week 12, which means you're waiting until mid-week to know who won your matchups. That though that obviously invites some potential headaches for your Fantasy leagues if your waivers run Tuesday night, like most leagues do.
What should I do about that? For those of you in CBS Fantasy leagues with waivers set to run Tuesday with open adds after that, you'll want to go into your league's transaction settings and make sure you have waivers set to run Wednesday, rather than Tuesday, for this week., Otherwise, your waiver order will be based on Week 11 standings, and that's not what you want heading into potentially the last game before the playoffs.
So, does this mean the game is getting played and those points will count for this week? We can't say that for certain, obviously. There is still the risk of further postponement if the Ravens were to have another positive test Tuesday or Wednesday. Of course, there's nothing you can do about that if you have someone from either team in your lineup. That's why it was always best to avoid this game if you reasonably could, especially with absences on both sides. Remember, Lamar Jackson, Willie Snead, and Mark Andrews are among the 12 players the Ravens will be without, while James Conner will miss the game for the Steelers. One change here is that J.K. Dobbins and Mark Ingram will be eligible to play, pushing Gus Edwards back into a three-way split in the backfield. Given the tough matchup and the absence of Jackson, that could be a mess.
What does it mean for Week 13? The Ravens-Cowboys game was already moved back to Monday in Week 13, and now it has been pushed back to Tuesday at 8:05 p.m. The Steelers matchup against Washington in Week 13 has also been moved back to Monday at 5 p.m. Of course, any further postponement would threaten those games as well, so ... stay tuned!
And now, for the second piece of big news ...
Will Fuller hit with a six-game suspension
What happened here? According to a statement Fuller put out, he sought medical treatment and was prescribed a medication he incorrectly thought was allowed by the league. He has presumably already gone through the appeals process, and will miss the rest of this season, as well as the first game of the 2021 season.
What does it mean for Fuller? Well, it could mean the end of his time with the Texans, to start, as he is a free agent at the end of the season. It's a shame, because Fuller was finally living up to his potential, ranking seventh in PPR points among WR while playing in all 11 games so far. He finishes the season with 53 catches for 879 yards and eight touchdowns.
What does it mean for the Texans? They just placed Randall Cobb on IR with a toe injury last week and released Kenny Stills, so this leaves them very thin at wide receiver. Brandin Cooks will remain the No. 1 option and should be a solid starter for the rest of the season, and Keke Coutee figures to see an increase role -- he played 54% of the team's snaps over the last two games. However, Coutee had just four catches for 27 yards between them, so it's hard to get too excited about him outside of deeper leagues. Ditto for Steven Mitchell and Isaiah Coulter, who will all have to prove themselves before you look for them on waivers. Coulter, a rookie with 4.45 speed at 6-foot-2, may be the most interesting of the bunch, but we'll need to see how the hierarchy shakes out in Houston before we recommended using any of them.
What does it mean for Deshaun Watson? Watson loses arguably his most dynamic weapon, with no obvious replacement option ready to step in. You'd like to see the Texans get the running backs more involved in the passing game, but with David Johnson's status for Week 13 still up in the air, that may not be feasible. David Johnson is expected to return to practice this week, and if he is cleared to play, that could free up Duke Johnson to line up in the slot a bit more. However, there's no getting around this; it's bad news for Watson. We've never seen him without either Fuller or Hopkins, and while Cooks has been excellent this season, that's one reliable wide receiver. Hopkins has to be downgraded, but he's probably still good enough to remain a No. 1 Fantasy QB. He's just less safe than normal.
