The Loop Fantasy Football Report Week 14: Say bye to end of fantasy regular season

There are bad bye weeks, and then there are season-ruining bye weeks.

This could be the latter for many teams needing a victory in the final week of the fantasy regular season.

Six teams are off this week: Baltimore, Washington, Houston, Indianapolis, Denver and New England.

How bad is that? We’ll break down the damage position by position, and offer some options for filling the gaping talent voids with possible last-minute replacements:

Running back

Out: Derrick Henry, Joe Mixon, Jonathan Taylor, Brian Robinson Jr., Rhamondre Stevenson.

In: Isaac Guerendo is the last man standing in San Francisco and will see plenty of duty against Chicago. Other good options are the Chargers’ Kimani Vidal against Chiefs, Giants’ Tyrone Tracy Jr. vs. Saints and Carolina’s Jonathan Brooks against Philly.

Quarterback

Out: Lamar Jackson, Jaylen Daniels, C.J. Stroud, Bo NIx, Anthony Richardson, Drake Maye.

In: Yes, we’re suggesting you put your faith in the erratic Jameis Winston when the Browns face Pittsburgh again. An even better choice would be Dallas’ Cooper Rush vs. the lowly Bengals defense. Or New Orleans’ Derek Carr vs. the Giants.

Wide receiver

Out: Nico Collins, Tank Dell, Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, Terry McLaurin, Cortland Sutton.

In: Carolina’s Adam Thielen has become a Bryce Young favorite and will be busy against the Eagles. Cleveland’s Jerry Jeudy was unstoppable in Denver on Monday night and will be good again in Pittsburgh. We also like the Browns’ Elijah Moore and the Titans’ Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.

Tight end

Out: Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely, Dalton Schultz, Zach Ertz.

In: Miami’s Jonnu Smith has been a beast lately, and he’s facing the beastly Jets. You’ll also get good numbers this week from the Packers’ Tucker Kraft (vs. Lions) and the Bengals’ Mike Gesicki (vs. Cowboys).

Kicker

Out: Ka’imi Fairbairn, Justin Tucker, Wil Lutz, Zane Gonzalez.

In: Three guys worth taking a flyer on this week are the Saints’ Blake Grupe (vs. Giants), the Titans’ Nick Folk (vs. Jaguars) and the Dolphins’ Jason Sanders (vs. Jets).

Sitting stars

Cleveland RB Nick Chubb was watching Jerome Ford most of Monday night in Denver and might see limited duty against the Steelers. … Carolina RB Chuba Hubbard has cooled off and will continue to chill against the Eagles. … It will be a while before Chiefs RB Isaiah Pacheco is full strength, certainly not this week against the Chargers. … Three star receivers we’re not keen on this week: the Giants’ Malik Nabers vs. New Orleans, Miami’s Tyreek Hill against the Jets and the Niners’ Deebo Samuel against Chicago. … The Vikings’ T.J. Hockenson will stay out of the end zone again vs. Atlanta. … Packers QB Jordan Love will have difficulty against NFC-leading Detroit, and Chicago QB Caleb Williams will have a tough time rebounding from last week’s infamy when the Bears face the wounded 49ers.

Matchup game

The best rookie receiver right now is the Chargers’ Ladd McConkey, and he should stand out again vs. Kansas City. … Two hot runners will continue to shine: Cincinnati’s Chase Brown against Dallas and Arizona’s James Connor vs. Seattle. … Steelers coach Mike Tomlin says WR George Pickens needs to grow up, and he will for a few hours against Cleveland. … Jets WR Devonte Adams will get a lot of attention from Aaron Rodgers in Miami. … One of the best tight ends will be busy again: the Cardinals’ Trey McBride vs. Seattle. … Pittsburgh QB Russell Wilson will continue his revival against Cleveland, and the VIkings’ Sam Darnold will have a strong game against Atlanta’s mediocre defense.

Injury watch

Christian McCaffrey’s lost season finally ended last Sunday in Buffalo, and the Niners also lost RB Jordan Mason. … Saints Mr. Versatility Taysom Hill is also done for the season. … The list of questionables this week include three running backs (Bucs’ Bucky Irving, Packers’ Josh Jacobs and Bears’ Roschon Johnson), three quarterbacks (Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence, Bucs’ Baker Mayfield and Rams’ Matthew Stafford), and a slew of pass catchers (Dallas’ CeeDee Lamb, Seattle’s D.K. Metcalf, Eagles’ Devonta Smith, Cleveland’s Cedric Tillman, Green Bay’s Romeo Doubs, Bills’ Keon Coleman, Rams’ Demarcus Robinson, Dallas tight end Jake Ferguson and Buffalo TE Dalton Kincaid.

Deepest sleeper

Out of the abyss that is the Las Vegas running game last week emerged Sincere McCormick. The second-year player tallied 12 carries for 64 yards in his first extended work with the Raiders on Black Friday because of the absences of Zamir White and Alexander Mattison. If they’re both out again this week, it will be McCormick running through Tampa Bay’s bottom-five defense.

The Thursday pick

Packers at Lions (-3½):
Pick: Lions by 7

You can hear Kevin Cusick on Wednesdays on Bob Sansevere’s “BS Show” podcast on iTunes. You can follow Kevin on Twitter — @theloopnow. He can be reached at kcusick@pioneerpress.com.