Is Damien Harris playing in Week 15? Fantasy injury update ahead of Patriots-Colts Saturday night matchup

Jackson Sparks

Is Damien Harris playing in Week 15? Fantasy injury update ahead of Patriots-Colts Saturday night matchup image

Harris is likely going to carry a "questionable" tag into Week 15's Saturday night Patriots-Colts matchup. With real NFL and fantasy football playoff implications on the line, Harris' status will have a big impact on start 'em, sit 'em decisions. We have the latest injury updates ahead of the AFC showdown.

We'll continue to update this post with the latest news on Harris up until the official active/inactive report is released at 6:50 p.m. ET on Saturday. We have you covered with all the key Saturday COVID and injury updates, including Baker Mayfield (click here), Jarvis Landry and Austin Hooper (go here), Darren Waller (click here). For all the latest fantasy updates, follow us on Twitter @SN_Fantasy

WEEK 15 FANTASY: Sleepers | Busts | Start 'em, sit 'em

Is Damien Harris playing in Week 15?

UPDATE: After being limited in practice on Thursday, Harris is officially "questionable" for Sunday night's game in Indianapolis.

UPDATE 2: Harris is officially OUT for Sunday night's game. 

After exiting New England's last game early, Harris (hamstring) was a limited participant in practice on Tuesday and Wednesday. Since this game is on Saturday night, he will be among the first start 'em, sit 'em decisions of the week, so we'll have to keep a close eye on his status.

WEEK 15 STANDARD RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide Receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker

If he plays, it's tough to bench him even though the Colts' are the fifth-best defensive unit in fantasy points allowed to RBs. New England is one of the few teams in the league that will continue to pound the ball and won't mind making this game into an ugly, run-heavy affair. Although the Colts are strong against RBs, Harris' touchdown upside has made him a fringe must-start in standard leagues. That said, we don't think you should bench him in standard, but it could be feasible in PPR depending on your options. It's worth noting Rhamondre Stevenson has seemingly taken a decent role in this offense, but that could be purely because of the Harris injury.

WEEK 15 PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide Receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker

If Harris is out, Rhamondre Stevenson is certainly an attractive play, but his outlook would be similar. He'll be a stronger standard league play and will likely take control of the red-zone and goal-line carries, but we'd probably see a decent amount of Brandon Bolden. Ultimately, New England is known for shaking things up at the last minute, so nothing would surprise us. They've had a bye week to prepare and could go a multitude of ways without Harris in the lineup. It's a fool's errand to try and figure out what Bill Belichick's game plan is, though, so we're going to have the take the chance on Stevenson if Harris is out and assume he'll be used as somewhat of a workhorse back. Bolden could be used as a desperation PPR play in deep leagues.

WEEK 15 DFS LINEUPS: DraftKings | FanDuel | Yahoo

For now, we have Harris as the RB31 in standard and RB32 in PPR leagues. We don't expect his rushing yards total to be high, as Indianapolis has rarely allowed 100-yard rushers, and a lot of his outlook depends on if he finds the end zone. Don't be surprised if he puts up a 17-53-0 line, leaving you with 5.3 fantasy points, but he could also add two touchdowns to that total and pay off. If Stevenson is the lead back, he'll be ranked in a similar spot with a nearly identical outlook.

Jackson Sparks