Today’s fantasy football daily fix delivers news and notes about Aaron Rodgers, Darren McFadden, and the Cleveland quarterbacks, along with DraftKings Week 14 daily fantasy football D/ST recommendations for the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs.

News & Notes

Aaron Rodgers Throws Footballs, Green Bay Rejoices

Rodgers was limited in practice on Wednesday, but just the fact that he took the field with the team is a massive boon to the Packers’ playoff hopes. With its loss in Detroit on Thursday, Green Bay desperately needs a win this week. The decision on Rodgers won’t be made until Friday at the earliest, but given that the team hasn’t won a game since his injury, I’d say it’s worth checking in on later in the week.

Raiders No Longer Find Darren McFadden Attractive

It happens all the time in marriages; one party just doesn’t rev the other’s engine anymore. That’s clearly the case with McFadden and the Raiders, sexy pool boy (and backup running back) Rashad Jennings has grabbed the starting job and so doused any flame Oakland still had burning for DMac. It’s tough to say what McFadden’s value looks like moving forward, but Jennings is definitely worth consideration in keeper leagues.

Cleveland Readies to Start Yet another Bad QB

While Jason Campbell and Brandon Weeden recover from concussions, the Browns newly-signed Caleb Hanie and newly-heard-of-by-everyone-except-his-immediate-family Alex Tanney. The decision on a starter for Sunday won’t be announced until later in the week, but regardless of who’s taking the snaps for the Browns, I’ll never doubt Josh Gordon again.

DraftKings Defense/Special Teams Recommendations

If you’ve never played DraftKings before, it’s time to start. You’re reading this column, so I know you like fantasy football, and new depositors get a free ticket into a Millionaire Grand Final qualifier, a contest that as me so excited, I wrote a whole damn article about it!

I think you’ve got some signing up to do.

Once you’re registered, check out the multitude of options DraftKings has to offer; the Double Up and Triple Up contests are my personal favorites.

CADILLAC

We were in on the Kansas City Chiefs ($4,200) early this season; now that a stretch of tough matchups have taken a bit of bloom off the rose, they’re once a again a solid value. The injuries to Justin Houston and Tamba Hali are certainly taking a toll, but a bad Washington offensive line ought to smooth things out for their backups. Robert Griffin isn’t scaring anybody anymore. Over the last month, his team has been the eighth-friendliest offense for fantasy defenses.

BUICK

If you read the news and notes, you should’ve seen this one coming. There’s no defense I like more this week than the New England Patriots ($3,800). They’re at home, in the cold, against either a groggy Weeden or Campbell, or an understudied and/or unproven backup. Even without Vince Wilfork, the Pats defensive front has been above average on the pass rush – they’ll rattle whoever lines up in the Browns backfield into at least a couple of picks.

CHEVROLET

I’m assuming that Aaron Rodgers isn’t going to play this week, and I don’t expect that desperation will be an enticing cologne for Matt Flynn. Well, maybe for the Atlanta Falcons ($2,800) defensive backs…

PILLOW FIGHT OF THE WEEK

Hoo boy! The Houston Texans ($3,900), the most disappointing story in football, faceoff once again with the Jacksonville Jaguars ($2,800), the most predictable losers in football. The Jags deserve credit for showing some added spunk over the last few weeks, but this game has double-digit total turnovers written all over it.