Both players are struggling just a little from the field versus their historical output

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- The Buffalo Bills top receiving threat Sammy Watkins will miss at least eight weeks resting an injury to his surgically repaired left foot after the team placed him on injured reserve Friday.The move was announced by the Bills a few hours after coach Rex Ryan expressed major concern of Watkins potentially missing significant time.A person with direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that Watkins wont require surgery and will instead use the time off to rest the injury. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the Bills have not revealed any details of the injury or Watkins rehab process.The Bills (1-2) had already ruled out Watkins from playing at New England (3-0) on Sunday . Watkins also missed last weekends game against Arizona and has been sidelined since a teammate stepped on his foot during a walk-through session last week.Buffalos first-round pick in the 2014 draft missed much of the offseason after having two screws inserted into his foot to repair a stress fracture in April. Watkins has been limited to just six catches for 63 yards in two games.Watkins was hampered by an assortment of injuries during his first two seasons in Buffalo.Watkins absence is the latest blow to an offense that has gotten off to a sputtering start. Coordinator Greg Roman was fired two weeks into the season and replaced by running backs coach Anthony Lynn.The Bills responded with a 33-18 win over Arizona last weekend in a game dominated by their running attack and a defense that forced five turnovers and had five sacks.Buffalo finished with a season-best 208 yards rushing, while quarterback Tyrod Taylor was limited to going 14 of 25 for 119 yards passing.Buffalos 491 yards passing ranks last in the NFL.The Bills filled Watkins spot by claiming receiver Justin Hunter of waivers, a day after he was released by the Miami Dolphins. Hunter failed to make a catch in one game for the Dolphins this season. He spent his previous three seasons in Tennessee, where he had 68 catches for 1,116 yards and eight touchdowns in 35 games, including 13 starts.Receiver Greg Salas (groin), tackle Cyrus Kouandjio (ankle) and center Patrick Lewis (knee) are also out for Sundays game against New England.Left tackle Cordy Glenn (high ankle sprain) is expected to return after missing the previous two games. Tight end Charles Clay (knee), safety Aaron Williams (ankle) and cornerback Ronald Darby (hamstring) are listed as questionable but expected to play.---AP freelancer Mark Ludwiczak contributed to this report.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Leon Goretzka Jersey . Thats not a comment on the suspension that banished the Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League teams bench for most of the 2012-13 season. Mats Hummels Germany Jersey . The players spoke Jan. 13 during a Major League Baseball Players Association conference call after Rodriguez sued the union and Major League Baseball to overturn an arbitrators decision suspending him for the 2014 season and post-season. http://www.germanysoccerpro.com/Joshua-Kimmich-Germany-Jersey/ .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Mesut Ozil Germany Jersey . Nigeria beat surprise package Ethiopia 2-0 in the second leg of their playoff for a comfortable 4-1 aggregate victory. Victor Moses converted a 20th-minute penalty after an Ethiopian handball, and Victor Obinna made certain of Nigerias place in Brazil with his powerful free kick in the 82nd at UJ Esuene Stadium. Mesut Ozil Jersey . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No. One of the great advantages of fantasy basketball over football is sample size. Eighty-two games versus 16. Six months versus four. Twenty-six weeks versus 16. Two hundred possessions versus 25.Theres plenty of time to revert to the mean. Whether a player is flourishing (Gorgui Dieng) or floundering (Kristaps Porzingis), they have about 78 games or so to get back to normal.But what if a player is coming to grips with a new normal?The NBA posted a particularly dramatic offseason this summer with 10 coaching changes and high-octane free agency ... fueled by an ungodly amount of newly created cap space.Players were placed within new zip codes ... systems ... rotations. Many of the factors that drive fantasy production are driven by chemistry. Sometimes, just a single new element can throw off a players entire fantasy outlook.One should never, ever overreact to the opening week of the NBA season. But it is more illustrative of a players fantasy value than a month of preseason activity.And right now, there are a few players you may need to be just a little concerned about.Karl-Anthony Towns, C, Minnesota Timberwolves2015-16 Player Rater Rank: 7 (13.69 points) 2016-17 Player Rater Rank: 48 (5.03 points)Tom Thibodeau is one of the NBAs finest coaches. A hyper-intense, defense-first maven. A culture transformer. A leader who stresses the little things that dont end up in a box score.And therein lies the problem.Because things that dont end up in box scores dont help us.Thibodeau is a noted fantasy-value serial killer. But in a way, the notation is unwarranted. If youre a selfish offensive player more concerned with getting yours? Thibodeau can chew your numbers up.But if you defend your position and rebound well, you wont have too much to worry about. Just ask Jimmy Butler.Towns is an across-the-board producer. He generates numbers in nooks and crannies (4.3 assists per game, 1.0 3-pointers) that lie beyond the parameters of a post player.But his rebounds per game are decidedly down -- from 10.5 to 6.7. And while were dealing with an astonishingly small sample size, there is one large variable that concerns me.An active, high-minute, fully operational, recently well-paid Gorgui Dieng is a very large variable.Long one of fantasys most underrated players (due to Sam Mitchells inexplicable penchant for giving lesser talents his minutes), Dieng is going predictably nuts under Thibodeau. Because Dieng is Thibodeaus kind of guy.He rebounds. He blocks shots. He protects the rim with aplomb.Towns is 48th on the player rater. Dieng is 12th. Towns is collecting under seven rebounds a game. Dieng is hoarding 11.Its only three games. Yes, Dieng could be celebrating his new four-year, $64 million extension. But if he continues to harness 34.0 minutes per game, he could erase just enough of Towns rebounds and blocks to drive Towns down into a late-first-round valuation.Klay Thompson, SG, Golden State Warriors2015-16 Player Rater Rank: 18 (11.29 points) 2016-17 Player Rater Rank: 128 (1.46 points)There was a lot of preseason palaver concerning Kevin Durants siphoning of Stephen Currys production. And while Curry hasnt been quite his league-leading 2015-16 self to date (20th overall), it seems as if he will adjust.Curry produces in many areas. He has several statistical categories he can draw upon for fantasy value.Klay Thompson is another story. Thompsons top-20 2015-16 campaign relied on his elite standing in two areas: points and 3-pointers.(Thompson also shot 87 percent at the free throw line. But he averaged only 2.8 free throw attempts a game. I would argue that Thompsons .425 3-point percentage -- across 8.1 attempts a game -- made his .470 field goal percentage borderline elite.)I never quite understood why there wasnt more concern surrounding Durants effect on Thompson. Thompsons a catch-and-shoot player. Maybe the NBAs best catch-and-shoot player. He doesnt require a high usage rate to deliver value.Thompson just needs to catch and shoot 3-point attempts ... and make them.But if Thompson isnt making his 3-point shots? If hes, say, 3-for-28 from deep over his first four games? Thats a serious fantasy problem. Because shooting about 42 percent from deep is the fulcrum that leverages Thompson into the top 20.The volume isnt that far off. Thompsons 16.5 field goal attempts per game is right up there with his 2015-16 average (17.3 FGA). His 7.0 3-point attempts are within striking distance of last seasons 8.1 (a 14 percent drop-off).So what gives?Thompson is a rhythm guy. A system guy. A player that relies on pace and spacing. By the way, thats a condition for most elite shooting guard production, since so much elite SG play is 33-point-driven.ddddddddddddThompson can be streaky. He can let emotion interfere with his play. Shot makers thrive on flow. Confidence. (Which really means little more than, Yeah, hes a shooting guard.)But when you go from option two on offense to a distant, remote third option? Behind two top-five players? And you have a shooters mentality? And youre the emotional opposite of your combustible power forward (who doesnt need to make shots to create elite value)?It may portend a permanent shift in overall production.Thompsons the clear victim of KD-to-CA. But Thompson isnt going to shoot 11 percent from behind the arc for an entire season. Its just a bad opening week.But I do believe those of you that drove Thompsons average draft position up to 24.9 are going to walk away slightly disappointed.Trailing behind Curry and Durant, Thompson may be more of a fourth-round kind of guy. Thats not bad. But changes in rotation can hurt when youre elite in one to two categories.Kristaps Porzingis, PF, New York Knicks2015-16 Player Rater Rank: 47 (6.90 points) 2016-17 Player Rater Rank: 87 (3.23 points)Of just about any NBA player in fantasy, it would have been easiest to predict an early season dip for Porzingis.New coach. New system. Several new veteran teammates. New point guard. Heightened expectations. (And Porzingis punches the clock in the NBAs toughest place to play given heightened expectations.)Porzingis nadir arrived last night against the high-pace, Mike DAntoni-driven Rockets. He didnt convert a single field goal attempt. He scored three points and sat most of the fourth quarter.The Knicks need to get Porzingis the ball. More explicitly? Derrick Rose needs to get Porzingis the ball. Plain, clear and simple.Porzingis can still block shots (1.8 per game). His 3-point production has increased in both volume and efficiency (1.5 3-pointers on .375 shooting).But Rose is averaging only 2.5 assists per game. I dont know how many of those dimes went to Porzingis, but from watching last nights game? It hasnt been much.I was excited to see how Joakim Noah meshed up front with Porzingis. And Noah has delivered in the assist column to date (5.5 per game).Rose badly needs to find some rhythm with Porzingis in the post.Porzingis was advertised as entering the season with more of a commitment to low-post play. And while his percentage of 3-point attempts has risen (from .274 to .348), his attempts from 3 to 9 feet have dropped (from .184 to .152).In what is supposed to be a sophomore leap year, Porzingis usage rate is regressing, from 22.9 to 18.4 (when its projected to rise to 25.6).Its waaaaay early. The new-look Knicks arent clicking as of yet. Jeff Hornacek is a fine coach. Porzingis is still an All-Star in the making ... with top-20 fantasy upside.But you have to wonder if the Rose experiment at PG isnt going to shave a round off Porzingis season-long value.Andre Drummond, C Detroit Pistons2015-16 Player Rater Rank: 114 (3.19 points) 2016-17 Player Rater Rank: 119 (1.93 points)DeAndre Jordan, C, Los Angeles Clippers2015-16 Player Rater Rank: 56 (6.00 points) 2016-17 Player Rater Rank: 204 (-1.21 points)Im not concerned with Drummond. I didnt draft Drummond.Meanwhile, Drummond is leading the league in rebounding (13.6 REB). Jordan (11.3 REB) isnt too far behind.Both players are averaging double-digits in points (12.6 for Drummond, 10.0 for Jordan). Both players are struggling just a little from the field versus their historical output (.429 for Drummond, .571 for Jordan).Drummond is 119th on the player rater. Jordan is 204th.Jordan is dealing with an early-season finger injury. He will start blocking more shots. Jordans elite shot-blocking averages mean he will eventually swat his way into fantasys top 60.Drummond will make a few more shots per game. But because he hasnt displayed a propensity for elite shot-blocking production, Drummonds ceiling is probably in the 80s at best.And Drummonds ADP was 26.6. Jordans ADP was 31.8.If you drafted either of them in the third round? You made a sucker bet. Because their values wont go anywhere near where you predicted as long as they continue to be two of the worst free throw shooters of all time!This has nothing to do with player movement, a new coach or a new system. It has to do with everyone in Fantasyland starting two below-rock-bottom free throw percentages and ignoring them in favor of volume-based stats.Jordans floor rises because hes insulated by his shot-blocking. But Drummonds value doesnt have that kind of protection.Dont say I didnt warn you. ' ' '