Boost Watch, Week 4: the first real damage

Eleven Future Stars played the first week of October and three did not, and this time the misses cost something. Jadarian Price is on injured reserve and will score nothing for the month, Mendoza can no longer reach +3, and Tyson is capped at +1.

Week 4 is in the books, and it is the first week the list took real damage. Eleven of the fourteen played, one fewer than every week of September. The one who dropped out is the card that matters, because of what October does to a card that misses.

October runs four games, Weeks 4 to 7, with no byes for most of the set. That makes it the first month where a card can be paid nothing at all: four missed is past the end of the ladder. One card is already there.

The eleven who played

CALEB DOWNS — S, Dallas Cowboys. Seven combined tackles, five of them solo, in a 34–30 win at Houston. Four games, four quality starts. He is enough of a face of the team now that the Cowboys’ own account put him alongside Prescott, Lamb and Pickens when it trolled the Texans after the game.

VEGA IOANE — OG, Baltimore Ravens. Baltimore beat Tennessee 24–18 to move to 3–1, a week after he finished the Rio game at center with both of the Ravens’ centers hurt. Two ways onto the field is still the safest place a lineman can be.

ARVELL REESE — LB, New York Giants. The Giants rolled Arizona 36–24 and are 3–1. Quietly one of the best situations in the set: a starter on a winning team, with nothing in his way.

PETER WOODS — DT, Kansas City Chiefs. Kansas City survived the Raiders 30–27 to go 4–0. His snap count has climbed every week of the season so far.

ANTHONY HILL — LB, Tennessee Titans. Tennessee fell to 0–4 with the 24–18 loss at Baltimore. He is still the every-down middle linebacker, and a bad record does not change that.

JAKE SLAUGHTER — C, Los Angeles Chargers. The Chargers lost 30–23 at Seattle and are 0–4, and Jim Harbaugh had to back his offensive coordinator in public afterward. Grim for the team, irrelevant to the card: Slaughter keeps playing every snap.

KENYON SADIQ — TE, New York Jets. Carried a back injury into the week, was limited in practice and listed questionable, then was active and played in a 23–12 loss at Chicago. With Adonai Mitchell and Mason Taylor both out again, he was the lead tight end. He played, which is what the boost counts, but a back that limits practice is worth checking before every game this month.

MAKAI LEMON — WR, Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles lost 24–20 to the Rams. With DeVonta Smith out with a hamstring, Lemon and Dontayvion Wicks were the top two pass-catchers. The opportunity is finally there, even if the production has not followed yet.

AVIEON TERRELL — CB, Atlanta Falcons. Played in a 45–24 rout of New Orleans, though not his cleanest night: a 25-yard pass interference flag on third-and-10 in the third quarter kept a Saints drive alive. Atlanta is 2–2 and rolling since Penix came back.

MAX IHEANACHOR — OT, Pittsburgh Steelers. A second straight start, and a bad one. Pittsburgh lost 27–24 at Cleveland on Thursday night, and he drew national criticism for it: a Hall of Famer called him out in public, and the broadcast noted Cleveland was attacking him on purpose, with a penalty and a big hit on Rodgers on back-to-back plays. This one week after a top-five grade. That is rookie volatility rather than a lost job, but it is the first time this season the job has been talked about at all.

DERRICK MOORE — DE, Detroit Lions. Detroit lost 32–26 at Carolina on Sunday night. He is still a rotational piece, and still on the field.

The two who sat out

JADARIAN PRICE — RB, Seattle Seahawks. On injured reserve. The chest and shoulder injury he played through in Week 3 left him worse off: limited Wednesday, ruled out Friday, then moved to IR. Emanuel Wilson and George Holani split the backfield in the 30–23 win over the Chargers. This is the biggest development of the week, and the reason is the calendar rather than the injury. Injured reserve carries a four-game minimum, and four games is the whole of October. Week 8 is the earliest he can be back.

FERNANDO MENDOZA — QB, Las Vegas Raiders. Zero snaps for the fourth straight week. Kirk Cousins played every down in the 30–27 loss to Kansas City.

Still out

JORDYN TYSON — WR, New Orleans Saints. Technically eligible to come off injured reserve after Monday night, but the reporting is that he is still weeks away, with Week 7 now the earliest realistic return. Kellen Moore said last week the team is not expecting him back at practice immediately, and left it at a pointed “we’ll see.” The Saints are protecting him on purpose.

What this means for October

Three cards have a ceiling on them already, and it is worth knowing exactly where each one sits before you spend any of them:

• Jadarian Price scores nothing. Four games on injured reserve is four games missed, which is the entire month, and his card stays an 85 through the next update.
• Jordyn Tyson misses Weeks 5 and 6 at minimum on top of Week 4. Best case he plays Week 7, and three missed with one played is still +1.
• Fernando Mendoza has already missed one, so +3 is gone. He needs a snap in each of Weeks 5, 6 and 7 for +2, which would take an injury to Cousins this week. Realistically he is playing for +1.

The other eleven are all on course for a clean +3, and none of them looks close to losing a game. Price was the card in this set with the most ways onto the field, and one injury closed all of them for a month. That is the risk every one of these cards carries.

For spending: an 85 that cannot move in October is the cheapest Future Star to put into a challenge right now. Price still has November, December and January ahead of him, so he is not filler, but he is the one card here whose next update is already decided.

Risers and fallers

• ▲RiserCaleb Downs — Four quality starts in four games, and the team now markets him beside its biggest names.
• ▲RiserPeter Woods — Snap count up every week of the season, on a team that has not lost.
• ▲RiserMakai Lemon — With DeVonta Smith out, a top-two target for the first time. The yards have not come yet; the role has.
• ▼FallerJadarian Price — Injured reserve for the whole of October. A guaranteed +0, back in Week 8 at the earliest.
• ▼FallerFernando Mendoza — Four weeks, no snaps, and +3 is now out of reach for October.
• ▼FallerMax Iheanachor — A top-five grade one week, called out by a Hall of Famer the next. The job is still his.
• ●WatchKenyon Sadiq — Played through a back injury that limited his practice. A back is the kind of thing that turns into a missed game.
• ●WatchJordyn Tyson — Eligible now, but Week 7 is the earliest realistic return. One game holds the +1.