Injuries are inevitable in fantasy football. How you prepare and react to them can make or break your fantasy team. Did you build a bench with sufficient depth to withstand the running back injury carousel? How do you pivot if a key player goes on injured reserve? Each week, we will look at the most impactful injuries in the fantasy world and what players will step up their fantasy production.
We appear to have escaped week two without the monumental, fantasy landscape-shattering injuries in week one. Nonetheless, there are still new situations you need to monitor. Multiple star players will miss time, albeit more of the short-term variety.
I wrote that line before the Monday Night game between the Steelers and Browns. Unfortunately, there was a truly gruesome, hard-to-watch injury to a star player that we will lead this week off with.
Nick Chubb
Prayers up to Nick Chubb, who suffered a severe knee injury in the second quarter vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers. Fears are for a dislocated knee and multiple ligament tears. This is the same knee he had multiple ligament tears in 2015. His season is over, and his career is in jeopardy.
Fantasy Impact:
Jerome Ford took on a bell-cow role in Chubb’s absence. He is the unquestioned top waiver wire add this week if he is available in your league. Ford took 16 rush attempts for 106 yards and added three receptions and a touchdown.
His prospect profile also showed quite a bit of promise, as our own Chris Miles stated in his pre-draft profile last year:
“Jerome Ford is a player that should be cemented in the top eight of your rookie RB rankings. If he gets drafted on day two of the NFL draft, he could move as far up as four for me in this class. He has a good production profile at a great school, has workhorse size, and has shown skill as a receiver. Ford is currently my RB7 with room to improve. He will be one of my favorite players to draft in the mid to late second round of Superflex rookie drafts.”
Expected Return:
Out for the season
Anthony Richardson
Anthony Richardson was on his way to a massive breakout game with 17.8 Fantasy points in just two-quarters of play. Unfortunately, that ended when he exited the game with a concussion. Slightly over 50% of the players who enter concussion protocol miss at least one game, but few miss two. We should expect Richardson to miss this week and return in week four.
Fantasy Impact:
Richardson has assimilated to the NFL game faster than anyone expected. He was on his way to being a “set it and forget it” fantasy option. I would expect him to miss the upcoming week. Gardner Minshew is one of the better backups in football and can start in a pinch if you need an option in a two-quarterback league. Minshew also fed Michael Pittman. Seven of Pittman’s eight receptions came in the half Minshew played.
Expected Return:
Week 3-4
Jaylen Waddle
Jaylen Waddle was another concussion victim in Week 2. Like Richardson, Waddle is now in concussion protocol. Slightly over 50% of the players who enter concussion protocol miss at least one game, but few miss two.
Fantasy Impact:
River Cracraft and Durham Smythe have come out of nowhere to contribute this year. But let’s face it, Tyreek Hill may go for 250. Hopefully, Waddle can go.
Expected Return:
Week 3-4
David Montgomery
You don’t typically get this type of clarity straight from the player’s mouth. It looks like Montgomery will be out for a couple of weeks.
Fantasy Impact:
Look for Craig Reynolds to get his share of rush attempts this week, but we hope it is the Jahmyr Gibbs show. Gibbs has been impressive in his first two games on limited usage. He currently leads the league in broken tackles per attempt.
Expected Return:
Week 4-5
Joe Burrow
Burrow has not looked like himself early this season. When he first suffered his injury in pre-season, Ja’Marr Chase was quoted as suggesting he should take the early part of the season off. With this setback, that may have been sage advice. The Bengals are the most surprising 0-2 team in the NFL, so they cannot afford to lose Burrow for any time. Per Schefter, “Once the NFL went to seven playoff teams in each conference in 2020, only one of the 23 teams to start the season 0-2 wound up reaching the playoffs: the 2022 Bengals.”
Fantasy Impact:
I fully expect Burrow to lobby to play this week, and with the season hanging in the balance, the Bengals may relent. Jake Browning is the backup, and if that occurs, Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase’s Fantasy values will take a huge hit.
Expected Return:
Week 3-5
Saquon Barkley
There is no solace in a three-week absence for Barkley’s Dynasty owners, given their investment in him. The good news is that this was not a high ankle sprain, as Barkley had previously suffered and sapped his explosiveness. His return to performance should be near the max level this time around.
Fantasy Impact:
This will be interesting to see how Daboll uses Daniel Jones during this window. Does he run the ball more to supplement the rush game deficiencies? Matt Breida is next up, however, and behind this patchwork offensive line, you can’t have very high hopes for him. Start him at your peril. Rookie Eric Gray has excellent receiving skills as he put up an 18% best season reception share in college. For comparison, Jahmyr Gibbs’s best season reception share was 19%.
Expected Return:
Week 3-6
Other notable players in the prior week’s estimated return to action:
Wan’Dale Robinson – ACL – Week 3-4
Kendre Miller – Hamstring – Week 3
Christian Watson – Hamstring – Week 3-4
Jakobi Meyers – Concussion – Week 3
Austin Ekeler – Ankle Sprain – Week 4-6
Diontae Johnson – Hamstring – Week 7 (IR)
Jonathan Taylor – Ankle – Week 5 (PUP)
Jeff Wilson – Knee – Week 5 (IR)
Greg Dulcich – Hamstring – Week 6 (IR)
Cooper Kupp – Hamstring – Week 5-8 (IR_
Aaron Rodgers – Achilles – Out for the season
J.K. Dobbins – Achilles – Out for the season
I hope you enjoyed reading my article. My goal is to provide actionable advice you can utilize to improve your dynasty team. You can follow me on Twitter @force_fantasy. #DFFArmy #FantasyFootball #AlwaysBeBuilding #NFL #NFLDraft #NFLTransactions #NFLTrades #AlwaysBeScouting
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