Fantasy Football: Injured Players to Monitor

As you may have already heard, projected first-round fantasy player, Ezekiel Elliott, suffered a hamstring injury earlier this week. The Dallas Cowboys officials declared the injury would cause the rookie to miss some time. How much time Elliott would miss was not defined but one official announced he could miss up to a week. Up to a week doesn’t sound serious and Elliott clearly is still in line to be fully ready by week 1. However, Elliott’s injury is a clear reminder that players with injuries or with an injury history should be monitored closely and selected with caution by fantasy owners before being drafted.

I had planned to write an article earlier this week on Odell Beckham Jr.’s latest injury he suffered this past Sunday. However, after researching that Beckham’s injury was simply a cut or two after being cleated by fellow teammate Janoris Jenkins, it was apparent that OBJ simply left his man card at home. Instead of letting him go home and get it, the Giants simply kept him out of practice. It’s probable that OBJ left his man card in the kitchen or on the dining room table and will pick it up in the next day or two when he returns to practice.

The best way to view training camp from a fantasy standpoint is to classify it as Survival Month. There’s nothing worse than having your fantasy draft all complete, only for one of your top selections to suffer an injury in training camp or preseason and wind up done for the year. This is why most leagues will have their drafts setup as late as possible before the season officially begins. We here at GoingFor2 just couldn’t hold our excitement, however, and have already completed our writer’s league draft. Of course, no matter when your draft may be, nothing is ever guaranteed and a player could hit the injury report at any time, causing a fantasy spiral for the next man up.

We take a look at some of the top rated players currently sidelined with injuries that are expected to be ready for the start of the season. Even though the news that they should be ready to go in time for week 1 is promising, these players should still be monitored closely before taking them with a top selection.

Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Dallas Cowboys

As mentioned, Elliott will miss some time with a hamstring injury he suffered in practice on Wednesday. While a one week timetable doesn’t sound horrific, hamstring injuries can linger throughout a full season and have a major impact on running backs, who often change directions on a dime. Zeke Elliott is currently ranked as the 4th best running back option in PPR formats and 11th overall player according to Fantasy Pros. Expectations are high for Elliott in his first season.

The Cowboys are expected to use Elliott in a similar fashion as they did DeMarco Murray two years ago when Murray finished the year as fantasy’s number one running back. In no way should you steer clear of Elliott altogether when drafting, but you may want to consider Darren McFadden or Alfred Morris as a handcuff.

Jordy Nelson, WR, Green Bay Packers

Jordy Nelson missed the entire 2015 season after suffering a torn ACL injury last off-season. It appears that Nelson has fully recovered from his ACL tear, but now he’s experienced a “hiccup” with his left knee, which is not the same knee. Nelson is currently on the physically unable to perform list with no time set for his return. The extent of the injury is unknown at the time, but Nelson insists that the injury is minor and that he’ll be ready by week 1.

Nelson is not expected to participate in any of the Packers preseason games, which could cause some rustiness to show on Nelson’s behalf after missing in action for over a year. The Packers offense has weapons with or without Nelson in the lineup but works best with him in it. Randall Cobb is the Packers next best receiver, but his value drops as well with Nelson out of action, evidenced by his disappointing season in 2015.

Julian Edelman, WR, New England Patriots

Edelman has been dealing with a foot injury since week 10 of last season in a game against the Giants. The injury caused Edelman to miss the remainder of the regular season but he was able to suit up for the Patriots during the postseason. Coach Bill Belichick has a tendency to frustrate fantasy owners by keeping injury reports top secret. Edelman has been sidelined much of the off-season but there is a belief that he could return to practice very soon.

Edelman is projected as the WR19 and ranked at the lower end of the third round in 12-team formats. There’s a good chance that Belichick will heed with caution and keep Edelman out of the Patriots preseason games but all signs point to his availability for week 1. Unfortunately, Edelman will have to start out the first quarter of the season with backup QB Jimmy Garoppolo with Tom Brady‘s 4-game suspension looming.

Sammy Watkins, WR, Buffalo Bills

In May, the Buffalo Bills announced that star wide receiver Sammy Watkins had undergone surgery for a broken foot. Watkins is currently on a speedy recovery and could return to the Bills’ training camp as early as next week. The Buffalo offense doesn’t have a lot of weapons outside of RB LeSean McCoy and could really use Watkins out there despite his inconsistencies.

Watkins is entering just his third season but is already getting labeled as injury-prone. Personally, that’s a bit unfair to Watkins since he played in every game as a rookie and missed just three games last season with an ankle injury. On the contrary, though, he does already have a laundry list of visits to the trainer’s office and leaving games early due to soreness. It’s possible, like Beckham, that Watkins is simply leaving his man card at home.

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