Week 1 is HERE. And so are your injury updates:
Wilson is now expected back in Week 4, which gives us insight into the extent of his bone bruise. The meniscus tear (that he had surgery for) is an approximately 3-4 week recovery for QBs. That alone would’ve probably allowed him to play Week 1 or 2 but severe bone bruises to the knee take closer to 6-8 weeks, which helps explain this timeline. As long as Wilson is given plenty of time, we can expect him to jump right back to his pre-injury trajectory without major recurrence risks. If they rush it, the bruise could flare up and cause the knee to swell on him, hence the need for the slow approach right now.
Dobbins’ playing status for Week 1 is still undetermined, but we recommend keeping him on your bench either way. Yes, Dobbins should hit his stride early this season as SportsMedAnalytics projects 85% of himself by Week 8. However, he hasn’t looked amazing in practice footage so far, and his injury was more than the typical ACL. All things considered, we’d expect around Week 3 to be a more realistic return target and around Week 6 for him to be let loose from a snap count perspective. Until then, the Ravens backfield probably isn’t worth a start in most formats.
Godwin’s comments this week confirm that he’s prioritizing the second half of the season, exactly as expected here. We’ll probably see him in limited spurts before that, starting around Week 4-6. We wouldn’t rely on Godwin to start in fantasy lineups before that time, since his 85% recovery projection doesn’t arrive until mid-October. By mid-November, Godwin should be a plug-and-play top-25 or better WR. Russell Gage, Mike Evans, and Julio Jones get a boost in the meantime, but the Bucs’ O-line has been hit hard with injuries too. Therefore, we’d want to see how those three receivers do in Week 1 before using them in DFS lineups.
More injuries you want to know about? Hit us up on Twitter @FantasyPros and @SportMDAnalysis – we’re always down to continue the conversation!
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