As we all know, football is a game with many injuries. There is a huge edge if you can value injured players more accurately than your league mates.
I am a physical therapist who will be doing injury breakdowns this NFL season. This article will assess injuries that occurred throughout preseason so far and how you should adjust your draft strategy. Here is a closer look at a few players.
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Fantasy Football Injury Round-Up
Joe Burrow (QB – CIN) | Overall ADP: 40
Joe Burrow suffered a calf strain on July 27. Calf strains are tricky. They can have a pretty wide range of RTP timelines from a week or two all the way up to 8-10 weeks. Obviously, the median will be in the middle of those, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were cautious in Burrow’s return. Like hamstrings, a calf strain is likely to recur if it is not fully healed when returning to play. Burrow still hasn’t returned to practice, so I would monitor his status in practice up to your draft date if you’re planning to draft him.
Concern level: Low to moderate
Kenneth Walker (RB – SEA) | Overall ADP: 45
According to Pete Carroll (not a reliable source), Kenneth Walker suffered a groin injury on July 31. He is stated to be “week-to-week” and will likely miss most of training camp. If you believe in the talent of Zach Charbonnet, I would be worried that he could win touches over the injured Walker with a good showing in the preseason.
Concern level: Moderate to high
Javonte Williams (RB – DEN) | Overall ADP: 68
Javonte Wiliams suffered an ACL, LCL, and posterolateral corner tear on Oct. 2. Williams has been a limited participant in practice so far and is expected to play during the preseason, which is typically the last hurdle to clear in RTP. As I mentioned earlier, the important 9-month mark has been passed already.
While multi-ligamentous injuries typically take a longer time to return, that is not always the case. Like Hall, I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts off slow, but he could become a huge contributor down the stretch.
Concern level: Moderate; monitor his status in practice and preseason games.
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Eric Hund is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Joe, follow him on Twitter @TheDynastyPT.
