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
Kadarius Toney (WR – KC) | Overall ADP: 97
Kadarius Toney suffered a knee injury on July 23. He had a meniscectomy, which is removing the torn part of the meniscus. The healing process for this surgery is significantly faster than a meniscus repair. Usually, the RTP timeline for this surgery is between 4-8 weeks, with most athletes returning between 6-8 weeks. This gives Toney a decent chance to return for Week 1.
Still, I am very wary of drafting Toney. With his injury history and inability to ramp up to football activities due to missing all of training camp, the risk is too high for me.
Concern level: High
Rashod Bateman (WR – BAL) | Overall ADP: 113
Rashod Bateman suffered a Lisfranc injury on Oct. 2 and aggravated it on Oct. 27. The mean time to RTP for NFL athletes with a Lisfranc was 11 months, leaving Week 1 in question for Bateman. Two months ago, Bateman received a cortisone injection, leading me to believe that he still had pain or inflammation, which is a minor setback. At this point, I would not be surprised if he misses the beginning of the season and could see him being WR3 on the depth chart by the time he’s ramped up.
Update: Bateman participated in practice on Wednesday, Aug. 9, in a very limited capacity.
Concern level: Moderate to high
Kyler Murray (ADP 151) | Overall ADP: 156
Kyler Murray suffered his ACL tear on Dec. 12. He had surgery on Jan 3. Week 1 of the Cardinals season will be eight months and one week from surgery. I do not expect them to clear their franchise QB for Week 1, but I do expect him to return earlier than the community thinks.
While he does rely on his legs more than most QBs, there is less of a performance decline for QBs in the first season after an ACL tear. I expect him to be cleared by around Week 6 and could be back to normal performance for the fantasy playoffs. I think he is worth a shot if you miss out on an elite QB at his ADP, especially if your league has an IR spot.
Concern level: Low to moderate
J.K. Dobbins (RB – BAL) | Overall ADP: 63
Last year was J.K. Dobbins’ first year back from a devastating knee injury that involved multiple ligaments and a torn hamstring. Dobbins had an arthroscopic knee procedure during the season, and I expect him to be 100% healthy this season.
Concern level: Low to moderate. I’m more worried about him not practicing due to his contract and the limited time he may have to ramp up to football activities.
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Eric Hund is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Joe, follow him on Twitter @TheDynastyPT.
