It’s pretty hard to believe we are nearly a month into autumn, and the NFL season is on as rapid a pace as I can remember through six weeks. It feels like yesterday we were all analyzing training camp reports and attempting to articulate which teams would be good in 2023 based on meaningless preseason performances. Fantasy football leagues’ standings are certainly starting to take shape at this point, and most managers know where they stand. Injuries have likely played a huge factor on many if not most rosters, and given the trajectory we’ve seen so far, that looks unlikely to change. For many, the bad luck and unfortunate hardship continued in Week 6.

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NFL Injury Updates & Fantasy Football Impact

Christian McCaffrey (RB – SF)

Through six weeks of the 2023 NFL season, we have seen some of fantasy football’s brightest stars go down to injuries repeatedly. Just last week, we lost the WR1 of the sport in Justin Jefferson to an IR stint, and in Week 6, the RB1 went down with an oblique and rib ailment. Christian McCaffrey went to the locker room in the second half of Sunday’s affair with Cleveland, returned for one play, and then was ultimately deemed out for the game. Though he managed another touchdown prior to exiting, San Francisco was handed their first loss of the season in an upset by the Browns. McCaffrey is now at best questionable for next week’s matchup with the Vikings.

Fantasy Impact: Somewhat lucky for CMC and his managers alike, the superstar back will have an extra day to rest up ahead of Week 7 as the 49ers are set to take on the Vikings on Monday Night Football. Nevertheless, McCaffrey fantasy supporters will certainly be holding their collective breaths ahead of this Week 7 tilt. His status will undeniably need to be monitored throughout the week ahead. Backup RBs for San Francisco in Elijah Mitchell and Jordan Mason both become necessary fantasy adds off waivers this week, with the latter seemingly the priority of the two.

David Montgomery (RB – DET)

Another top fantasy RB through six weeks, David Montgomery suffered his second injury of the short season against the Buccaneers on Sunday. He went down with a rib injury after being crushed by a defender partway through the contest. The pain was obviously (and rightfully) too much for him to be able to return, but the good news is that all x-rays came back negative.

Fantasy Impact: There likely won’t be a good gauge on Montgomery’s Week 7 status until later in the week, but the prudent course for managers to take would likely be adding RB Craig Reynolds where he is available. RB Jahmyr Gibbs has missed the past two weeks with injury himself, but it is possible he will return next week as well. Should Montgomery miss Week 7 and beyond, both of the aforementioned backs will see a major uptick in both fantasy usage and real-life value while working behind the top Lion’s O-line.

Justin Fields (QB – CHI)

Right when we all thought Bears’ QB Justin Fields was finally getting back on track, he flopped in epic fashion against Minnesota while also exiting with a debilitating thumb injury on Sunday. It was reported that Fields’ throwing-hand thumb was dislocated and that he subsequently popped it back into place, but he was unable to grab the football properly after. Initial x-rays on Fields’ hand did return negative results, but he is scheduled to receive an MRI on Monday to determine the severity of the injury.

Fantasy Impact: Fields’ absence is an obvious blow to fantasy managers everywhere, particularly given his dual-threat capability combined with the pure awesomeness he had provided in Weeks 4 and 5. Given that the unusual injury occurred on his throwing hand, it would not be surprising if he ended up missing extended time depending on the severity. All relevant Chicago skill-position players (namely DJ Moore) will need to be downgraded with a Fields absence. As it currently stands, UDFA QB Tyson Bagent is the next man up under center for the Bears.

Deebo Samuel (WR – SF)

The 49ers took a second major blow to their skill-position corps on Sunday when they lost WR Deebo Samuel to a shoulder injury in the game against Cleveland. Samuel was pretty quickly ruled out, presenting an ominous sign for his health prospects moving forward. Samuel’s status will need to be closely watched leading up to San Francisco’s Week 7 tilt with the Vikings.

Fantasy Impact: With both RB Christian McCaffrey and now Deebo potentially both missing game action, the 49ers are suddenly extremely thin at both the RB and WR positions. WR Brandon Aiyuk and TE George Kittle will both have to step up in a big way to lead this group in the case of any lingering absences. For a direct Samuel replacement, WR Jauan Jennings will likely slide into his role, but we have also previously seen rookie WR Ronnie Bell flash when given opportunities on the field. Bell could prove a decent speculative add in deeper fantasy formats for as long as Deebo remains out.