Alright, let me just catch my breath. There, got it. What is the most stressful thing about playing fantasy football besides what to grill on game-day? Watching one of the players on your bench get injured and not knowing what happened, just how long they'll be out, and how it may affect your team (and others' teams as well!) down the road. Disclaimer: of course these injuries are hardest on the actual player themselves, this is just a game, etc! All of that being said, here's a rundown of the major injuries that occurred in Week 1 and my take on the dominoes that may fall because of those injuries.
For more in-depth analysis and discussion of these injury scenarios, tune in to the Fantasy Finish Line Podcast, Week 2 Preview: A Deep Dive.
Tevin Coleman (high-ankle sprain) – Coleman was injured in the first play of the game. Typical. He won’t be going on IR and is expected to miss at least a few games. In the meantime, the 49ers will use Matt Breida, and Raheem Mostert (10% owned) in a greater capacity from week-to-week. We know who Breida is from last year, able to handle a little bit of everything he’s called upon to do and putting up 153 rushes for 814 yards and 3 TDs (5.3 YPC) and 27 receptions for 261 yards and 2 TDs. That said, everyone is still sleeping on Mostert – he has averaged 6.7 YPC over his career, had 9 carries for 40 yards in Week 1, and a 15-yard TD that was canceled due to a flag. Breida always seems to be on the verge of coming out of the game, so Mostert should be on fantasy rosters everywhere.
Listen to the Fantasy Finish Line, 9/11/2019: Week 2 Preview: A Deep Dive
Hunter Henry (tibial plateau fracture) – The good news is that this shouldn’t require surgery, the injury is to the left knee (as opposed to the right knee ACL tear from last year), and there are some new techniques to inject calcium into the fracture area to enhance healing and speed up his return. It’s not likely, though, that he’ll return before 4-6 weeks of recovery. Virgil Green (1% owned) is the next man up, but he has never been fantasy relevant. No, it’s more likely that we either see the return of Antonio Gates, or the Chargers simply redistribute Henry’s targets to Austin Ekeler and Mike Williams, mostly. Williams is notably also out with a knee injury and questionable for Sunday’s matchup with the Lions. Ouch, Chargers.
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