We are so incredibly close to the football season. We’ve slogged through preseason games, binged on training camp clips, and hyped up our team’s latest rookie class. We have just a week or so left to go before we can velcro ourselves to the couch and watch our favorite sport for 8 hours.
The only negative about the season rapidly approaching is all of the unanswered questions we have about key players. Most important being “how injured are they really?”.
With thousands of leagues still yet to draft their rosters, it’s pivotal to keep track of the latest news surrounding the biggest names in fantasy football. Here are the key injuries to watch as we head towards Week 1.
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Key Injuries to Monitor Heading into Week 1
Matthew Stafford, QB, LAR (Back)
Concern Level: Medium
Chance to Play Week 1: High
Matthew Stafford is a tough player. He’s fought through injuries before, and he’s doing his best to power through again. This time, though, feels a bit more worrying. Stafford spent some time in a strange metal van and received an epidural for this injury. Those don’t seem like things you’d do if it were a normal variation of a back injury.
Regardless, Sean McVay has said that Stafford should be good to go for Week 1. The best we can do is believe the coach and assume Stafford is healthy enough to play.
Jordan Love, QB, GB (Thumb)
Concern Level: Low
Chance to Play Week 1: High
Jordan Love recently underwent ligament surgery on his non-throwing hand. There shouldn’t be any concern for his ability to suit up in Week 1. If the surgery occurred on his throwing hand, then we’d have a longer conversation. Luckily, he avoided a much worse injury.
Lamar Jackson, QB, BAL (Foot)
Concern Level: Low
Chance to Play Week 1: Very High
Lamar Jackson got stepped on in practice and had to leave for an extended period of time. It sounds as though he avoided any sort of fracture or break in his foot, but was still moved to the sideline out of precaution. We will need to continue to follow this, but consider Jackson healthy enough to start in Week 1.
Kenneth Walker, RB, SEA (Foot)
Concern Level: Medium – Low
Chance to Play Week 1: High
KWIII is a running back plenty of fantasy analysts believe in to have a great year. The only thing stopping him is his own body. His current nagging injury is keeping him from seeing any pre-season action. If he is still limited, Zach Charbonnet is in line for plenty of work in his absence.
Joe Mixon, RB, HOU (Foot)
Concern Level: Very High
Chance to Play Week 1: Zero
We haven’t heard much about what this injury Joe Mixon allegedly has, and that feels odd. We will have more information as we get into September. It’s just all a bit weird how the Texans have decided to be secretive with this issue, but they have made this one of the key injuries to monitor this season. Hopefully it’s not horrifically awful.
All we know is that he is heading to the PUP and will miss the first four games.
Najee Harris, RB, LAC (Eye)
Concern Level: High
Change to Play Week 1: Very Low
I’m not convinced Najee Harris sees the field this season. He sustained this eye injury over two months ago, and there haven’t been positive reports about his return. It seems like this injury will keep him sidelined and open the door for Rookie Omarion Hampton.
Justin Jefferson, WR, MIN (Hamstring)
Concern Level: Medium
Chance to Play Week 1: High
Soft tissue issues are always the most stressful for fantasy managers. These linger, and if mismanaged, can stick around for the whole year. A player like Justin Jefferson is vital to the Vikings, as well as to us fantasy managers. There doesn’t seem like a reason for concern at the moment, but it should be something to consider when deciding between players in the early portion of the draft.
Malik Nabers, WR, NYG (Foot)
Concern Level: Low
Chance to Play Week 1: High
Malik Nabers has missed the majority of camp, nursing a toe injury, which has apparently been around since his time at LSU. Nabers did, however, suit up for the final preseason game, but didn’t see the field as he remained sidelined with the rest of the starters. Though it is a bit of a yellow flag to have this toe injury, he still managed to bring in over 1,200 yards receiving last year. Definitely one to monitor, but it’s certainly looking like he will be ready to go to kick off the season.
Stefon Diggs, WR, NE (Knee)
Concern Level: Low
Chance to Play Week 1: High
Diggs has had a long time to recover from this injury and is shaping up to play Week 1. In fact, head coach Mike Vrabel mentioned on Monday that Diggs will be on the field for Week 1. The Patriots should have their WR1 ready to go for their opener.
Chris Godwin, WR, TB (Knee)
Concern Level: Low
Chance to Play Week 1: High
Godwin spent almost all of pre-season on the PUP as he recovered from his devastating knee injury. Luckily, Tampa Bay has removed him from the PUP list, allowing him to be available at any time. It doesn’t appear as though he will start Week 1, but we won’t be without him for the first four games guaranteed.
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