Week 3 Injury Report
Alright everyone, we are past the nightmare of week two. Week 3 isn’t nearly as devastating as Week 2. Some fantasy options were hit with injuries throughout this week, but nothing as harsh compared to Week 2. Let’s take a look into the Week 3 injury reports and what it means for fantasy.
Tarik Cohen, Running Back for Chicago Bears
The year of hurt knees continues. Tarik Cohen has been known for his durability in the NFL through his short career. Unfortunately, the tides have turned. Cohen injured his knee in Sunday’s comeback win against the Atlanta Falcons. Head Coach Matt Nagy fears that he suffered a torn ACL, which would mean he is out for the year. This comes after a flurry of Torn ACL’s we have seen so far this NFL season. Imaging done on Monday confirmed Coach Nagy’s fear.
With Cohen out for the year, the Bears will lean heavily on David Montgomery for the rest of the year. I suspect the Bears will look to add some depth at the position via free agency. However, there isn’t gonna be an addition that scares me away from the volume Montgomery is about to receive. I am comfortable rolling out Montgomery every week as a RB2 or better due to the workload he is bound to see.
Diontae Johnson, Wide Receiver for Pittsburgh Steelers
Disappointing week for Diontae Johnson managers. Johnson only received one opportunity on a rush for nine yards. He was taken out of the game on the same play with a concussion. Johnson will now be placed in the NFLs concussion protocol. It is important for Johnson fantasy managers to read the practice reports this coming week. It isn’t like soft tissue injuries where there’s a chance the player may not play on Sunday even if he does practice. If Johnson practices by midweek he shouldn’t have any restrictions going into Sunday. However, if he isn’t practicing late into the week as his concussion symptoms linger, it is likely he won’t play on Sunday.
If in fact Diontae Johnson doesn’t progress through the concussion protocol fast enough to play on Sunday, the Steelers will lean heavily on JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Washington. James Washington becomes an interesting waiver wire addition against the Tennessee Titans. The Titans allowed over 100 yards to rookie wide receiver Justin Jefferson in week three. They also allowed more than 300 yard passing from Gardner Minshew in week two. There are fantasy points to be had by wide receivers against the Titans.
If Johnson is unavailable, expect a big game from JuJu and targets for Washington. Chase Claypool has big play ability but seems to still be behind Washington in the depth chart. If there was one week to play Claypool, however, it would be next week if Johnson misses the game.
DeSean Jackson, Wide Receiver for Philadelphia Eagles
The disappointing start to the season continues for DeSean Jackson. Along with many others on the Philadelphia Eagles, Jackson was unavailable at the end of the game Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. Being injured isn’t something new for the speedster. In fact, Jackson has not played a full 16 game season since 2013. This year, it’s a hamstring. He was ruled out for the rest of the game after a hamstring injury. There isn’t any news on the severity of the injury, but hamstrings have been shown to limit big name wide receivers this year already. Names like Kenny Golladay, Davante Adams and Julio Jones have missed time with hamstring injuries this year. I expect the same for DeSean.
If DeSean misses time, who do the Eagles have to play wide receiver anymore? Jalen Reagor is out for a while with a thumb injury. Alshon Jeffery is still dealing with his own injury. With DeSean now hurt that leaves Greg Ward as the primary wide receiver maybe? Who knows and honestly, who really cares? Carson Wentz has looked bad to start the season so not many options will be fantasy relevant in Philadelphia. Zach Ertz is the biggest beneficiary of a depleted wide receiver core. It has been for years now that he is a target monster when other receiving options go down.
I would have mentioned Dallas Goedert as well but he, along with what seems like every Eagles player, also got hurt on Sunday. If there was doubt about Ertz based on contract talks or the emergence of Goedert, all is now lost. Ertz is gonna be a monster the next couple of weeks if both Goedert and Jackson miss time. Greg Ward would be the wide receiver to own in Philadelphia but I am not crazy excited about starting him.
Dallas Goedert, Tight End for Philadelphia Eagles
As I mentioned prior, Dallas Goedert was another player who was unable to finish the game on Sunday for the Eagles against the Cincinnati Bengals. Goedert suffered an ankle injury in the first quarter and was ruled out for the game shortly after. The Eagles have already said they expect him to miss some time. As of right now, the only information we have is that Goedert will miss some time with an unspecified injury. For how long, we don’t know. The diagnosis of the injury is also very vague. I suspect Goedert suffered a high ankle sprain due to the team being quick to say Goedert will miss some time.
The fantasy outlook isn’t great for Philadelphia. Like I said earlier, Zach Ertz is the biggest beneficiary of these injuries for fantasy. He will be peppered with as many targets as he can handle. Other than that, the Eagles offense will continue to struggle as long as quarterback Carson Wentz struggles.
John Brown, Wide Receiver for Buffalo Bills
John Brown went down with a calf injury in the wildly entertaining Sunday matchup against the Los Angeles Rams. Brown was unable to play coming out of the tunnel for the second half. There hasn’t been a ton of additional information given by the team on the severity of the injury. Given the soft tissue nature of the injury, I expect Brown to miss some time. How much time we won’t know until we find out the severity of the injury. If rushed back too soon, the risk of reinjury skyrockets. I suspect the Bills won’t rush Brown back from this injury and he will miss some time.
With Brown missing time, Cole Beasley will benefit with more targets thrown his way. Brown was having a good start to the season until he went down in week three. With quarterback Josh Allen being an MVP candidate to start the season, he can easily produce multiple receiving options in that offense. Beasley seems to be the next option behind John Brown and Stefon Diggs in the Bills offense. Beasley is an intriguing start against the Oakland Raiders in week four.
Chris Godwin, Wide Receiver for Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The hamstring bug bites again in a big way. Godwin came into the year as a locked and loaded top ten fantasy option at wide receiver. Not only was he out for a week with a concussion, Godwin has now sustained a hamstring injury in week three. As we have seen with hamstring injuries, they have kept players on the sidelines this year. I expect nothing less for Godwin in week four and possible beyond.
Hamstring injuries have shown to limit players even when they are on the field. Godwin is slated to miss at least a week with this injury, making other receiving options in Tampa intriguing. Tom Brady has grown close to wide receiver Mike Evans in the redzone to start the year. Brady will continue to look Evans’ way with Godwin on the sidelines. Scotty Miller also has gotten Brady’s attention the first part of the season. Godwin was sidelined week two and Miller only caught two of his three targets for 11 yards when Godwin was hurt. I expect Miller to have a better game week four with Godwin out against the Chargers and would be comfortable rolling Miller out as a flex this week.
Chris Carson, Running Back for Seattle Seahawks
Chris Carson went down late in Sunday’s thrilling win for the Seahawks against the Cowboys. Initially, I was terrified that like many others Carson also tore his ACL. Due to the twisting nature of the knee when he was on the ground, it did not look good. After further testing, Carson was diagnosed with a minor knee sprain. This means he did injure the ligaments in the knee, however, not to the extent that would cause a season ending injury. This is great news for all Carson managers as we should be able to see Carson back on the field sooner rather than later. I expect Carson to miss a week or two, but managers will take that over a torn ACL for sure.
With Carson bound to miss at least a week, who in the Seattle backfield becomes valuable for fantasy purposes? It’s Carlos Hyde. Hyde was already receiving work when Carson was healthy. Hyde was brought in to be the direct backup to Carson while Rashaad Penny continues to rehabilitate from his ACL injury last year. He will now get the opportunity to get the workload for a couple weeks of a Seahawks offense that is running on all cylinders. Travis Homer will also receive some work, however, his role will be like Hyde’s role was the first couple weeks of the season. This role was not valuable for fantasy so I expect the same for Homer.
