Week 9 Injury Review
Week 9 injury report is here and contrary to the majority of the year, this week is not filled with season ending injuries to key fantasy players. It’s a breath of fresh air to write about optimistic outlooks of players who got injured. Here is your Week 9 fantasy football injury report.
Week 10 Waiver Wire Rankings!
Christian McCaffery, Running Back for Carolina Panthers
Unfortunately, McCaffery can not stay off the injury report this year. Fantasy managers leaped in joy once they heard McCaffery was coming back from his high ankle sprain. Sure enough, McCaffery was his old self back out on the field. It goes to show, McCaffery is in a league of his own when he is on the field. Late in the fourth quarter as the Panthers were making a comeback against the Kansas City Chiefs, McCaffery landed on his shoulder. He looked like he was very uncomfortable on the sidelines as he watched his team fall short of a come back. Specifics are still unknown of the injury and the Panthers have listed him day-to-day with this injury. We have seen the Panthers play it safe with their star running back and there’s speculation already that his week ten matchup is in doubt against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
As the Christian McCaffery manager, hopefully you are already prepared for him to miss time. Once he initially went down with injury, Mike Davis should have been on your roster. When McCaffery came back from injury, Davis should have not left your roster. If McCaffery misses a game or two, Davis fills back in as a starting running back on fantasy rosters. The Panthers offense has shown to be a fairly productive offense. The starting running back for the Panthers is valuable to have on your fantasy roster. If Davis is on fantasy waiver wires, he should immediately be added as a speculative starting running back if McCaffery is to miss any time.
Jack Doyle, Tight End for Indianapolis Colts
Jack Doyle was unable to finish Sunday’s matchup against the Baltimore Ravens as he sustained a concussion during the game. The league has a five step concussion protocol that all steps must be completed 24 hours apart from each other. If concussion symptoms are felt within each of these steps, it’s considered to be a setback and the player returns to the previous step rather than moving forward. Considering the Colts play on Thursday night this week it’s highly unlikely that Doyle plays.
Now no one really is relying on Jack Doyle as a fantasy asset this year. So why bring his name up Scott? Well because Trey Burton, when healthy, has played well for the Colts this year. As far as I know, Burton is healthy right now. Burton should see an increase in snaps with Doyle likely out against the Titans. The Titans have given up over 400 yards and five touchdowns against the tight end position this year. Burton becomes a high touchdown upside tight end streaming option this week against the Titans.
David Johnson, Running Back for Houston Texans
Like Jack Doyle, David Johnson suffered a concussion early in Sunday’s matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars. It was unfortunate for a player who was a smash fantasy start against a struggling defense. As stated before, Johnson will be placed in the NFL’s concussion protocol, having to progress through five days worth of steps to complete again against the Browns on Sunday. Unlike Doyle, however, there is plenty of time for Johnson to be able to return. If there are no setbacks and Johnson can start the protocol quick, Johnson can play on Sunday.
If Johnson is unable to play on Sunday, Duke Johnson will be forced into the primary rusher for the Texans. Duke Johnson looked super inefficient with his touches he received in David Johnson’s absence. Next week the Texans face off against the Browns. The Browns have allowed an average of around 81 yards and less then one touchdown a game on the ground against the running backs. Duke Johnson, if David Johnson misses, becomes a flex play at best against a good Cleveland defense.
David Montgomery, Running Back for Chicago Bears
The week of concussions continues with David Montgomery suffering a concussion in the Bears loss against the Tennessee Titans. If you want a more in depth report on David Montgomery’s outlook, refer back to David Johnson’s portion of the article.
Montgomery continues to take the full workload in Chicago’s backfield so if he plays against the Minnesota Vikings, so do you as an RB2. Where it gets interesting is if he is unable to progress through the protocol in time to play against the Vikings. Chicago is already down Tarik Cohen in the running back room. Ryan Nall and Cordarrelle Patterson are the lone running back options left on the active roster.
Due to COVID-19 protocols, it takes new free agent signings an extended period of time to clear protocol and get on the active roster. This means it is unlikely for the Bears to sign someone else. The Vikings defense has been poor on the ground so far this season. If Montgomery sits, there is no way I would be comfortable starting either one of the other running back options on the Bears. Sit Bears running backs if David Montgomery is unable to play.
Preston Williams, Wide Receiver for Miami Dolphins
Preston Williams injured his foot on his touchdown catch during Sunday’s very entertaining game between the Dolphins and the Cardinals. The injury looked bad as Williams couldn’t put any weight on the foot and needed to be carted off. However, x-rays revealed no fracture of the foot and Preston is labeled as day-to-day. Likely, Williams sprained a ligament in his foot and isn’t anything that will hold Williams out for a significant time period. This injury designation gives Williams a possibility to play on Sunday, however, it seems unlikely due to how Williams had to be carted off the field that he will be ready to roll on Sunday. Good news, however, for Dolphins fans and Tua Tagovailoa fantasy managers as Preston Williams escaped a major injury.
With Williams likely to miss this week’s game against the Chargers, Jakeem Grant will slide into the WR2 position for the Dolphins. After the Dolphins traded away Isaiah Ford to rival Patriots, Tua will be left with minimal pass catching options against a Chargers team starving for a win. Justin Herbert looks like the real deal. Expect Chargers to be able to put up points and Tua to need to sling the football around. Grant isn’t a receiver who demands targets, but is explosive enough to take a screen to the house. Grant is a speculative add as a high upside but low floor flex option if Williams does in fact miss the game.
Mike Gesicki has been a disappointing tight end so far this year, but remember last year when Gesicki broke out it was when Preston Williams went down with a season ending ACL tear. Gesicki is a safe streaming option at tight end as he too will likely receive enough targets to be fantasy relevant. In reality though, DeVante Parker is a smash play this week. He will receive the majority of the targets from Tua in an offense that’s gonna need to keep scoring against the Chargers who will put up points themselves.
