Week 10 Injury Review
The 2020 Fantasy Football season is coming down to the stretch way too fast it feels doesn’t it? These next couple of weeks are huge for fantasy managers as they fight their way into playoff position. Even though injuries have been limited lately, in a good way, fantasy relevant NFL players continue to get banged up and should be noted as it comes to fantasy football playoff season. Here is your Week 10 fantasy football injury report.
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Drew Brees, Quarterback for New Orleans Saints
The biggest name on the list of injuries this week is New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame quarterback, Drew Brees. Brees went into Sunday’s game banged up. He left Sunday’s game even more banged up. After taking a big hit in the first half against the 49ers, Brees did not see the field at all the second half.
After the game, head coach Sean Payton told media members that Brees told him he wasn’t feeling right. Sure enough, after further testing with an MRI and X-Rays, Brees suffered multiple cracked ribs along with a collapsed lung. The current timetable for Brees’ return is unknown. Payton claims he won’t be giving any updates on the injury until Wednesday so we are in the dark until then. It was reported that the Saints aren’t discussing the Injured Reserve at this moment. However, I wouldn’t put it past the Saints to end up doing so as only missing a couple weeks with this injury is pretty optimistic. Expect at least a couple weeks missed for Brees.
Jameis Winston fills in for Brees as he rests. Winston becomes an instant start in the Saints offense. The Saints face the Atlanta Falcons twice in the next three weeks. Falcons have been fantasy gold this year. The Falcons defense have given up at least 300 yards to opposing Quarterbacks in all but one game so far this season. Winston has shown in his career he can put up monster yardage and touchdown numbers along with monster turnover numbers. I would not be surprised if the 300+ yard games against the Falcons continues with Winston under center.
As for the pass catchers in New Orleans, wide receivers don’t take a hit in fantasy value at all. Winston supplied both Chris Godwin and Mike Evans last year with fantasy super star seasons. However, Tight End Jared Cook takes a hit. Cook has built a good report, especially in the redzone, with Drew Brees. Cook will have to create a new report with Winston around the goal line if he is to be fantasy relevant at all while Brees is injured.
Teddy Bridgewater, Quarterback for Carolina Panthers
My heart dropped when watching the game and seeing Teddy on the ground holding his knee. After the horrific knee injury he battled back from, one could only hope that this injury wasn’t as serious as it initially seemed. Luckily, our prayers were answered. It was reported that there was nothing structurally wrong with Bridgewater’s knee after Sunday’s game. This means, Bridgewater escaped another major knee injury. MRI results came back as an MCL sprain, which is the best case scenario for the Carolina quarterback. The Panthers have not ruled Bridgewater out for Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions. The Panthers, however, have been conservative when coming to players who are injured. I expect Bridgewater to miss Sunday’s matchup to give their QB time to rest his knee, even though it’s not 100% certain yet.
If Teddy Bridgewater misses Sunday’s matchup against the Lions, it means likely PJ Walker steps in at quarterback. Walker was impressive in the XFL, but that’s the XFL. He has hardly any experience in the NFL to warrant any projection of him and pass catchers on the team. Panthers have had three pass catchers with top fantasy weeks at the wide receiver position. That upside of top fantasy performance is now essentially gone with Teddy not throwing them the ball. No one knows who Walker will favor once he is in the game out of the wide receivers. The Panthers offense in terms of fantasy seem to be rough waters to navigate if Bridgewater misses time.
Nick Boyle, Tight End for Baltimore Ravens
If you get bothered by gruesome injuries, do not watch a video of Nick Boyles injury. The specifics of Boyle’s knee injury isn’t specified but one can imagine it is some combination of torn ligaments in that knee. Head Coach John Harbaugh has already confirmed Boyle will miss the rest of the season. A big blow for a Ravens offense who already lost tight end Hayden Hurst in the offseason and star offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley to a season ending injury.
No one was even thinking about Boyle as a fantasy option this year. However, Boyle is a significant part of the Ravens offense. Ravens love to run two tight end formations and find tremendous success when doing so. Boyle is a fantastic blocking tight end, creating holes for running backs and quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Ravens, as of right now, have only Mark Andrews at tight end on their roster. Sure, the Ravens will bring someone else in off the street. The new tight end off the street won’t be as valuable a blocker as Nick Boyle is. Boyle out could mean the Ravens offense could struggle even more. Fantasy relevant players on the Ravens should have more tempered expectations moving forward. Fantasy managers are gonna start Mark Andrews and Lamar Jackson as they are staples at their position. The running game is a three way timeshare meaning all are desperate plays at the position. Thoughts and prayers out for Nick Boyle on a speedy recovery.
John Brown, Wide Receiver for Buffalo Bills
John Brown continues to nurse injuries throughout this 2020 campaign. Brown left late in Sunday’s game with an ankle injury. The week 11 bye week for the Bills could not come any sooner for the veteran wide receiver. The specifics weren’t revealed of the injury as it isn’t mandatory for the Bills to report the specific since they are now on to the bye week. However, the injury seemed to be fairly minor and there’s a good chance Brown plays in week 12 once the Bills come back from the bye week. I
f it was my decision, Brown is a large part of the offense and needs to be healthy at the end of the season. I would put Brown on the Injured Reserve so that he can recover from all of the nagging injuries he has been dealing with this year. This is unlikely, but Brown needs to be 100% if the Bills want to make a deep run in the AFC.
Even though I doubt Brown will miss any time, Cole Beasley continues to be very fantasy relevant whenever Brown doesn’t play or gets knocked out of the game. Beasley will be in line for a good game in week 11 against a struggling Los Angeles Chargers team. All other fantasy options will stay status quo if Brown misses any time. I am not projecting Brown to miss any time but keep paying attention to practice reports next week for Browns game time status.
