Week 4 Injury Report: Fantasy Impact
Can you believe we are still less than a quarter of the way through the season? We still have a lot of football left this season with many weeks of fantasy football. As we have already seen this season, there have been a lot of injuries. That did not change for week four. Let’s take a look at this week’s injuries and what it means for fantasy. Here is your Week 4 fantasy injury report.
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Will Fuller, Wide Receiver, Miami Dolphins
Fuller is no stranger to the injury report in his career. This time, he finds himself on the injury list with a hand injury. He left in the 2nd quarter of Sunday’s game and was initially listed as questionable before being named out for the rest of the game. The current diagnosis of Fuller’s injury is unknown, but my guess is he fractured a bone in his hand. Fractured hands are never good, especially wide receivers. Now we won’t know officially if he fractured his hand until X-Ray results come out. Whatever the injury is, expect Fuller to miss even more time this year.
We go back to week one, when Fuller was suspended and Dolphins were left with DeVante Parker and Jaylen Waddle as the fantasy relevant wide receivers on the team. Parker seems like the more reliable pass catching offense. However, Waddle is lightning in a bottle and can break a long catch at any moment. Parker should be a solid WR2 in fantasy as long as Fuller is out and Waddle becomes a flex option. Don’t forget about tight end Mike Gesicki. Gesicki has been a reliable tight end since Brissett has taken over at Quarterback and should still be as long as Tua is out.
Logan Thomas, Tight End, Washington Football Team
Logan Thomas is new to the fantasy injury report. Thomas has been a breakout tight end the past couple of years and solidified himself as a fantasy starter. Unfortunately, left Sunday’s shootout against the Falcons with a hamstring injury. As we have seen many times in the past, hamstring injuries linger and usually keep a player out for at least another week following the injury. Thomas is likely to miss a game or two depending on the extent of the hamstring injury, so make adjustments accordingly.
In Logan Thomas’ absence this week, we saw Terry McLaurin in full force. McLaurin was already a sure fire WR1. With Thomas out, Washington does not have very many other reliable pass catchers on the team. McLaurin will be heavily targeted and a chance of becoming the best fantasy wide receiver each week Thomas is out. John Bates is the backup tight end in Washington. Bates is not worth the stash on a roster. The only thing that changes for fantasy is now managers have to pivot to a different streaming tight end until Thomas returns to the lineup.
David Montgomery, Running Back, Chicago Bears
David Montgomery has picked up right where he left off last year. He was already having a fantastic fantasy day before he unfortunately had to leave the field with a knee injury late in the game. He was in clear pain on the sidelines after it looked like he hyperextended his knee. The Bears have come out and stated they think he avoided major injury, however, that can’t officially be ruled out without an MRI. It is a wait and see game for Montgomery to see if he injured any of the knee ligaments to see what his prognosis is.
Damien Williams, signed from the Kansas City Chiefs this offseason, takes over the role as the lead back if Montgomery misses anytime. If Williams isn’t on a team already, he should be picked up right away just in case Montgomery has to miss an extended period of time. Even though the Bears offense isn’t anything to get excited about, Williams would be a starting running back in the NFL and that in itself is worth a stash to see what comes from it.
Jimmy Garoppolo, Quarterback, San Francisco 49ers
Fantasy managers who stashed Trey Lance during their drafts may finally get rewarded for their patients. Garoppolo came out of the locker room to start the second half in a baseball cap and out for the rest of the game with a calf injury. The injury itself may not be very significant, however, the outlook may be. It could very well be Trey Lance season. We will have to see how bad of a calf strain Garoppolo suffered. Either way, rookie Trey Lance may be the starting quarterback for the 49ers moving forward.
Garoppolo’s injury is huge for fantasy purposes. Lance is a better fantasy option when he is playing then Jimmy Garoppolo due to his rushing upside. Lance instantly becomes a streamable quarterback with high upside. The pass catcher’s fantasy outlook isn’t as clear. Deebo Samuel had himself a game against Seattle, some of which came after Lance entered the game. Deebo is an every week starter and should be in lineups. The other pieces, however, isn’t as pretty. Tight end George Kittle had only 4 catches for 40 yards, most of which came with Garoppolo at quarterback. If you drafted Kittle, you have to keep playing him but definitely adjust expectations. Brandon Aiyuk? Been disappointing all year and I don’t see that changing.
