Week 6 Injury Review
Week 6 is in the books and thought I would start by saying something close to my heart. THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS ARE 5-0! Alright, back on track. Week 6 saw more Eagles go down with injury. What is new? Fantasy managers will be left with tough decisions in Week 7 based on the current injury status of many fantasy relevant players, some of which got hurt this week. Here is the Week 6 injury report.
Miles Sanders, Running back for Philadelphia Eagles
Miles Sanders left Week 6 against the Ravens with a knee injury. Luckily, Sander’s didn’t kill your fantasy team. Before he left the game with the injury, Miles Sanders had 118 yards on only 9 carries midway through the third quarter. Sanders hurt his knee on a 74 yard carry that led to a touchdown for the Eagles. The specifics of the knee injury is still unknown, but reports are that Sanders will only miss one to two weeks. More than likely Sanders sprained one of his ligaments in the knee and the Eagles will play it safe with their running back. Depending on how Sanders’ knee responds to the treatment, this injury can easily only be a one week absence. If so, fantasy managers would breath a sigh of relief as he escaped a major injury.
We have seen Sanders miss a game before this season. Week one, Sanders missed the game against the Washington Football Team with a hamstring injury he hurt during training camp. During that game, the Eagles as a team totaled 57 yards on 17 carries against a good Washington run defense. Week seven is against a much easier run defense in the New York Giants. However, it’s hard to have confidence in any other Eagles running back other than Miles Sanders even when he isn’t playing. Boston Scott totaled nine yards on four touches in his time in relief of Sanders. Not impressive. Scott hasn’t done anything this year to make me feel comfortable starting him even against the Giants with Miles Sanders out.
Mark Ingram, Running back for Baltimore Ravens
Mark Ingram went down with a left ankle injury on just the third drive of the game. He got his ankle heavily taped and went back out to give the ankle a try. Unfortunately, Ingram couldn’t finish the game. However, the fact the medical staff taped him up and gave him the okay to try the ankle out again is a good sign. It means there isn’t anything seriously structurally hurt with the ankle. He likely suffered an ankle sprain that only will only leave him sidelined a week or two if he misses any time at all.
It has been hard starting any Baltimore Ravens running back so far this year, including Mark Ingram. There has been a revolving door of running backs that the Ravens use each and every week. After Ingram was unable to continue, Gus Edwards saw the most touches of any running back with 14 rushes. Those 14 rushes led to a total of only 26 yards. Rookie J.K. Dobbins out rushed Edwards with 28 yards on only 9 rushes. Baltimore has a bye week in week seven, giving Ingram an extra week of rest.
If by surprise Ingram misses the week eight game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, I will stay away from Ravens running backs. If Ingram plays week eight against the Steelers, I will also stay away from Ravens running backs. In other words, Ingram’s injury doesn’t mean anything when it comes to the next couple of weeks. Don’t start them against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Zach Ertz, Tight End for Philadelphia Eagles
The Zach Ertz downfall continues this season. So far this season Ertz has a total of 24 catches for 178 yards. Good for the TE20 in standard leagues. Ertz managers have been incredibly disappointed with their tight end this year, who they needed to spend up on in fantasy drafts this offseason. To add salt to the wound, Ertz left Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens early with an ankle injury. Reports came out Monday that the Eagles expect to miss Ertz for 3-4 weeks. Like Miles Sanders, the specifics of this injury have not been revealed. The time table lines up with the time table of a high ankle sprain. Whatever the injury is, we know he is gonna miss time.
New York Giants have been great to start fantasy players against. We know no matter what the status of Ertz is there will be some fantasy points had for Philadelphia Eagles skill position players. Who are those players with all the injuries? Luckily, there has been a chance that Alshon Jeffery and Desean Jackson could come back for a week or two now. Jeffery has been limited in practice for a couple weeks now, leaving the door open for a Thursday night football return. Jackson is expected to return to the lineup Thursday as well.
Dynasty Rankings
I would be hesitant to start Jeffery in his return if he does even with the depleted Eagles roster. Travis Fulgham continues to impress in his time as the starting wide receiver. If all wide receivers are healthy, Fulgham seems to slot in next to Jeffery and Jackson in the starting lineup. Since he is the only one without an injury history and has shown rapport with Wentz, I would still consider Fulgham in my lineups.
With Ertz out for a period of time, it’s time to move on. He has been bad this year, borderline droppable, and now he is out for 3-4 weeks? Ertz has been consistently amazing in the years past, but the past is the past and Ertz is not a reliable fantasy player anymore. Unfortunately, Dallas Goedert is out injured as well or else he would be a must start in all lineups. The Eagles have only Richard Rodgers and former 4th round wide receiver Hakeem Butler at tight end. Rodgers is not a fantasy player that fantasy managers should run to the waiver wires to acquire.
Jonnu Smith, Tight End for Tennessee Titans
After a fantastic start to the season, Jonnu Smith was held in check on Sunday against the Houston Texans. After his only catch of the game, Smith left the game with an ankle injury. Smith was seen doing sprints on the sideline before officially calling it a day. Like Mark Ingram, this gives me hope for a quick recovery. If the ankle had something severely wrong, Jonnu Smith wouldn’t have been running up and down the sidelines testing the ankle out. It was later reported that Smith’s ankle injury is a minor injury and is labeled as questionable for week seven. Monitor practice reports this week to see if Smith is even a limited participant in practices. If Jonnu Smith gets even just one limited participant label in practice this week, I feel confident that Smith will play this week.
Even though I believe Smith plays this week, there is a small possibility that he doesn’t play. If he doesn’t play, Anthony Firkser will take over snaps at the tight end position for the Titans. Is Firkser a sneaky start at the tight end position in week seven if Smith doesn’t play? Nope. The Titans play the Pittsburgh Steelers in week seven. The Steelers did allow a team leading 5 receptions for 52 yards to Austin Hooper. Are you really excited about Hooper’s game this week? Nope. Hooper is a far better tight end then Anthony Firkser is so there should be no excitement to play Firkser this week.
However, if Jonnu Smith plays this week, you have to play him. With the tight end landscape this year, there isn’t really an option to replace Smith in a lineup. The best game a tight end has had on the Steelers this year is Noah Fant in week two with four receptions for 57 yards and a touchdown. That’s it. Smith has been great this year so far, but don’t expect a huge game if he plays.
Raheem Mostert, Running Back for the San Francisco 49ers
This isn’t the first time Mostert has popped up on this injury report article. Earlier in the year, Mostert hurt his knee. This week, Mostert hurt his ankle. Mostert suffered a high ankle sprain suffered on Sunday night against the Los Angeles Rams. It has already been reported that the 49ers are considering placing Mostert on IR. Placement on IR means he will miss at least three weeks. High ankle sprains aren’t fun and even fellow teammate Jimmy Garoppolo has missed multiple weeks with a high ankle sprain. Fantasy managers get ready for a Mostert absence.
With Mostert out, we have seen Jerrick McKinnon play really well. I expect the same from McKinnon as long as he and Jeff Wilson Jr. are the only healthy running backs left on the team. If McKinnon is out on the waiver wire, snag him as fast as you can. McKinnon had a bad week in week five leaving fantasy managers sour on him and possibly dropping him. He had a bad game due to Mostert’s return to the lineup. Now that Mostert’s back out again, McKinnon will receive a heavy workload and turn it into fantasy relevant weeks. Check your waiver wire and if McKinnon is there, pick him up.
