Week 8 Injury Report
What a crazy week of football week eight was! Who would have guessed the Mike White led Jets beat the surprising Cincinnati Bengals or the preseason Super Bowl contending Cleveland Browns getting beat in typical AFC North fashion to a team people loved to hate on in the preseason? Either way, it’s the NFL and anything can happen. Just like any other week, week 8 had some serious injuries. Here is your week eight injury report.
Derrick Henry, Running Back, Tennessee Titans
The iron man himself may have gone down for an extended period of time. It was noted earlier in Sunday’s game against the Colts that Henry was on the sideline with his cleat off and surrounded by medical staff. He returned to the game and rushed the ball a total of 28 times. So all is okay right? Nope. Turns out Henry broke the 5th metatarsal of his foot during the game and played through it. What a beast. Unfortunately, the 5th metatarsal is an important bone when it comes to weight bearing. It requires surgery and the usual timeline is around 8 to 10 weeks. This unfortunately means fantasy managers will be without Derrick Henry for the rest of the year.
Who picks up the slack for a missing Derrick Henry? The real answer may be nobody. Nobody in the league is as dominant as Henry. In wake of the news, the Tennessee Titans picked up Adrian Peterson. Will Adrian Peterson be fantasy relevant? Maybe, but I wouldn’t put all my eggs in the basket of 36 year old Adrian Peterson. Jeremy McNichols is the next back up. McNichols is worth a stash but he won’t nearly be the same fantasy player as Henry is. The main question mark to me is what does this do to Ryan Tannehill’s fantasy outlook? Tannehill’s bread and butter is play action efficiency. Play action won’t be as effective as teams won’t be stacking the box to stop Derrick Henry. However, the Titans may turn to a more pass happy offense which the increase in volume may help Tannehill fantasy wise. We will have to wait and see but for now Tannehill remains a streaming option.
Jameis Winston, Quarterback, New Orleans Saints
I can’t help but to feel bad for Jameis Winston. He finally gets his chance this year to show he can win and was worth a top pick in the draft only to tear his ACL with additional MCL damage. The tackle on him was a borderline horse collar tackle that twisted his knee in a very awkward way. Unfortunately, the MRI confirmed what everyone feared and Winston will miss the rest of the year.
Trevor Siemian was Winston’s replacement in this game and did fairly well in relief. However, Siemian was only in the game since Hill, the original backup Quarterback, sustained a fairly significant concussion a couple of weeks prior. Head Coach Sean Payton is optimistic Hill can pass concussion protocol, and if he does Hill becomes the starter. Alvin Kamara is locked and loaded no matter what and should be played regardless of who is playing quarterback. As for pass catchers for the Saints, none can be trusted no matter who is at Quarterback. They were hard to trust when Winston was at Quarterback. Hill will be a startable Quarterback due to his rushing upside. Keep track of practice reports to follow Hill’s status.
Kyler Murray, Quarterback, Arizona Cardinals
Murray has been on a tear this year and arguably in the lead of the NFL MVP race. The Cardinals lost their first game on Thursday night against the Green Bay Packers and may lose their starting Quarterback for a game. Kyler Murray was diagnosed with a medial ankle sprain after Thursday’s loss. Medial ankle sprains are different then regular “ankle sprains” and may take a week or two to heal enough to be able to play. Even though it isn’t out of the picture for Murray to play Sunday against the 49ers, I would expect the Cardinals to keep Murray out for the week and hope he returns the following.
Veteran Quarterback Colt McCoy would replace Murray if he were to miss any time. McCoy is a veteran who knows how to target his best pass catcher. This gives me confidence that DeAndre Hopkins is still a solid fantasy option even if McCoy plays. Another layer to the situation is when Murray returns, will he be as effective as he was before the injury. Murray is a top fantasy quarterback due to both his passing and rushing. With this injury, the rushing upside may be limited. He should and will always be started when healthy, but fantasy managers should take into consideration his future as a rushing quarterback.
Robert Tonyan, Tight End, Green Bay Packers
Another Thursday night injury, this one being season ending. Tonyan went down with a knee injury during Thursday’s game against the Cardinals. It was later reported that he officially tore his ACL and will miss the remainder of the season. This is a blow to a passing offense that has had a revolving door of pass catchers due to various reasons. Aaron Rodgers will be without his tight end for the rest of the season.
Tonyan was only a streaming level tight end this year. If a fantasy manager was relying on Tonyan, they were already in trouble. Now Marcedes Lewis is not a fantasy option and won’t ever be. Tight Ends in Green Bay are untouchable. The only player that truly benefits from this situation for fantasy would be Randall Cobb. Majority of the targets in the middle of the field that Tonyan once got, may be given to Cobb, one of Rodgers trusted targets. Cobb, however, is a dart throw nowadays but worth a stash on fantasy benches to see what the offense looks like without Tonyan.
