Injuries…they’re part of the game. At my age, I know all about them. I strained my wrist the other day after going to the bathroom. What can I say, heavy lifting. Here are the league’s biggest injuries this season and the players meant to replace them.
ALL-INJURY TEAM
QUARTERBACK – Russell Wilson, SEA | Rich B
Officially, Wilson hasn’t missed any time this year, but he’s certainly struggled with both a high ankle sprain and an MCL sprain. He just hasn’t been the same player. He’s currently ranked 23rd among quarterbacks, averaging only 208 fantasy points per game.
REPLACEMENT: Again, Wilson hasn’t actually missed a game, but Rich has benched him twice (once because of a bye) and the results have not worked out well. Trevor Siemian and Ryan Tannehill combined to score 80 points. Not averaged 80 points per game, but they totaled 80 points in two games.
RUNNING BACK – Adrian Peterson, MIN | GRIFF
Peterson, coming off a 1st team All-Robio award in 2015, was kept by Griff in the first round. That proved to be a waste. Peterson played in just six quarters, six awful quarters where he had 31 carries for 50 yards before tearing his meniscus and going on the IR.
REPLACEMENT: For the most part, Griff has relied on Isaiah Crowell, who hasn’t been terrible. In fact, the Browns back is having his best season ever (currently ranked 12th). Averaging a solid 5.2 yards per carry and he’s on pace for 1,131 yards.
The problem is, he’s not really involved in the passing game and Cleveland is often in comeback mode. To give himself more options, Griff shipped off Matt Ryan for Jonathan Stewart. The Panthers running back hasn’t played much this season (finishing only two games), but has looked decent enough when healthy. In fact, he scored 290 in a week six win for Griff.
RUNNING BACK – Jamaal Charles, KC | ROBIO
There’s always a risk when you take a running back coming back from an ACL injury, but I had no idea it would be this bad. The Chiefs are taking no chances and they simply haven’t let Charles play. He didn’t play in the season’s for three weeks and since then, he’s only gotten 13 carries for 40 yards. From this point on, if he continues to play football this year, he’s going to be labeled questionable each week.
REPLACEMENT: I actually drafted the wrong handcuff in the draft, but luckily for me, I was able to pick up Spencer Ware. Without him, my season would have ended real soon. The Chiefs running back has dominated. He’s on pace for 2,072 total yards, aiming for a first-team All-Robio award, but… Yep, there is always a but. But if Jamaal Charles gets in the way, it could be a problem. At this point, I need the Chiefs to shut Jamaal Charles down. The last thing I need is for him to step in and turn this into a timeshare. Ware is the elite back that allows me to compete.
WIDE RECEIVER – Keenan Allen, SD | BOB
Six catches, 63 yards…season over. Allen couldn’t even survive the season’s first game. I feel so bad for the guy, because he has the potential to be one of the best receivers in football. He’s going to end up missing 23 games over the last two seasons.
REPLACEMENT: Bob had some decent options on his bench, starting with the obvious choice, Travis Benjamin. He also had rookie Corey Coleman, who did show some promise before getting hurt. Yet, Bob set out the replace his entire receiving core. He traded for Julio Jones and was able to grab Michael Crabtree from the wire. The first is the league’s top wide receiver, while the latter is currently the 9th best pair of hands in fantasy.
WIDE RECEIVER – Dez Bryant, DAL | ROB M
Coming off a season where he played in just nine games, it might be time to start thinking Dez as brittle. He made it through two and a half games and hasn’t been seen since. On the year, he’s produced just 11 catches for 150 yards. At least he’s due back this Sunday night against the Eagles.
REPLACEMENT: Rob has used a combination of Terrelle Pryor, Jeremy Maclin and Cameron Meredith, but none have really panned out, as Rob sat Pryor the one week he really dominated. In the four weeks Bryant has been gone, Rob has only gotten 91.5 points per game from his WR2 spot.
TIGHT END – Rob Gronkowski, NE | RICH B
As of now, there have not been any major injuries at the tight end spot. Antonio Gates missed a pair of games and it seems like he’s no longer Philip Rivers favorite tight end. Jordan Reed missed a couple of contests, which is what Jordan Reed does. Tyler Eifert has only played one game this season, but that was expected.
Rob Gronkowski’s injury was a bit of a surprise, as he missed the season’s first two games, then struggled in weeks three and four, getting only three targets, one catch for 11 yards. Yet, he’s healthy now and with Brady back, Gronk is back to being the league’s best tight end and is on the verge of scoring his 69th career touchdowns, something that really is exciting him.
REPLACEMENT: Burrier was not prepared to lose Gronk in week one, so he had to spend $10 to pick up Jared Cook that Sunday. He ended up getting 1.4 fantasy points for each dollar spent, as Cook had just one catch for 14 yards. In week two, Clive Walford delivered 160 fantasy points (thanks to a 31-yard TD). Over the next two weeks, Burrier decided to struggle along with Gronk (again, catching one ball in those two contests).
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
THOMAS RAWLS, RB SEA | ERIC
Rawls entered the season with a high ceiling, but low floor, because we had no idea how healthy he was, recovering from a broken ankle. Well, Rawls has shown how low one can really go. He failed to make it through two games, before getting hurt. He had just 19 carries for 25 yards and would be lucky if he comes back and can get into a timeshare with Christine Michaels. Yet, Eric has been pretty successful so far forgetting about Rawls. He started with Theo Riddick and once he got hurt, Gio Bernard. These four have twice scored over 230 and have averaged 205.5 points per game.
JEREMY LANGFORD, RB CHI | ERIC (AGAIN)
Like Rawls above, Langford could have ended up being great or a tremendous bust and thanks to an ankle injury, it looks like it will be the latter. Fact is, Langford wasn’t that good when he was starting. In just two and a half games, the Bears’ back had just 117 yards, averaging only 3.5 yards per carry. At least, Eric was able to pick up his handcuff off the wire. Jordan Howard, scoring 650 fantasy points in his first two starts. Yet, he’s produced just 188 in his last two.
SAMMY WATKINS, WR BUF | ERIC (YET AGAIN)
With his history, no one would have been surprised if Watkins got hurt again in 2016 and he didn’t waste any time. He played two games, caught six balls and ended up on the IR with a foot injury. This guy is on his way to being the next Percy Harvin and that’s not a compliment. Luckily, Eric was prepared for this one. He had Larry Fitzgerald on his bench and all he’s done is put up solid numbers. He has 480 yards receiving and five scores, currently ranked 10th among all receivers.
DONTE MONCRIEF, WR IND | GRIFF
After a 733-yard, six touchdown 2015 season, Moncrief was a popular pick to become Andrew Luck’s favorite receiver. Instead, he failed to make it through week two, producing only 73 yards and one score. Originally, Griff replaced him with Michael Floyd, but he was just average at best, averaging 132 points per game. Yet, the next two weeks, free agent pick up Michael Thomas stepped up and delivered 216 and 260. Moncrief is back this week, but moving forward, Thomas may prove to be the better long-term solution at WR2.
DOUG MARTIN, RB TB | COLBY
Coming off a season where he led the league in rushing, Doug Martin was expected to help lead the Quarter Pounders back to the promise land. Instead, he went down in week two after just 85 yards rushing. Colby has used Trevor Coleman as a sub. He’s been amazingly inconsistent. During weeks 3-6, he put up: 358, 66, 386, 34. The latter two Colby guess wrong, benching him (for Terrance West) when he scored 386, but starting him again when he dropped to 34.
CHRIS IVORY, RB JAC | MATT
Expecting to battle for the second running back spot on Matt’s roster with Arian Foster, Ivory missed his first two games and never got his starting job in Jacksonville. This forced Matt to go three-wide and most recently, ship Julio Jones off for Todd Gurley.
ERIC DECKER, WR NYJ | COLBY
Having produced four straight 2,200 fantasy point seasons, Decker was a solid WR2 entering the season. He had a decent two games, 8-163-2, before having his season come to a close in week three.
ARIAN FOSTER, RB MIA | MATT
As expected, Foster just didn’t have the goods. After missing three games and producing just 22 carries and 55 yards, Foster gets to enjoy his Sunday’s just like Neatock, watching Jay Ajayi tear up the league at home on his couch.
DANNY WOODHEAD, RB SD | DON
He had a solid start to the season, producing 120 total yards and a score in week one. He made it through three carries in week two before his season ended. Since then, Don has used a combination of Matt Jones and James White to fill in the gap.
AMEER ABDULLAH, RB DET | MATT
The Lions’ running back was a bust last year, but had a solid start to the season when he delivered 300 fantasy points. He would deliver just 76 more, as he’s been out with a foot injury since week two and it’s unlikely he’ll return any time soon or at all this year.
EDDIE LACY, RB GB | MOLLY
Technically, losing Lacy hasn’t really effective Molly, since he didn’t miss his first game until week seven, but since we don’t know when he’ll be back, it could be the start of a big problem.