Talking injuries with Dr. Jesse Morse and wide receivers to avoid and target in 2019 fantasy football.
Odell Beckham Jr. - Cleveland Browns
Has played one full 16-game season, missed four games with quad last year, shattered his ankle in 2017. Missed a full 16 games over the last two years. Sports Injury Predictor has him slated as the highest injury risk in 2019 - 7.38 games.
A.J. Green - Cincinnati Bengals
Played in 9 games last year. He aggravated his groin early on didn't miss any time, then injured his toe halfway through the season, missed a bunch of games, tried to return in Week 13, re-aggravated the toe, got carted off and underwent season-ending surgery for torn ligaments in his toe. He shed his walking boot in February, they are planning on easing him into OTAs, there are talks of extensions for him.
So, Green will be turning 31 at the end of July, he's missed 4 or more games in 3 of the last 5 season, he hasn't hit 1,300 receiving yards since 2013.
Should we be concerned for Green this year from an injury standpoint? Seems like he'll be ready to roll by the summer, but maybe there's something we don't know here and his older age?
Marvin Jones - Detroit Lions
Jones went under the knife after suffering a painful bone bruise in his right knee last year. The injury cost Jones the final seven games of 2018, though it looks like he'll be all systems go for Detroit's offseason program.
Prior to this, Jones had missed just one game in the last four seasons. Before getting hurt he was on pace for nearly 1,000 receiving yards, 8-9 TDs, I think Jones is one of the more underrated WRs in fantasy this year.
He just turned 29, so he's still got a few years of his prime in the league. Is there something more to this surgery? You usually don't hear about a season-ending surgery from a bone bruise, right?
Cooper Kupp - Los Angeles Rams
Kupp gets out to this phenomenal start in 2018, then he sprained his MCL in Week 6, misses a few games, returns and tears his ACL in Week 10 which is around mid-November.
All reports have him making good progress, rehab is where it's supposed to be, still, that's a tight timetable.
McVay said the goal for Cooper Kupp is to be ready for Week 1. Originally he said training camp a few weeks back, but it's Week 1. Makes sense, given Kupp is clearly a big part of this offense - they're not going to rush him or throw him into meaningless pre-season.
But, are you concerned that if he doesn't participate in training camp, or play any preseason ball that his re-injury risk is higher? Or a really slow start? How are we feeling about Kupp who will probably be the last of the 3 LAR WRs drafted in fantasy drafts this year?
Sammy Watkins - Kansas City Chiefs
Watkins played in his usual 10 games last year with a foot injury, seems to be a constant theme throughout his career. He missed the last five games of the regular season, but he returned in the playoffs going 6-62 against the Colts and then 4-114 versus the Pats, 8 targets in both games, so clearly when he's on the field he's a part of this offense.
And with the whole Tyreek Hill thing going on, Watkins could potentially take on a massive role in the offense this year without Hill. But from an injury standpoint, is this foot thing something we should expect to keep popping back up - what are the chances we're getting 14+ games from Watkins in 2019?
Will Fuller - Houston Texans
Hamstring injury early on in 2018, then tore his ACL in October. He missed two games his rookie year, 6 games in 2017, then 9 games last year. Lots of hamstring issues, knee, broken collarbone, cracked ribs, more hamstring.
Everyone loves Will Fuller when he's on the field, but can you draft him in season-long leagues, or is it not even worth it, or just stick to bestball when it comes to Fuller? Sports Injury Predictor has him right up there with OBJ as someone projected to miss between 6-7 games in 2019.
Doug Baldwin - Seattle Seahawks
You couldn't put enough space between myself and Doug Baldwin this year. (Pick 92 on DRAFT). Came into last year hurt, he literally told us he was hurt, and certainly played like it. Re-injured himself, groin, hip injuries.
This offseason, he's undergone knee, shoulder and now in April, sports hernia surgery which will sideline him a couple of months, there's no timetable for return, he'll miss OTAs most likely. He's gonna turn 31 this year, he was a shell of himself last year - people will remember the one game against KC that he went 7-126-1 because it was a shootout with nearly 70 points scored, but look at the games around that 32 yards, 27, 22, 77, 39, 52, 39, 26.
It's a run-heavy offense, Tyler Lockett is arguably a better weapon at this point.
All of these offseason surgeries have to scare you off Baldwin right?
Emmanuel Sanders - Denver Broncos
A torn achilles for Emmanuel Sanders is not a good look for a 32-year-old. Sanders, like Baldwin is another vet I'm staying far away from (Baldwin 92, Sanders pick 93 on DRAFT). He was a guy I absolutely loved going into last season - it was the perfect storm. DThomas was deteriorating, and they had Case Keenum who literally, no matter who is there, targets the slot on like 38% of his throw.
There are a lot of moving parts at play here, and almost all of them point to staying really far away from Sanders. He'll be 9 months removed from the torn achilles during Week 1, which we know to be a notoriously hard injury to return from effectively. Again, his 32, makes it even harder to return from these serious injuries. Joe Flacco is the QB, Keenum being gone will be a hit - we saw even when Sanders was out and DaeSean Hamilton occupied the slot he was seeing really hard target totals. It's an offense that's finding it's footing and will be looking to test out the pieces it has between Hamilton, Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick. If anything Sanders will serve as sort of a mentor.
**Draft a QB?** - rebuilding offense.
Anthony Miller - Chicago Bears
Miller a guy I absolutely loved last year, he scored 7 touchdowns as a rookie basically playing with one shoulder since Week 2 or 3. He underwent surgery this offseason on the shoulder - what do we know about the surgery and is it anything that should affect him in 2019? Because Taylor Gabriel completely flamed out last year and I would love to see Miller in a bigger role at full health.
Marquise Brown - Lisfranc
Had surgery in January:
1 comment
That’s a great article