NFL DFS Injury Summary: Reviewing Week 7
Injuries are a big part of daily fantasy sports on DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo. NFL DFS requires us to know the status of every player, and it’s important that we keep tabs on them for a number of reasons. Each week in NFL DFS will undoubtedly bring new injuries to the forefront, and in this article we will look back and discuss how last week’s injuries will impact this week’s projections and projected ownership. Let’s review the NFL DFS landscape and see who we will need to adjust for in the coming slates. All of the relevant injuries here will appear in our NFL DFS Injury Report each week.
- Build DFS Lineups Like a Pro!
- Access to Content and LineupHQ
- NFL, NBA, MLB and PGA
Today’s NFL DFS Top Injury Report from Week 7
Chris Carson
NFL Team: Seattle Seahawks
Position: RB
Injury Type: foot (sprain)
Next Week Status: questionable/doubtful
Expected To Miss: TBD based on results of Monday’s MRI
Carson left last night’s shootout against Arizona with a foot sprain. And it sounds like it’s not going to be a question of if he misses time but instead how much time he misses.
Assuming Carson is out at least this week against San Francisco, Carlos Hyde and Travis Homer are the next men up in the Seattle backfield. Although it is also worth noting that Homer tweaked his knee in last night’s game, so his status is worth monitoring as well.
While all of these Seattle running back options behind Carson are priced extremely cheap on the Week 8 main slate (for example, Hyde is $5,00 on FD and $5,300 on DK), the matchup against San Francisco is a very difficult one. Even before completely shutting down the Patriots offense yesterday, this defense ranked seventh in Rush Defense DVOA and was allowing only 16.58 fantasy points per game to opposing running backs.
Throw in the fact that Seattle would probably handle Carson’s absence more by committee than by turning it over to just one guy, and I think it is likely that we find better options in this price range by the time the Week 8 games roll around.
Odell Beckham
NFL Team: Cleveland Browns
Position: WR
Injury Type: knee
Next Week Status: doubtful
Expected To Miss: TBD based on results of Monday’s MRI
While the team has declined to give any insight as of yet in regards to what kind of injury Odell is looking at here, there are already reports indicating that it is pretty serious. So the Browns are most likely heading into Week 8 against the Raiders without their top wide receiver and top running back (Chubb continues to remain out with his own knee injury).
These injuries to their top two guys—and an elite matchup against the Raiders—should lead to some promising fantasy outlooks for some of these other Browns players. Just like he was in Week 7, we already know Kareem Hunt will be in play again. And for what it’s worth, he is still priced below $7,000 on DraftKings ($6,900 to be exact).
But these other pass-catchers are going to have to step up too. I’m looking at you Jarvis Landry ($5,800 FD; $5,600 DK) and Rashard Higgins ($5,500 FD; $4,200 DK). And it remains to be seen who will be TE1 for the Browns in Week 8 too. Will Austin Hooper be back from his appendectomy? Or will it be Harrison Bryant week once again?
As alluded to above, this matchup against the Raiders appears to be fantasy gold too. Prior to giving up 45 points to the Tom-pa Bay Buccaneers yesterday, the Raiders were already second to last in overall Defense DVOA.
An early look ahead to Week 8 has the Browns as -3 in a game with a 55.5 o/u. With these cheap price tags and all of this opportunity up for grabs, it is safe to say that the Browns are going to make for some popular DFS options come Sunday.
Diontae Johnson
NFL Team: Pittsburgh Steelers
Position: WR
Injury Type: ankle
Next Week Status: probable
Expected To Miss: hopeful to play in Week 8
While Johnson said after the game that “he’s good”, we’ll still want to monitor his status throughout the week. Sometimes that is just what players say to the media after the game regardless of how they feel, and sometimes they actually really do think they are fine because the adrenaline hasn’t worn off yet. But as of now, it does seem like Johnson is on track to suit up for Week 8 against the Ravens.
Why do we care whether or not Johnson plays? Well for starters, he himself balls out whenever he plays. He has basically played three full games this season (yesterday, Week 1, and Week 2), sat out one entirely (Week 6), and left two others rather early due to injury (Week 3 and Week 5). His stats in those three games he played in?
38 targets (!!!), 23 receptions, 229 yards, 3 touchdowns
I’d say that’s pretty decent!
But if he happens to be out in Week 8, Chase Claypool is obviously ready to step in. When Johnson left that game early in Week 5, Claypool responded with a week-winning fantasy performance (7 receptions on 11 targets, 110 yards receiving, 3 TD…and another rushing TD for good measure). When Johnson was out in Week 6, Claypool caught all four of his targets for 74 yards. And again, he added a rushing TD in that game as well.
Assuming Johnson does suit up for Week 8, I am rather intrigued to see what his Projected Ownership looks like in such a difficult matchup against the Ravens. They are coming off their bye week and were ranked fourth in overall Defense DVOA prior to the Week 7 games. But then again, Johnson is still just $5,500 on DraftKings…
- Build DFS Lineups Like a Pro!
- Access to Content and LineupHQ
- NFL, NBA, MLB and PGA