NFL Offensive/Defensive Line Injury Impact: Week 9
Each week we will provide a game-by-game breakdown of offensive and defensive line injuries and what that impact they may have for DFS purposes._
Week 9
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Sunday Games
Chicago @ Buffalo
Chicago Breakdown
Offensive Lineman – Kyle Long (O)
Defense – Khalil Mack (Q) Bilal Nichols (Q)
Buffalo Breakdown
Offensive Lineman – None
Defense – Trent Murphy (O) Tremaine Edmunds (Q)
Fantasy Impact:
The Bears will be without Kyle Long due to a foot injury that might have him headed to the IR. On the bright side, potential defensive player of the year Khalil Mack was able to practice this week and is questionable. We will have to see how the line holds up with Long out, but the impact should not be anything too drastic.
The Bills remain pretty healthy overall, but there are a couple of key players on the defensive side of the ball who might miss this game. Murphy has already been ruled out and Edmunds was unable to practice due to concussion. This should be a game that Chicago controls on both sides of the ball, but I remember thinking the same thing a few weeks back with their game against the Vikings.
Kansas City @ Cleveland
Kansas City Breakdown
Offensive Lineman – Mitch Morse (O)
Defense – Eric Berry (D) Anthony Hitchens (Q) Justin Houston (Q)
Cleveland Breakdown
Offensive Lineman – Desmond Harrison (Q) J.C. Tretter (Q)
Defense – Damarious Randall (Q) Tavierre Thomas (Q)
Fantasy Impact:
The Chiefs are completely beat up on the offensive line, with Morse out again and two other starters already on IR and a backup joining them as well. It has yet to show from a fantasy aspect because Mahomes has been great under pressure.
The Browns will likely be without two lineman this week as neither Harrison or Tretter have practiced despite the questionable tag. They also have some questions in the secondary with Randall not practicing and Thomas limited. I expect both teams to pressure the QB in this one.
New York Jets @ Miami
New York Breakdown
Offensive Lineman – None
Defense – Steve McLendon (Q) Trumaine Johnson (D)
Miami Breakdown
Offensive Lineman – None
Defense – Xavien Howard (Q)
Fantasy Impact:
New York is finally getting healthy in the secondary, with the lone player to remain on the injury report is Trumaine Johnson, who is doubtful with a quad. This is about as healthy as the defense has been in a while and I would not be surprised to see them perform well.
Miami continues to be pretty healthy overall, and even though Howard is listed as questionable, he is likely to go considering we saw him practicing in full this week.
Detroit @ Minnesota
Detroit Breakdown
Offensive Lineman – T.J. Lang (Q)
Defense – Ziggy Ansah (Q) Darious Slay (Q) Jalen Reeves-Maybin (D)
Minnesota Breakdown
Offensive Lineman – Tom Compton (O) Riley Reiff (Q)
Defense – Xavier Rhodes (Q) Andrew Sendejo (Q) Anthony Barr (O)
Fantasy Impact:
Detroit has the usual suspects here with Lang and Ansah, but an under the radar stud has also been limited in Darious Slay. If he is unable to go, that should have a pretty sizable affect considering the way this defense is built around his ability to shutdown the opposition. Minnesota already likes to throw the ball, and if Slay sits, I would bump up all of the skill guys you were considering here for Minnesota.
Minnesota will be without one lineman and possibly two if Reiff, who is limited with a foot injury, is unable to go. Possibly a bigger issue here is the status of Xavier Rhodes, who has also been limited by a foot injury. We need to keep an eye out for inactives here as they could shift the balance of the game with a couple key defenders possibly sitting.
Atlanta @ Washington
Atlanta Breakdown
Offensive Lineman – None
Defense – Robert Alford (O)
Washington Breakdown
Offensive Lineman – Trent Williams (O)
Defense – Montae Nicholson (Q)
Fantasy Impact:
Remember that while we only have one player show up on the report for Atlanta this week, it’s a total of four starters on defense and two offensive lineman that will not play due to IR and the injury to Alford. This team has been hit by injuries as hard as any team in the league and it has showed defensively.
The Redskins are not without injury as starting tackle Trent Williams is out due to a thumb injury and starting safety Montae Nicholson has been limited due to a neck injury.
Tampa Bay @ Carolina
Tampa Bay Breakdown
Offensive Lineman – None
Defense – Vinny Curry (Q) Gerald McCoy (Q)
Carolina Breakdown
Offensive Lineman – None
Defense – None
Fantasy Impact:
With three defensive starters on IR, it looks like the Bucs are going to see both McCoy and Curry return this week, as they were able to practice in full. It will certainly help them out, but they are still a team to pick on.
The Panthers have a clean sheet in terms of this article and are playing some of their best football heading into a matchup against a defense that they should be able to exploit a bit.
Pittsburgh @ Baltimore
Pittsburgh Breakdown
Offensive Lineman – Marcus Gilbert (D)
Defense – Artie Burns (Q) Coty Sensabaugh (Q)
Baltimore Breakdown
Offensive Lineman – Ronnie Stanley (O) Alex Lewis (Q) James Hurst (O)
Defense – C.J. Mosley (Q) Tony Jefferson (Q) Marlon Humphrey (Q)
Fantasy Impact:
The Steelers are likely to be without Gilbert here as a non participant in practice this week. We want to keep an eye out for the inactives, as the secondary could be a little thin if Burns and/or Sensabaugh miss this one.
Baltimore will be sporting a patchwork offensive line again and it is enough to make me interested in this Pittsburgh defense as pressure should be applied on the regular. We will have to see how the inactives look on the defense, but there is potential this game gets ugly if we have a couple of these guys missing as well.
Houston @ Denver
Houston Breakdown
Offensive Lineman – None
Defense – Zach Cunningham (O) Jadeveon Clowney (Q) Aaron Colvin (O) Andre Hal (Q) Johnathan Joseph (Q)
Denver Breakdown
Offensive Lineman – None
Defense – Brandon Marshall (O) Bradley Roby (O) Darian Stewart (O)
Fantasy Impact:
Houston is dealing with quite a bit on the defensive side of the ball as all listed players were limited in practice and stand a chance to miss this game. I like the Denver offense a bit more if we see a few of them sit here.
The Broncos are without three key starters on the defensive side of the ball this week and it will be interesting to see how the newly acquired WR does against his old team. Fire up some Texans in your tournament lineups as they should be able to move the ball here.
Los Angeles Chargers @ Seattle
Los Angeles Breakdown
Offensive Lineman – None
Defense – Joey Bosa (O)
Seattle Breakdown
Offensive Lineman – None
Defense – Bradley McDougald (Q) K.J. Wright (Q)
Fantasy Impact:
Same story different week for Bosa. The more important news is that the rest of the squad has recovered and we have a healthy Chargers team for the moment. Seattle has been a little tougher on defense than I expected but Los Angeles has a pretty stacked offense that can hurt you in a number of ways.
The Seahawks are basically rolling the same unit we have seen for several weeks now and the fantasy impact is next to nothing with this injury report.
Los Angeles Rams @ New Orleans
Los Angeles Breakdown
Offensive Lineman – None
Defense – Sam Shields (Q)
New Orleans Breakdown
Offensive Lineman – None
Defense – Marcus Davenport (O)
Fantasy Impact:
The Rams have been one of the luckiest teams in the league when it comes to injuries at the halfway mark and that is still the case here. They are who we think they are.
New Orleans comes into the week with a similar situation being completely healthy outside of some defensive line depth missing in Davenport. We are going to see two of the best teams in the league with nearly flawless injury reports just like it should be.