If you have someone who was an injury concern in the preseason, the odds are they are trending in the right direction for Week 1. Luther Burden, Tyler Warren, D'Andre Swift, and Kyle Monangai are off the injury report. Ashton Jeanty, Malik Nabers, and Breece Hall were full participants. Jeremiyah Love, Alec Pierce, Jonathon Brooks, Zay Flowers, and Emeka Egbuka were limited, but their teams are optimistic they will play in Week 1. As of now, we project that all of them will play in Week 1, and most will receive their regular workload.
In this space, each week we will discuss how we are handling the most prominent injury concerns.
So what injuries are affecting Fantasy managers? We cover the latest on Brock Bowers, Tua Tagovailoa, and all of the latest injuries. Let's start with the biggest surprise of the week.
Brock Bowers is out, pick up Michael Mayer
The one certainty we have gotten from this week's injury reports is that Brock Bowers will not play in Week 1 and could miss Week 2 as well. The easy answer here is just pick up Michael Mayer. Mayer saw a 24% target share and averaged 10.6 PPR Fantasy points per game in four games without Bowers last year. As of Wednesday afternoon, he is still only rostered in 22% of leagues. I project Mayer for five catches for 45 yards on seven targets and would start him over Dallas Goedert, Juwan Johnson, Harold Fannin, Travis Kelce, and George Kittle in full PPR leagues. This is also a boost for Tre Tucker, who moves from a desperation flex to a boom/bust WR3. With Jeanty's full participation, he could also see a boost in targets and is a borderline RB1 against the Dolphins this week.
Keep expectations low for Jeremiyah Love
We are projecting Love to play this week, though we aren't projecting him for a workhorse role by any stretch. Allgeier is listed as the starter, which wouldn't mean nearly as much if Love wasn't coming off a high ankle sprain. Ideally, I don't want to start either Cardinals running back in a game where they have an implied total of 18.75 and are 9.5-point underdogs. If you have to, Love is the clear option because of what he could do in the passing game. I am projecting 14 touches for 63 yards for Love and 10 touches for 42 yards for Allgeier. Allgeier is likely to handle short-yardage duties.
Sorting out the Colts' passing game
- Tight end Tyler Warren (groin): Off injury report
- Wide receiver Alec Pierce (heel): Limited Thursday
- Wide receiver Josh Downs (calf): Off injury report
Pierce, Warren and Downs all had injury concerns this preseason. As of Thursday, we are expecting all three to play in Week 1. I project Warren to lead the team with a 22% target share, with Downs at 21% and Pierce at 19%. This is at least partially because we don't know how limited Pierce will be in his first action. I would view Warren as a must-start tight end, while Downs and Pierce are both borderline WR3s. Downs has a higher floor, Pierce has more upside because of his downfield ability. The thorn in the side could be Keenan Allen, who has earned at least 120 targets each of the past two seasons in more talented receiving rooms.
Rome Odunze logs back-to-back limited sessions
Odunze has a calf injury, and Friday's injury report will be key for him. As of now, we project Odunze to play, but like he has been all offseason, he is our fourth favorite Bear to start behind Colston Loveland, Luther Burden, and D'Andre Swift. Odunze's status probably won't change any lineup decisions other than his own; we view the other three as starts with or without him. If Odunze gets a full practice in on Friday, he'll be a high-upside WR3 in my rankings. If he's a true gametime decision, then I will move him down into the mid-30s in the rankings and give Burden and Loveland a small target boost. Caleb Williams would be slightly less appealing, but still a start, if Odunze is out.
Bucky Irving could benefit from injured teammate
You would like to think Sean Tucker wouldn't matter to Irving. After all, Irving is already sharing with Kenneth Gainwell, who we expect to dominate passing downs. But Tucker had nine carries inside the 5-yard line last year to zero for Irving. If Irving is losing passing downs and short yardage, it is hard to like him as an RB2, even in a shootout with the Bengals. Tucker returned to practice on a limited basis on Thursday, signaling this one could go down to the wire. If Tucker plays, I would view Irving as a borderline RB2 and Gainwell as a fine flex. If Tucker is out, the touchdown odds increase for both of the other running backs, and Irving becomes a solid RB2 while Gainwell becomes a high-end flex. Stay tuned.
Tua Tagovailoa's status in question for Sunday
Cooper Rush apparently took all the first-team reps after Tagovailoa went down in practice with what was initially deemed a back injury but later classified as an oblique issue, as Michael Penix is still not ready to play. Some were downgrading London without Penix, but I didn't really have any concerns. If Rush is indeed the starter, it will be a downgrade for the entire Falcons' passing offense. We'll definitely need to wait until Friday's report before taking any drastic measures, but my early thought is that London would be a low-end WR2 with Rush at quarterback, Pitts would fall outside my top eight tight ends, and Bijan Robinson would remain a must-start running back. Rush played one full game for the Ravens last year and threw for 179 yards, zero touchdowns, and three interceptions.
Jakobi Meyers still in non-contact jersey
Meyers is still not a full go for the Jaguars, and this could clear up a pretty crowded receiving room. As of now, we have Meyers projected to play, which makes Parker Washington a borderline WR2, Brian Thomas a boom/bust WR3, and Brenton Strange a bench tight end. If Meyer can't go this week, Washington would become a must-start option, and Thomas would become a borderline WR2. Travis Hunter could get some extra offensive run in this situation as well, but it would be hard to start him as anything other than an upside flex. Strange would be in the streaming conversation if Meyers can't play.
