The Dynasty Doctor: Week Fourteen Injury Report

Scott Peak Posted On December 9, 2014

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Editor’s Note: Injuries are a huge part of winning and losing each year in fantasy leagues. Staying abreast of the injury situations is key as knowing what to expect from your players health-wise in the short term can help you make educated decisions in managing your team. Lucky for us, we have a Doctor in the house. Dr. Scott Peak is an ABPN board certified neurologist and neuro-oncologist. He is also a dynasty football addict and huge friend of Dynasty League Football. He’s excited to lend his expertise in medicine with hopes he may help the DLF Team and its followers better understand medical conditions and injuries that may impact NFL players and dynasty football owners.

If you have a question for The Dynasty Doctor, just click here. Please remember The Dynasty Doctor is geared towards questions regarding medical science, injuries to players and their collective impact in fantasy football. Stay tuned each week as we’ll post his thoughts each and every Tuesday.

Torrey Smith, WR BAL

Smith sustained a knee injury late last week, but was still active for the game. He reportedly experienced swelling before the game started, but still managed to remain active since the Ravens had already declared their inactive players before his knee swelled. He had zero targets, leaving fantasy teams in the cold. Reports are it is a knee sprain. The injury is bad timing for fantasy owners, given this is playoff time for most fantasy leagues. The fact Smith was able to remain active and play, even if not targeted, would suggest no major structural damage to his knee, but a knee sprain by definition is at least stretching of ligaments, if not microscopic tears. This is an injury with a recovery time that could take 1-2 weeks or longer, depending on the severity of it. Monitor his ability to practice, but it may be hard to trust Smith, even with a tasty match-up against the Jacksonville Jaguars week 15. Dynasty value for Smith is not impacted. He will be a free agent and managed to be a solid WR2 since week 6 this year. He could be a solid acquisition target for dynasty owners in the off-season.

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Julius Thomas, TE DEN

Thomas was active but didn’t play, and as a result, was yet another important player to give fantasy players a zero in the playoffs. He has now missed three weeks and this injury seems to be lingering. Peyton Manning sure wants him back, barely making it as a low-end QB2 the past two weeks. Like Torrey Smith, there has been positive press about Thomas, only to see him disappoint fantasy players on game day. Thomas did return to practice, but was limited this week. Head Coach John Fox felt like Thomas was close to being healed, so that’s good. Still, Thomas was active and didn’t play this week, so owners who started him got burned. Fantasy players may have to wait this one out and see if Thomas can increase his practice participation next week. Thomas has a history of ankle injuries and dynasty owners should take notice.

Andre Ellington, RB ARI

Ellington was placed on injured reserve, now with a sports hernia injury. Ellington recently had a hip injury and has been banged up all year. He concludes the 2014 season with 660 yards rushing, 3.3 YPC, 46 receptions, 395 receiving yards. and five touchdowns. Ellington seemed to be a disappointment to his fantasy owners, but still finished as a top 12 option in standard and PPR leagues. It will be an interesting off-season in Arizona. We will have to see if Arizona brings in a running back to ease the load on him.

Zach Mettenberger, QB TEN

Mettenberger re-injured his right shoulder and may be done for the year. A sprained shoulder can be quite painful and given Tennessee is going nowhere with only three games left in the season, it might be best to let Mettenberger heal up for the 2015 season. Mettenberger completed 60% of his passes, with eight touchdowns and six interceptions this year – not bad for a rookie playing on a bad team with a limited supporting cast. Mettenberger actually finished as the QB13 in games he managed to play (excluding weeks four and nine). He might be a cheap target of interest for dynasty owners if the price is right.

Rashad Jennings, RB NYG

Jennings has yet another injury and watched most of the day as Andre Williams had a big game (131 yards rushing, one touchdown, 5.5 YPC, three receptions for 16 yards). Jennings injured an ankle and it limited his performance this week (five yards rushing and one reception for 17 yards). Jennings can’t stay healthy and he is not a player I’m targeting in dynasty formats. The Giants get the Redskins week 15 and a tough game against the Rams week 16. Hopefully fantasy owners will have better options.

Percy Harvin, WR NYJ

Harvin sustained a low ankle sprain and it sounds like he could miss time from this injury. Harvin continued his Jekyll and Hyde season, having a big game this week (six receptions for 124 yards, one touchdown and two carries for three yards). Harvin sandwiched a big game week nine with three duds before having a big game this week. The 2014 season has been a disappointment for Harvin and his dynasty value is plummeting fast. Harvin is off the radar for me in dynasty formats.

Ladarius Green, TE SD

Green took a vicious hit from Patriots’ defensive back Brandon Browner and left the game with a concussion. He will be enrolled in the NFL concussion protocol and will need to be cleared before returning to play. Green has been a bit of a disappointment this season, but 2015 could bring a silver lining. Per spotrac.com, Antonio Gates’ base salary jumps nearly $4 million and the Chargers would have $3.8 million dead money if they cut him – that looks better than over $7 million dead money in 2013 and 2014 with Gates’ contract. This situation is worth monitoring in dynasty formats and it might be a good move to acquire Green if his owners are frustrated with a disappointing 2014 season.

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