Dynasty Injury Impact: Week Four

In this series, we’ll cast a wide net to cover many different injuries that occurred during each week of the NFL regular season and what the implications are for your fantasy teams. If there were large injuries during the week, we’ll be sure to have a detailed piece in addition to this article. If there is any injury on your mind that you believe I missed, please feel free to comment below and I’ll give you my thoughts!

Four weeks into the season and the NFL is still full of surprises. Like a music artist after their first hit song, we can tell after a few more performances if a player is a one-hit wonder. Players like Tyler Boyd and Calvin Ridley have boomed for fantasy owners. If you were smart enough to grab them in your dynasty or redraft league on the cheap, they can help sustain your team through injuries and upcoming bye weeks.

In week four, we had a broad spectrum of injuries to many potential fantasy starters.

Leonard Fournette, RB JAC

Injury: Hamstring

After missing weeks two and three with this same hamstring injury, the Jaguars top running back left early again in week four. Before re-aggravating his hamstring, Fournette was ineffective against a relatively strong Jets run defense. The Jaguars were seemingly cautious with him before letting him play again this week.

Fournette is quickly gaining the “injury-prone” label. It seems like ages ago when he played a full season without some sort of nagging injury, and this one is clear to be no different. I wrote about him in Dynasty Injury Impact: Week One and said the clear beneficiary if Fournette missed more time would be T.J. Yeldon. Consider Yeldon a flex play until Fournette proves he can stay on the field.

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Tyler Eifert, TE CIN

Injury: Leg/Ankle

There are certain players who have had the injury bug their whole careers and those who are just plain unlucky. Tyler Eifert, unfortunately, is both. A clear special talent on the field, Eifert just can’t seem to stay there. He was having a solid start to the season before going down in week four to a gruesome-looking ankle injury. We wish Eifert a speedy recovery!

In the meantime for this Bengals offense, Tyler Kroft and C.J. Uzomah will lead the tight end position. Neither presents a particularly appealing fantasy option, but Kroft is likely the better flier of the two. In 20 games without Eifert since 2015, Kroft has roughly eight fantasy points per game. While nothing spectacular, Kroft can be a serviceable streamer in the right matchup. A.J. Green and Tyler Boyd may get a slight uptick in targets as well.

Rob Gronkowski, TE NE

Injury: Ankle

Gronk is one of many tight ends who found themselves banged up on Sunday afternoon. Having left the blowout in Miami early, Gronk’s week four status is currently in question. It’s likely he’ll be a game-time decision for Thursday night, so monitor this one closely if you’ve got him on your fantasy team.

Should Gronk miss time, I expect his volume to be dispersed to other players on the team. The Patriots are well known to not heavily rely on one player (outside of Tom Brady). The team can also perhaps be a bit more cautious with Gronk due to Julian Edelman’s return from suspension. If Gronk does wind up missing this week’s game, I would expect the running backs and Edelman to be the focal point of the offense.

O.J. Howard, TE TB

Injury: MCL Sprain

A highly touted second-year tight end, Howard was enjoying a good start to the 2018 season. Howard will miss reportedly two to four weeks with this injury. Luckily for fantasy players, the Buccaneers have a bye next week. It’s possible Howard only misses one game from this injury.

While Howard’s injury may affect him in the near future, the biggest question mark on his fantasy value might be Jameis Winston. Since the start of last year, Howard has averaged roughly five fewer fantasy points per game when Winston has played. Comparatively, Cameron Brate has averaged about seven more fantasy points with the same criteria. If Howard is injured and Winston is starting, look for Brate to be the go-to guy at tight end.

Sammy Watkins, WR KC

Injury: Hamstring

Watkins was forced out of Monday night’s action early after suffering a hamstring injury in the second quarter. A big signing for the Chief in the off-season, Watkins has done well this season with Mahomes at the helm (who wouldn’t?). My expected fantasy points model had Watkins as the biggest under-performer to expectations entering Monday night. It’s currently unclear how long, if at all, Watkins will have to miss time with this injury.

A dynamic playmaker who relies on elite athleticism, Watkins may be hampered more than most would by a hamstring injury. Ask Leonard Fournette; hamstring injuries can be notoriously stringy. Should Watkins miss time, the Chief will look to other playmakers as they did Monday night. Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill will continue to see large involvement. The player who may have the most to gain from Watkins missing time is Kareem Hunt, who had his best receiving game of the season on Monday with Watkins out.

Other Injuries (quick hitters):

T.Y. Hilton, WR IND

Injury: Hamstring

Hilton exited Sunday’s contest with a hamstring injury that will reportedly hold him out of Thursday’s game. Chester Rogers showed nicely this past week and will have an increased role this week. Look for Eric Ebron to continue his large target share until Hilton returns.

Dante Pettis, WR SF

Injury: Knee

Fantasy owners have gotten a glimpse of what Pettis can do on the field. Without a doubt, we’d all like to see more from the explosive rookie. A knee injury knocked Pettis out of the game on Sunday, and it’s unclear how much time he will miss. Labeled as week-to-week, if Pettis misses time it may open up even more looks for Kittle and perhaps Matt Breida out of the backfield.

Will Dissly, TE SEA

Injury: Knee

Dissly’s fun ride in 2018 has come to an abrupt end. If you picked him up off waivers this season, it’s best to simply stash him in your IR spots. While never commanding a plethora of targets this season, Dissly’s absence should open up more opportunity for Nick Vannett at tight end, a relatively popular sleeper pick this off-season.

Other notable injuries, but of less long-term significance: Will Fuller (Hamstring), Geronimo Allison (Concussion), Travis Benjamin (Foot), Tavon Austin (Shoulder),

There were far more injuries of note in week four than any other individual week thus far this season. Through this piece and other weekly analysis on DLF, you’re staying ahead of the game and better able to manage your lineups through these injuries and bye weeks. Hopefully your team was able to avoid the injury bug in week four! We’ll be back next week to cover all the week five injuries.

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