Dynasty Injury Report: Week Five
Week five hosted another slate of games that was riddled with injuries. Some of them were possibly career-threatening and others are just minor speed bumps in the player’s career. All of them impact fantasy leagues in one way or another. By monitoring the player’s availability for the rest of the season, it will allow us to make the best decisions for our dynasty teams.
QUARTERBACK
Dak Prescott, DAL
This has to be the saddest injury of the season. You could see the wind taken from the sails from both teams when you saw Prescott hurt on the turf on Sunday. He will miss the rest of the season due to suffering a compound fracture and a dislocation of his right ankle.
Andy Dalton now steps in as the Cowboys starting quarterback. We shouldn’t expect him to be as productive as Prescott, but there’s a good chance Dalton provides some fantasy value for the remainder of the 2020 season.
The offense is fielding one of the best wide receiver corps in the league. Ezekiel Elliott is there to take some of the pressure off of Dalton’s shoulders. The defense will do its part to keep contests as high scoring as possible.
Dynasty managers will be on the edge of their seats to see what happens with Prescott this off-season. Will he play with a different team? How much money will he make on a new deal now that he’s considered damaged goods? Will he play the same in 2021 or will there be after-effects from the injury?
There are a lot of questions that need to be answered. Only time will deliver those answers for us. Prescott is a buy-low right now because he’s missing the rest of the season and there’s some uncertainty regarding his future.
Kyle Allen, WAS
After taking a headshot from Jalen Ramsey, Allen was removed from the game and replaced by everyone’s hero, Alex Smith. He will need to clear the concussion protocol before he can play again. Status for week six against the New York Giants.
This injury doesn’t affect Allen’s fantasy. He was never a buy in the first place and would need multiple QB1 weeks for him to gain any traction.
Jimmy Garoppolo, SF
He didn’t technically reinjure himself, but he stated after the game that he felt the injured ankle. Garoppolo was benched for CJ Beathard in the third quarter. It’s hard to tell if the ankle injury going to impact his status for next week. Dynasty managers just need to know that the injury is still affecting his play and there’s a chance we don’t see him on the field.
Baker Mayfield, CLE
Since his mama didn’t raise no wuss, Mayfield will more than likely be on the field next week after suffering a rib injury. The x-ray came back negative and things are looking promising for the young quarterback. The injury still might affect his play, but he’s still expected to take the field against the 4-0 Pittsburgh Steelers.
RUNNING BACK
Dalvin Cook, MIN
Cook suffered a groin injury during the Sunday night game against the Seattle Seahawks. The injury isn’t considered severe and he’s not projected to miss significant time. The Vikings will be playing the winless Atlanta Falcons before their week seven bye. There’s a good chance they keep him out of the lineup so they can have him completely healthy for the back half of the season.
WIDE RECEIVER
Diontae Johnson, PIT
After recording just one catch, Johnson left the game with a back injury and never returned. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin mentioned after the game to the media that Johnson’s back injury should keep him out of the lineup for next week. Fantasy managers will need to monitor his status just in case he’s a game-time decision.
We might have seen Johnson get “Wally Pipped”. In Johnson’s absence, Chase Claypool went off catching seven passes for 110 yards and three touchdowns while also accumulating one rushing touchdown. This could be bad news for Johnson because it appears Claypool has asserted himself as a game-changer in the offense. Combine that with JuJu Smith-Schuster and the rest of the pass-catchers in the offense, and suddenly, there might not be enough ball to go around to keep Johnson productive.
AJ Green, CIN
Green left Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury. His status for this week will be in jeopardy. As we all know, he has a bad reputation when it comes to injuries that are currently baked into his dynasty price tag. If anything, this shouldn’t come as a surprise and most dynasty managers were prepared for this going into the season.
This might be a good buying opportunity if you think he can turn things around and provide some extra depth for your fantasy team. There’s a good chance his current dynasty manager is tired of having him on their roster and may be willing to sell him at a discount.
DJ Chark, JAC
An ankle injury caused Chark to prematurely exit the game. He didn’t return and his availability for this week is in question. There’s a good chance he’s held out of next week’s game against the Detroit Lions. Fantasy gamers will need to monitor his status just in case he has a quick rebound. However, with him already missing a game due to a chest injury the Jaguars might lean toward the conservative side and give some extra time to rest.
Chris Hogan, NYJ
The Jets put Hogan on injured reserve due to a knee injury that he suffered during the team’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals. His season is officially over. Hogan held almost zero dynasty value before the injury and he’s going to enter the 2021 season on a lot of waiver wires.
Sammy Watkins, KC
The veteran wide receiver is expected to miss a couple of weeks with a hamstring injury. Fantasy managers will need to be able to move on without him until he can return to the lineup. The injury shouldn’t impact his dynasty value since he will be back on the field sooner than later.
We should see an increase in Mecole Hardman’s target share while Watkins is out, providing the second-year receiver some added opportunities to prove himself.
TIGHT END
Tyler Eifert, JAC
Eifert had to enter the concussion protocol during Sunday’s game against the Jaguars’ loss to the Texans. He will need to clear the concussion protocol before he is activated to play again. His status for week six is uncertain. We will need to pay attention to the practice reports throughout the week to see if he will be able to take the field against the Detroit Lions.
