Fantasy Sports Main Page

Fantasy Football Injuries

Fantasy Football Injury News

Who's hurt and how does it affect your game?

Online Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Sports Live

Laurence Maroney Carries 15 Times

Laurence Maroney made his first appearance of the 2007 year in Week 3 of the preseason. Maroney had offseason shoulder surgery, prompting concerns with some fantasy football players. The Patriots nursed the 2nd year runner along during training camp, keep the no-contact red jersey on him until early last week.

Laurence Maroney had 58 yards on 15 carries in the first half of the preseason game with the Panthers, allaying many of the fears that owners might have taking the young running back. The job is entirely Maroney's this year, after the offseason retirement of Corey Dillon.

Be prepared to see Maroney in the bottom half of the 1st, top half of the 2nd round in most fantasy football drafts. On daily draft boards, you might pick him up as a cheaper 2nd option. There's no telling how high Laurence Maroney's upside might be, given he is the main man in New England for the first time. With the passing threats the Pats finally have, Laurence Maroney should have the advantage of running against only 7 men in the box most of the year.

Donald Driver Leaves Game With Ankle Injury

Donald Driver left the Packers 3rd preseason game with an apparent ankle injury. Since Driver was taken from the field on a cart, fans originally thought that Driver might have a serious injury. For fantasy football owners who were drafting this last weekend, this created a large risk/reward situation.

Donald Driver has been one of the most productive receivers of the last few years. Despite that, Driver hasn't achieved the big name status of a Roy Williams or a Reggie Wayne. So it's not uncommon to see Donald Driver go a little later in drafts than other guys with similar numbers.

When Driver got hurt, that may have created a situation where Driver fell another round or two creating a huge opportunity for owners willing to take a little risk. The perception of risk appear to have been overblown.

The Green Bay Packers training staff ran a series of tests on Donald Driver and found no serious damage to the ankle. With the season opener still two weeks away, it appears that Brett Favre's favorite receiver should be ready to go on opening day. If you're drafting this weekend, hope Donald Driver falls an extra round and you can take him as a stellar #2 receiver on your roster.

Tatum Bell is Hurt Again

It's that time of year. Some team decides to rely on Tatum Bell for production and he goes out hurt with an ankle injury.

This time around, it's the Detroit Lions. With Kevin Jones out of with a lisfranc injury and expected to spend the first 6 weeks of the season on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) List, Tatum Bell was brought in to be the man early in the season for the Lions. Mike Martz even called Tatum Bell a poor man's Marshall Faulk.

But Tatum Bell left the game with an ankle injury or a shin injury. Early on, the Lions said it was an ankle. Later reports changed the story to a shin injury, which makes me wonder if it isn't the type of hairline fracture at the base of the leg that is sometimes call a "high ankle sprain". The severity of the injury has yet to be fully determined. In my experience, if it's a high ankle sprain, don't expect your runner to contribute for one month.

Because some Lions runner has a chance to start, it's worth drafting Tatum Bell or T.J. Duckett low. If Bell slips into the middle rounds, you might still take a flier on him. If Duckett is still there in the late rounds, you might as well take a shot on a guy who plays the first few weeks as a starter. He might be good trade bait for the desperate Tatum Bell/Kevin Jones owner.

For the sake of weekly wagers on Fantasy Sports Live, monitor this situation closely. The Lions start the season playing the Oakland Raiders. So if you are looking to skimp on your 2nd runner while taking Peyton Manning (or some other stud) at quarterback, you might be able to pick up TJ Duckett for almost nothing and start him against the Raiders.

Kenny Irons Out for the Year

The Cincinnati Bengals drafted Kenny Irons in the 2nd round to give them a spark off the bench. Rudi Johnson is a dependable workhorse of a running back, but he doesn't have the explosion and quickness to provide the team with big play ability. So the Bengals drafted Irons to give them "speed on the corner" from the running back position. Though Rudi was expected to continue to carry the bulk of the load for the Bengals carries, Irons was expected to be an important handcuff for Rudi.

But on only his 4th rushing attempt of the preseason, Kenny Irons went out with a torn ACL. The Bengals placed him on I.R.

That leaves Kenny Watson as Rudi Johnson's primary backup. Watson is a dependable third down back and special teams contributor, but you can expect to see Rudi Johnson continue to get around 85% of the Bengals carries. The Bengals had considered that alarmingly high in the offseason, because Rudi's numbers have been around that mark each of the past three seasons.

The only other runner of note on the roster is Chris Perry, a former #1 pick for the Cincinnati Bengals. Perry is coming back from surgery and is already on the PUP list, meaning Perry won't be able to suit up for the Bengals for the first 6 games of the season. If you want to draft Rudi Johnson's backup, then you should probably draft Kenny Watson.

Chike Okeaor On I.R.

On the defensive front, Chike Okeafor was placed on the Injured Reserve by the Arizona Cardinals. The new Arizona coach, Ken Whisenhunt, is installing a 3-4 hybrid defense similar to the one used by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was going to move Okeafor and Bert Berry, the Cardinals two starting defensive ends, to outside linebacker. But Chike Okeafor injured himself in early preseason play and is gone for the year.

A lot of teams are switching smallish 4-3 ends to 3-4 outside linebackers. I wonder if it's just a coincidence, or if forcing these players into an uncomfortable situation might lead to more injuries. Last year, the Dallas Cowboys did the same thing with Greg Ellis. Ellis was a star rushing the passer in the Cowboys news 3-4 alignment last year, but he looked out of his element covering running backs and H-backs in the flat. Midway through the year, he blew out his Achilles tendon and may never be the same player.

Maybe this is just a coincidence, but Bert Berry, the Cardinals other OLB, already is an injury risk. I wonder what this new alignment will do for him. I wouldn't even mention the Cardinals Defense, except Arizona has the easiest schedule in the NFL this year (according to last year's records), so some people were mentioning this new 3-4 Cardinals Defense as a deep sleeper.

Fantasy Baseball News & Commentary

Fantasy Baseball Players

Fantasy Football News & Commentary