I feel like I have been saying this every year for a while now, but I cannot remember a year where we have been hit this hard by the injury bug. We are just entering Week 3, and many fantasy rosters have been decimated by devastating injuries to multiple key players at multiple key positions. Once you understand that injuries are a key part of this game that we play, you must then understand how to navigate them.  The first step in this journey is learning to understand the practice reports, and I am here to help.  Let’s break down this week’s key notes from practice by position.

Quarterback

We have several notable names to look at here. I’ll start with Anthony Richardson. If you have Richardson, you may want to look elsewhere as he was a DNP on both Wednesday and Thursday as he works through the NFL concussion protocol. Joe Burrow aggravated his calf injury from the preseason on Sunday and was a DNP on the teams first injury report Thursday. Since he plays on Monday night, you may need to have an alternative available if he continues to miss practice. Bryce Young has been a DNP on both Wednesday and Thursday, and he likely will not play on Sunday. You probably weren’t starting him anyway, but if you were…make other arrangements.

Richardson and Burrow both potentially missing Week 3 is a huge blow to many fantasy teams, but potential waiver wire replacements could be guys like Jimmy G or Derek Carr.

Running Back

The running back position has been absolutely destroyed by injuries this year. The obvious headliners this week are Saquon Barkley and Nick Chubb. These are two guys that you drafted expecting them to anchor the position group for you. At least one of these has a clear handcuff situation available with Cleveland having Jerome Ford. The Giants are likely going to use a running back by committee approach in an attempt to fill in while Barkley is out. Austin Ekeler has been a DNP on both Wednesday and Thursday this week, and is not trending in the right direction for this weekend’s game. We may have to rely on Josh Kelley for one more week. Another name that impacts some teams is Chase Edmonds. Rachaad White is likely to maintain his lead back status there, but expect Sean Tucker to start getting some more work. In Green Bay, Aaron Jones is trending in the right direction with a limited practice on Wednesday and a full practice on Thursday. Jamaal Williams in New Orleans is likely going to miss at least this week with a hamstring injury. David Montgomery is also likely to miss at least this week with a thigh injury.

If you need to target replacements for this week, the guys I am looking at are Kendre Miller in New Orleans, and Craig Reynolds in Detroit. I’m not sure that either of these guys have long  term value, but they could buy you some time.

Wide Receiver

The wide receiver group this week has some good news and some bad news. Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers are both trending in the right direction after getting in some solid practice work this week. Jaylen Waddle has been a DNP on both Wednesday and Thursday as he continues to work through the NFL concussion protocol. The Lions WR room is trending in the right direction with Josh Reynolds getting in a limited practice on both Wednesday and Thursday. Amon-Ra St. Brown was a DNP on Wednesday, but did get in a limited practice on Thursday. I would be cautious with ARSB this week as he deals with a toe issue. Toe issues for WR can be troublesome. For Baltimore, OBJ is expected to miss week 3 with an ankle injury. Let’s chalk this up as the Kardashian curse. DK Metcalf was a DNP on Wednesday, but coaches think that he should be ready to go for this weekend. In Green Bay another situation to monitor is Christian Watson. He got in a limited practice on Wednesday, but was a DNP on Thursday as he attempts to make his season debut after injuring his hamstring before week 1.

Tight End

The best position group of the week is tight end. The only injury of note is Logan Thomas who is still working through concussion protocol, but is not trending in the right direction. While there may not be much on the injury report, the position as a whole is underperforming.  If you are looking for a name to stream, I might recommend Jake Ferguson this week.

Defense

There are several notable defensive injuries in secondaries. On Thursday the Cowboys lost Trevon Diggs for the season. I still think they will be a top defense, but it is a big loss. Riq Woolen for the Seahawks is not looking good for this weekend either, but Jamal Adams has returned to practice. CJ Gardner Johnson in Detroit has gone on IR as well.

Trade Situation

One trade situation to monitor will be Cam Akers to Minnesota. As I noted on Monday, Mattison has been fairly ineffective and Akers has familiarity with Kevin O’Connell from their time together in LA. I expect this to turn into a timeshare, at least, very soon…if not Akers taking the lead role. I expect to see Akers some on Sunday, and if he performs well expect to see a change soon.

As always, if you have questions please feel free to reach out to me on X(Twitter) @2fatguysff

Good luck this week!