(Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)
Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening. There was some interesting injury news this week and we’ll cover it all now.
Brian Westbrook (RB PHI) — Westbrook underwent surgery early last week to clean out bone spurs in his ankle. [Rotowire.com]
Fantasy Impact: The true extent of the injury, and the surgery, are unknown. The Eagles claim that it was a minor procedure, but information from unnamed sources is trickling out indicating that the surgery may have been more serious that then team is letting on.
We won’t know the impact this has on Westbrook’s performance for a while, but it is expected that he will be out until Week One of the season. While Westbrook may not need many reps in the preseason to get ready, until he is able to return to normal activity, he will be hard-pressed to keep up his fitness.
If you plan on drafting Westbrook, who is now available in Round Two of many drafts, make sure you get his backup, LeSean McCoy, a round earlier than his ADP.
Joseph Addai (RB IND) — It was revealed this week that Addai had arthroscopic knee surgery in the off season. He has not participated in OTAs to this point during his recovery. [Rotowire.com]
Fantasy Impact: Addai is already teetering on the edge of receiving the “permanently injured” tag, and this knee surgery does not help matters. Until Addai returns to the practice field, which should occur no later than training camp and likely earlier, we won’t know how the surgery has affected his rapidly diminishing skills.
This news will likely drop Addai’s ADP to the late fourth or early fifth rounds. While the news is damaging to Addai’s draft stock, it should cause a rapid rise in Donald Brown’s ADP. Addai is approaching fantasy irrelevance.
Matt Forte (RB CHI) — Forte left the practice field on Wednesday after hearing a “pop” in his leg. The post-injury MRI revealed no serious damage to his hamstring. [Rotowire.com]
Fantasy Impact: Well that was a close call. It’s never a good thing when a player hears any noises coming from a body part that doesn’t usually make a sound. But it looks like he’ll get through this one with no major set backs.
Assuming that there isn’t any additional undisclosed information, feel free to continue drafting Forte in the top five.
Jonathan Stewart (RB CAR) — Stewart was in practice gear this week, but did not participate in team drills. Stewart is recovering from an ankle injury of unknown severity.
Fantasy Impact: The Panthers are not commenting on Stewart’s injury, nor have any additional details leaked out. We can only assume at this point that the injury was moderate, and possibly suffered in an off the field activity as teams usually address injuries that occur at their facility.
Because Stewart is at least at practice and appears ready to go, he should be fine to draft anywhere from the fifth round on. Training camp should give us some indication on how many carries Stewart can steal from DeAngelo Williams.
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