Fantasy Football 2024: Latest Injury News and Expert Reaction
The last thing any fantasy football player wants is to go into the NFL regular season with injury-plagued players on their roster.
The good news for players with the No. 1 overall pick in their drafts is that should not be a concern with Christian McCaffrey.
The San Francisco 49ers running back is gearing up toward playing in Week 1, and he should not see his fantasy football stock drop as drafts heat up over the next few weeks.
Jahmyr Gibbs is in the second tier of fantasy running backs beneath McCaffrey. He has a similar prognosis for his injury and should be a first-round pick who carries some fantasy rosters in certain weeks.
Christian McCaffrey
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The presumptive No. 1 overall pick in a majority of fantasy football drafts is currently not practicing with his team.
Christian McCaffrey picked up a calf strain early in training camp and has been pushing to return for Week 1.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters that McCaffrey is pushing to be back for the regular-season opener (h/t Pro Football Talk).
"He's obsessed with it," Shanahan said, via 49ersWebzone.com. "And so when you do get in these situations where you do get hurt and you can't go do all that stuff, at least he's put the work in before. So that stuff does come back fast. But he understands what it takes to play in this game, especially at the level he does. And not many people play at that level unless they are like that."
McCaffrey should still be taken at No. 1 overall, or high in the first round, in all fantasy football drafts.
Even if he misses Week 1, McCaffrey should be on the field shortly after, and while it is not ideal for him to be out for this much of the preseason, it should not affect his regular-season production.
Jahmyr Gibbs
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Jahmyr Gibbs is also on the shelf right now.
Like McCaffrey, the Detroit Lions running back is pushing to be ready for the regular-season opener.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell talked about Gibbs' status earlier this week, per ESPN.com's Eric Woodyard.
"He's trending the right way," Campbell said ahead of Tuesday's practice. "Wish we had more practice with him, but as far as the health of it, he is healing and he's on schedule to be back and get his legs back under him and we'll see where he's at."
Gibbs is the No. 12 overall player and No. 5 running back in FantasyPros' preseason fantasy draft rankings.
Gibbs was one of the breakout fantasy stars last season and he should be relied upon more inside the Lions offense in 2024.
There should be no hesitation to land Gibbs with a late first-round pick in any draft because he will be back soon.
Justin Herbert
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Justin Herbert is back on the practice field for the Los Angeles Chargers.
Herbert sat out two weeks of training camp with a plantar fascia injury in his foot.
Herbert's head coach, Jim Harbaugh, sounded excited to have him back on the field, per ESPN.com.
"It felt great," Harbaugh said. "It felt like music should be playing, I thought I heard music, voices of angels maybe. It felt great."
The early injury produced a small scare for fantasy football players, but Herbert should be fine health wise for Week 1.
However, his production remains a big question in the first year under Harbaugh.
The Chargers have Ladd McConkey, D.J. Chark and Joshua Palmer as their top three wide receivers right now.
It's a far departure from having Keenan Allen and Mike Williams in the first two positions of the depth chart.
Herbert is still a talented passer, but the lack of top-tier weapons around him may drop him in fantasy drafts, where he could be a mid-round selection.
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