2011 NFL Fantasy Football Week 1 Rankings: Updates and Injuries

Only one game into the season and we potentially have a star fantasy player done for the year as Peyton Manning had a third surgery on his neck in the past 18 months. Manning is likely out at least two to three months and fantasy owners who drafted Manning, and his partners in crime are probably feeling a little uneasy about their odds of success already.

More Week 1 Rankings – QB | RB | WR | TE | K/D | DL | LB | DB |

Fear not, as there are opportunities to add solid players off the waiver wire, each week and hopefully if you drafted Manning you protected yourself by drafting someone like Ben Roethlisberger, Matthew Stafford or Matt Ryan as a backup.

Below you will find our weekly podcast for player ranking updates and noteworthy injuries throughout each week. In this podcast, Sean and Matt De Lima discuss Manning’s surgery and the impact it will have on the Colts offense, Arian Foster's hamstring, Tony Romo’s offensive line, Chris Cooley’s knee and some key IDP players who have injuries to keep an eye on. As always, we’ve taken the time to break down the full podcast into sections, and they can be found at the Fantasy Philosophers Podcast home page. 

Arian Foster Likely Game-Time Decision

Texans coach Gary Kubiak admitted that his star running back is likely a game-time decision after Arian Foster failed to participate in team practices on Wednesday and Thursday. Look for Foster to find the bench in this one because Houston should have no problem mopping the floor with the Colts without Manning on the field. Derrick Ward and Ben Tate are possible options to start if you have Foster and are in need of a flex play runner.

In our Week 1 rankings, I have Foster dropped down to a top-25 running back this week in contrast to a top-10 option as he was ranked on Monday. Tate will likely get more play as the option to start in fantasy circles but Ward is likely to be the top option and should see the goal-line touches. Both are Fringe RB-3 options should Foster miss this game.

Tony Romo Should Land on Your Bench

The Cowboys are really beaten up coming into their first game against the Jets in New York and losing starting right tackle Tyvon Smith, and his backup in practice won’t help Tony Romo. Star receiver Miles Austin is battling a mild hamstring problem in practice, and that won’t help his odds of success against Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie. Look to Romo as a must start Week 2 against the 49ers' weak secondary, but I would look to other options in Week 1.

Chris Cooley Likely Out Week 1

With Chris Cooley batting a bad knee injury, he’s likely to miss this week's game against the Giants, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he has to shut it down for an extended period at some point this year. Backup Fred Davis had success in fantasy lineups in the second half of the 2009 season, and looks to be a useful option to start if you need to fill in for Cooley or another tight ends.

2011 Weekly Lineup Help

Player Rankings 

 Waiver Wire 

 Start/Bench