Matt Leinart and Most Crushing Fantasy Injuries from Week 12

Week 12 was a pretty quiet week for injuries, but a few mid level production players were injured and will factor into the playoff race. Some recent backups have lost their fantasy value due to injury, and due to a thinning pool of productive players, picking up someone new will be a tough spot.

Here are Matt Leinart and four other injuries in Week 12 of fantasy football that crush your team.

1. Troy Polamalu

The 2010 Defensive Player of the Year, Troy Polamalu, was sidelined this week versus the Chiefs after taking a blow to the head from a Chiefs offensive lineman. He sat on the sideline the whole game without his helmet and wearing a pair of sweatpants over his normal game pants.

Although the team hasn't provided a prognosis on the safety, it affects how well the defense as a whole will perform. Polamalu makes a lot of plays for the Steelers defense, and production will no doubt go down for them if they miss Polamalu for weeks to come. Hopefully he misses at most one week and comes back to being the playmaker we know.

The Steelers defense will not play as well, and it's pretty crushing because Polamalu can make plays that can mean a win or a loss on a weekly basis.

2. Darrel Young

Darrel Young isn't a household name, but he has helped open holes for the committee of Redskins running backs this year. He suffered a concussion, but the severity of it hasn't been released. 

Although he doesn't have much of fantasy value himself, the value of losing him to the other backs can be crushing. Roy Helu had a great week last week but could find himself in a little trouble if his fullback sits this week.

The running game of the Redskins has been the only bright spot for fantasy owners this year, and it takes a big hit with the loss of FB Young.

3. Matt Leinart

After getting injured during his only start of the year, any upside that Matt Leinart brought to your fantasy team is now down the drain as they are down to their third-string quarterback TJ Yates out of North Carolina.

Leinart threw his first touchdown pass in four years during the game but is on injured reserve with a injury similar to that of injured Raiders QB Jason Campbell. 

This is crushing if you thought Leinart would be good pick up replacement after Matt Schaub went on injured reserve last week.

4. Sam Bradford

Sam Bradford aggravated his ankle in practice on Monday and was very sore. In very deep leagues, Bradford has become a must for some teams, and his aggravating his ankle could be crushing because the pool is thinning as the season wears on.

Hopefully, he becomes healthy as the week moves on, but if he continues to aggravate it, it could sideline Bradford for the week.

5. Adrian Peterson

Adrian Peterson was injured the week before, but his ability to stay healthy and practice this week is critical. As we saw the slide before with Sam Bradford, re-aggravating his ankle this week in practice could be doom for fantasy owners and Peterson's constant production.

If he can't play this week, it could be fantasy doom for your team in the upcoming fantasy football week.