The NFL Injuries Report with Adam Pfeifer: How to Pivot Off Key Week 1 Injuries in DFS (FREE)

Things can change in the blink of an eye in the NFL, altering real life and fantasy rosters across the country. Sometimes when a player gets injured or suspended, it is easy to see who the direct beneficiary is. But sometimes there are grey areas that can make things a bit more difficult. We’ll keep you up to date with this weekly NFL Injuries Fantasy Report for your NFL DFS lineups.


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Having said that, every Friday here at Awesemo I will go over some of the top injury situations around the league and breakdown exactly what to expect going forward. Is the backup in line for a huge workload or will there be a committee? Will certain wide receivers move into the slot or out wide? All these questions will be answered every Friday once we have the majority of information from team injury reports.

Let’s see what stands out from Week 1.

A.J. Green (ankle) out multiple weeks

We’ve known AJ Green was going to miss a few games after undergoing ankle surgery to repair some torn ligaments but we didn’t exactly dive into exactly how it would impact the Bengals for Week 1 in particular. Green saw a 23.5 percent target share last season, making this an obvious huge loss for Cincinnati. However, it didn’t impact how the team used someone like Tyler Boyd, who broke out last year. Despite being the clear-cut number-one receiver for Cincinnati with Green sidelined, Boyd still operated out of the slot, lining up there 70.3 percent of the time in games Green missed.

The slot is always the preferred destination for wide receivers, allowing them to find mismatches with smaller cornerbacks and slower linebackers. John Ross was also dealing with a hamstring injury, which helped vault undrafted rookie Damion Willis into the starting lineup. Hopefully you aren’t relying on him in seasonal leagues, but Willis is $3,000 on DraftKings, while the Bengals should be playing from behind this weekend in Seattle.

Melvin Gordon’s holdout continues

It doesn’t look like Melvin Gordon is going to be playing for the Chargers (or any team) anytime soon. There have been reports out of Los Angeles that the Chargers would split the workload down 50/50 between Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson in Gordon’s absence but that just doesn’t seem likely. Jackson is definitely going to get work but I’m thinking more along the lines of 6-10 touches per game while Ekeler handles the rest.

In the games Gordon missed last year where both Ekeler and Jackson played, Ekeler averaged 17.5 touches and 43 snaps per game. Jackson, meanwhile, logged just 40 total snaps during those three weeks. If this duo combined for, let’s say, 30 touches, I’d gamble on Ekeler handling close to 20 of them. That would make him more than viable as a fantasy option, especially in DFS formats. The Chargers face the Colts, who allowed the second-most receptions (6.9) and targets (8.8) to opposing running backs in 2018.

LeSean McCoy reunites with Andy Reid

After flirting with the idea for months, the Buffalo Bills released LeSean McCoy, who then promptly signed a deal with the Chiefs. The fit makes sense, as McCoy was easily the best running back available, as well as the one who would take the least amount of time getting accustomed to an Andy Reid offense. This obviously has multiple rippling effects.

We’ll start with the Chiefs. Damien Williams was the most polarizing player in all of fantasy drafts during the summer and now things become even more confusing. He still appears to be the starting running back, though Reid had a bunch of conflicting statements during the week. And this is still a guy that has never eclipsed 50 touches carries in a season and only had more than 13 carries once down the stretch last year. Enter McCoy, who is a favorite of his new head coach and is being paid $4 million this year.

Reports out of Kansas City indicate that McCoy could take a large percentage of the Chiefs’ running back carries this season. Sure, McCoy has fallen off a bit lately, ranking dead last among qualified backs in yards after contact, while his 3.9 yards per touch were good for just 30th among all rushers. Of course, being in a much better offense and running behind a better offensive line should help, and I see him commanding 6-10 touches per game going forward, with potential for more. This move pushes Wiiliams back towards low-end RB2 status for the time being.

Buffalo Bills situation

As for Buffalo, well, you’re up, kid. Rookie Devin Singletary has impressed so much that the Bills felt comfortable cutting McCoy. This was always going to be a committee approach at running back and The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia believes that the team won’t use a featured back on a consistent basis. Frank Gore was splitting first-team reps in the preseason and he’ll likely be the 1A or 1B alongside Singletary. This team runs the ball enough that both could get 10-12 touches, especially if the Bills are ever playing from ahead. Still, the two backs are nothing more than desperation flex options until something changes.

Antonio Brown facing suspension

The Antonio Brown reality show continues. After finally ending the helmet dispute and picking one, he apparently got into it with general manager Mike Mayock and is now facing a suspension. There are also reports that the Raiders could void his contract entirely. And the most surprising aspect of all of this news is the fact that it really isn’t that surprising at all. Assuming Brown is inactive on Monday night against the Broncos, the Raiders offense will obviously change.

Tyrell Williams

Tyrell Williams will become the de facto number-one receiver in this offense. An elite deep threat, Williams finished 13th in both yards per reception (15.9) and yards per target (10.2) in 2018. The last time we saw him see significant volume was in 2016 with the Chargers when Keenan Allen went down in Week 1. As a result, Williams finished with a career season, hauling in 69-of-120 targets for 1,059 yards and seven touchdowns. That seems like the ceiling for Williams if Brown is no longer a Raider, which would make him a top-30 fantasy wide receiver.

Other NFL DFS Options

For Week 1 against the Broncos, Williams will be the top receiver, though he’ll now draw plenty of coverage from Chris Harris Jr. Meanwhile, tight end Darren Waller, who was already generating some buzz, is in line to see an uptick in targets. He’s a super-athletic tight end, running a 4.46 40-yard dash and averaging 12.5 yards per target last year. Waller has top-15 potential at tight end for the season and for Week 1, facing a Broncos defense that allowed the seventh-most yards per game to opposing tight ends last year (64.7). Finally, Hunter Renfrow will also benefit from the absence of Brown. You hope he continues to line up in the slot where he will be far more efficient. Oakland already looked to be a team chasing points often and if Brown isn’t there, they could be even worse.

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