Fantasy football is here, and there’s really nothing better than it. I am in six leagues, and while most will say that’s too many, I think the extra training just makes each of my squads better individually. Think about it: Some people play in one league and use the learnings from the season to be better the next year, but I get to do that six times over. The downside of being in six leagues is a guarantee that some of your players will be injured throughout the season, and this year we’re off to a hot start with the IR list. Let’s take a look at three of the key players you may have drafted that are now out with injuries, when they might return, and who you can pick up to be their replacement:
COOPER KUPP – HAMSTRING
Without his hamstring injury, Cooper Kupp would have been an automatic top ten pick in every league. Unfortunately, as the season inched closer, it became more and more uncertain what his status would be for week one, until he was placed on the injured reserve list on the day before the season started. Because of this, many people (myself included) who had drafts before this news broke drafted him higher than they should have.
Kupp will be out til at least week five, meaning that fantasy owners will be missing his production for at least a third of the season (factoring in his bye week). This is a bummer, but I have a great fix for the short term. In a pass heavy Rams offense centered around Matthew Stafford, don’t expect the LA to be run heavy in the absence of Kupp. In week one, Rams’ rookie wideout Puka Nacua reeled in 10 catches for 119 yards, totaling 21.9 fantasy points, and making him the ninth best ppr receiver as of now. Although LA is matched up with a challenging week two opponent in San Fran, expect Nacua to be Stafford’s number one target this weekend. I would call him an automatic WR2 this week.
JK DOBBINS – ACHILLES
I somehow avoided taking JK Dobbins in all six of my leagues, simply because of a weird gut feeling that he’d get hurt. Now, before you go yapping on about “hindsight” and me making this up, there are a few other players who aren’t hurt yet that I did the same thing for. One of those players is Raheem Mostert, and another is Deebo Samuel. Some players are just injury prone, and that is probably the worst part about football.
In the 2021 preseason, JK tore his ACL, knocking him out for the year. Last year, he played in four games before undergoing another surgery to clean up his knee. Last week, JK tore his achilles in the Raven’s home opener against the Texans, making it the third year in a row where he’ll miss major time. After such an electric college career, it’s sad to see him go down to injuries year after year. Hopefully he’ll make a speedy recovery so we can get more highlights like these:
Now, as for who you could pick up to fill in for Dobbins…I give you, Tyler Allgeier. If you are in a smart league, the guy who drafted Bijan Robinson would have taken Allgeier as a handcuff in the 14th round or so. However, if you’re in a not-so-smart (normal) league, an eight man league, or if someone has Allgeier stashed on their bench, you should be able to scoop him up via waivers or trades. His two touchdowns last week may have enticed people to pick him up, but if your league is amongst the 30% where he is unrostered, get him on your squad ASAP.
AARON RODGERS – ACHILLES
Rodgers and the New York Jets were the story of week one, so I won’t add too much to the pile of information surrounding the injury that you’ve already read through. That being said, on the Pat McAfee show today (which I attended), Rodgers did say “Anything is possible” when asked if he could possibly return this season. I doubt that he’d be able to, but man, what an awesome story that’d be.
As for who you could add to your team to replace Rodgers, I think that Brock Purdy is the perfect candidate. It is criminal how few leagues he is rostered in (57%). In what felt like a walkthrough of a game one, he had two TDs, 220 yards in the air, and 20 more on the ground. In the final six games of last year’s regular season (the first six games he started), he threw at least two touchdowns per game and tallied only three interceptions over that stretch. Those are mind boggling numbers from a rookie, and now with him being in his second season, I expect even fewer interceptions and even more touchdowns. I predict that by the end of this fantasy season, he will be a starter in nearly every league. Pick him up while his stock is still low.
That’s it for today, I know it was a shorter one, but I’ve got to wake up just after five in the morning to catch gameday here in Boulder. Follow us on Twitter @a2zsportstakes to get my NFL picks for Sunday’s slate and Monday’s double header. I am 22-12-1 on the year so far, so it might just be your best investment of the year.