2012 Fantasy Football, Week 8 Injury Report: Jonathan Dwyer Tweaks Quad
Fantasy Spin: It is a bit disconcerting that Nelson was unable to recover from this injury in time to play Sunday. It is possible the Packers were being extremely conservative with Nelson for their “easy” matchup with Jacksonville. Monitor early week injury reports, but I assume Nelson should be back for the Packers next game. If not, Randall Cobb and James Jones continue to be every week plays.
Jonathan Dwyer (RB | Pittsburgh Steelers 41% in Y!) – Coach Mike Tomlin mentioned a right quad injury for Dwyer in his post-game press conference. However, Dwyer downplayed the injury saying that he was “fine.”
Fantasy Spin: Dwyer is coming off of back to back 100 yard rushing games. The column linked above argues that Dwyer should be the starting RB in Pittsburgh regardless of the health status of Rashard Mendenhall or Isaac Redman. The Steelers have a relatively friendly schedule for the next few weeks and Dwyer should be owned in all leagues. I believe the Steelers will continue to feed Dwyer the ball as long as he stays hot.
Wes Welker (WR | New England Patriots 100% in Y!) – Welker injured his ankle in the fourth quarter of the Patriots game in London and did not return to the lineup. Welker stated after the game that he believed he would be OK. The Patriots are on bye for Week 9.
Fantasy Spin: The Patriots are on bye in Week 9 so updates will likely be few and far between this week. However, Welker has shown that he can recover quickly from these types of injuries and should be fine for Week 10.
Aaron Hernandez (TE | New England Patriots 95% in Y!) – Hernandez was ruled out early in the weekend as he had a “setback” with his ankle injury. The Patriots are notoriously tight-lipped with injury news so it is unclear how bad this injury is.
Fantasy Spin: Like Welker, we won’t see a lot of updates this week on Hernandez’s health. However, there is no reason to believe Hernandez won’t be ready after the bye. I would assume Hernandez will continue to be a top TE. However, if you would rather not play with the Patriots injury news machine, I would dangle him on the trading block to see what he would bring.
Mikel LeShoure (RB | Detroit Lions 78% in Y!) – LeShoure left the game in the second half to have his right leg examined by trainers. LeShoure did not return and ceded carries to Joique Bell.
Fantasy Spin: LeShoure has been solid, but unspectacular this season. The Lions looked to have found their offensive direction this week by airing it out in a win over the Seattle Seahawks. This discovery could lead to a diminished role for any RB in the Lions backfield. If LeShoure ends up out for any length of time I think the Lions will go back to Kevin Smith for early down work with Bell following for third down and “closer” work.
Ryan Tannehill (QB | Miami Dolphins 9% owned in Y!) – Tannehill suffered a knee/quad injury in the Dolphins victory over the New York Jets. He did not return and was replaced by Matt Moore.
Fantasy Spin: Moore has been a replacement level fill-in having started 25 games over his three seasons in the NFL. Should Tannehill miss multiple games, Moore would take the role and likely put up similar statistics to Tannehill. I do not see a big drop off in talent at this point, though Tannehill remains an intriguing dynasty prospect.
Brady Quinn (QB | Kansas City Chiefs 3% owned in Y!) – Quinn suffered a head injury with speculation that it was a concussion. He did not return to the lineup and was replaced by former starter Matt Cassel.
Fantasy Spin: Brady Quinn is not an NFL QB. Not now. Not ever. Cassel offers a bit more, but remember he was benched for Quinn (for reasons I’m still not sure I understand). Neither Quinn nor Cassel needs to be rostered in any, but the deepest of leagues.
Joe McKnight (RB | New York Jets 3% owned in Y!) – For those in return yardage leagues, McKnight has been a solid contributor. McKnight left the game with an injury to his ankle and did not return to the game. He has struggled with the injury the last couple of weeks.
Fantasy Spin: This re-injury may signal that McKnight will have to sit out a game or more. McKnight was replaced on kickoff returns by Clyde Gates. Gates averaged 31.5 yards on two kickoffs (and somehow led the Jets in receptions and receiving yards exceeding his career totals! in both). McKnight could be a nice replacement for McKnight especially if he is incorporated into the offense.
Written by Chris Garosi for TheFantasyFix.com. You can follow Chris on Twitter @chrisgarosi. You can find more of his work at District Sports Page.
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