The start of the NFL season sees the release of injury reports, which have a huge impact on fantasy football. The problem is that the NFL’s injury reports lack some details. Therefore, our RB injury report looks at what fantasy managers need to know about the injury and what they should do in terms of mitigating or managing those injuries on their roster.
RB injury report heading into Week 1
The beauty of Week 1 is that because of a relative lack of recent football in the bodies of RBs, the injury report is pretty light. Unfortunately, this week’s report is likely the lightest we will see at the position. Going forward, the hits will accumulate, and the injury report will likely grow week to week. With that in mind, let’s examine the latest RB injury report following the start of in-season practices for the teams taking to the field on Sunday.
J.K. Dobbins, BAL | Knee
Unsurprisingly, J.K. Dobbins was limited in the Ravens’ first official injury report of the 2022 season. His progress during the offseason has been mixed. Initially, the signs seemed to be promising he would be available for Week 1. Then, in the final week of the preseason, the Ravens signed Kenyan Drake, suggesting that they might need someone to help them in the opening week. That was accompanied by reports of Dobbins being doubtful for Week 1.
“Doubtful” can be the worst nightmare for fantasy managers when it comes to injury reports. Rarely does a player that is ever listed as doubtful take to the field on Sunday. The good news, in this case, is that those doubts were reports rather than official injury report terminology, and they came two weeks before the season began.
The news this week has been more positive. John Harbaugh commented that Dobbins is “really ascending quickly, especially in the last week, week and a half.” Harbaugh also said that he will make the decision about Dobbins’ availability at the end of the week.
If Dobbins is active, it presents a cloudy picture in the Ravens’ backfield. It’s unlikely that he’ll be 100%, so he should be on a limited snap count. Therefore, he would be more of a Flex start in Week 1 rather than a surefire RB2. If he’s not active, Drake and Mike Davis should split time leading the backfield.
Chase Edmonds, MIA | Groin
Update: Edmonds was upgraded to a full participant on Thursday.
Chase Edmonds’ limited status with a groin injury on Wednesday was somewhat unexpected. However, the lack of focus on Edmonds’ status in Mike McDaniel’s press conference would indicate there’s not much worry about him for Week 1. Nevertheless, we will need to keep a careful eye on Edmonds during the week.
If Edmonds is good to go, many expect him to be the lead back for the Dolphins. On the Miami depth chart, both Edmonds and Raheem Mostert are listed as “1st” at the RB position entering the season. Therefore, we may not see Edmonds with a massive workload as Mostert mixes in.
If Edmonds is out, the expectation is Mostert will be the lead back. Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed would then be expected to back up Mostert and play a more minor role. If Edmonds is active, he’s a starter for fantasy teams. Similarly, if he’s inactive, Mostert becomes a starter for fantasy managers.
Miles Sanders, PHI | Hamstring
There have been concerns about Miles Sanders’ hamstring during the preseason, but those concerns were dispelled Wednesday. Sanders was a full participant, putting him fully on track to be active on Sunday. Yet, that doesn’t answer all the concerns surrounding his status this week.
Kenneth Gainwell is expected to be heavily involved, as he was last year. While Gainwell’s role might not be enough to give him standalone fantasy value, it does take a chunk out of Sanders’ value. The expectation is that Sanders will be the starter, with Gainwell providing the change of pace and working more in the receiving game. Boston Scott is then likely to be in a backup role to Sanders but unlikely to see much playing time with Sanders seemingly healthy.