With several players on the IR eligible to return, what are the latest injury updates for those players, and what does it mean for fantasy football managers in terms of their value in Week 10 and beyond?
Let’s take a look at when we can expect to see from Elijah Mitchell, Kyren Williams, and Treylon Burks on the field this year. Additionally, let’s examine whether fantasy managers can expect to have J.K. Dobbins, Michael Thomas, and others available to them before the fantasy playoffs.
Latest Injury IR Updates: Elijah Mitchell, Kyren Williams, and Treylon Burks Could Return
It isn’t just season-long fantasy leagues that IR returns can impact, but also Best Ball leagues on Underdog Fantasy. Should users be considering investing in the likes of Mitchell, Williams, or Burks for the second half of the season, or could we be without them for longer?
Elijah Mitchell Injury Update
The San Francisco 49ers opened the practice window for Mitchell on the Monday following their bye week. The 49ers have outlined this week as the target for Mitchell to return after his Week 1 injury. Additionally, the 49ers’ decision to trade Jeff Wilson last week indicated they believed Mitchell was likely on track to return in Week 10.
The 49ers may decide not to activate Mitchell from the IR ahead of Week 10. They have a 21-day window to activate him, meaning he could stay on IR through Week 12 of the season. It seems unlikely to be the case, but there is no need for the 49ers to rush Mitchell back this week.
The next question is what fantasy managers can expect from Mitchell if he returns this week. We got an indication of what the 49ers’ backfield might look like in Week 8. With Christian McCaffrey seemingly fully ingrained in the offense, he played 81% of the snaps, with Jeff Wilson playing just 36%.
In that game, Wilson saw four rushing attempts and two targets (compared to 18 rushing attempts and nine targets for McCaffrey). Even if the 49ers view Mitchell as an upgrade to Wilson, there is limited upside to his fantasy value going forward. That is especially the case in Week 10, as the 49ers will likely ease him back in if they choose to activate him.
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Therefore, fantasy managers who stashed Mitchell are in a tough spot. No one is likely to try and buy him right now after seeing McCaffrey dominate the opportunities over Wilson in Week 8. If anything, right now, you are stashing Mitchell as the primary handcuff to McCaffrey.
If you are drafting in an Underdog Fantasy best ball league this week, Mitchell could be an intriguing late-round pick. He has the talent to potentially provide huge returns if he can get some goal-line work or McCaffrey misses time.
If McCaffrey were to get hurt (which is not out of the question), Mitchell would be back to a weekly starting consideration. Unfortunately, that means if you’ve been relying on the return of Mitchell to provide you with a playoff boost, you may struggle to utilize him in the short term.
The only value you might be able to get for him is selling him to the McCaffrey fantasy manager as a handcuff. The main reason to do that? You need a back in Week 10 — right now, Mitchell’s value is as low as it is likely to get, so you would not have much leverage in trade negotiations.
Kyren Williams Injury Update
We are now entering the third week of Williams being back at practice. He returned to the Los Angeles Rams’ practice field on Oct. 26, opening his 21-day window to be activated from the IR. That means the Rams have until the beginning of Week 11 to activate Williams, or they have to leave him on IR for the 2022 season.
The Rams are in a peculiar spot with their RBs. They have the trio of Cam Akers, Darrell Henderson, and Malcolm Brown on their active roster. The past two weeks have seen them elevate rookie RB Ronnie Rivers from the practice squad. However, Rivers only played on special teams this past week before reverting back to the practice squad.
With Akers, Henderson, and Brown all touching the ball this past week, the Rams are in an intriguing spot with Williams. Even if he is activated, there is no guarantee Williams will play a significant role for the team. Consequently, fantasy managers hoping for Williams to help down the stretch may be left waiting.
The return of Akers has very much clouded the situation. If Akers had been traded, Williams would have had the opportunity to push for a significant role in the offense. Unless we see the Rams release one of Brown, Akers, or Henderson, fantasy managers are left relying on an injury for Williams to have significant value this season.
Treylon Burks Injury Update
The Tennessee Titans placed Treylon Burks on the IR ahead of their Week 5 game against the Washington Commanders. Burks was dealing with turf toe, and rather than try to have him work through it, the Titans chose to shut him down and have him miss four games.
Burks has now missed the mandatory four-game minimum, and the opportunity to have him return to practice begins this week. Once they do so, the Titans will have 21 days to activate him (or leave him on the IR all year). Therefore, once Burks returns to practice, we will have a clearer picture of when he might be back on the field.
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In his weekly mailbag, Titans’ Senior Writer/Editor Jim Wyatt said he expects Burks to be activated at the first opportunity. As such, we could see Burks back for their Week 10 matchup against the Denver Broncos. However, even if he does return to practice this week, the Titans could delay his return until Week 11 or Week 12.
After what we saw from the Titans’ passing game in Week 9, trusting Burks when he returns will be tough. That is further emphasized for Week 10, with the Broncos being a difficult matchup for opposing WRs in terms of fantasy points. Even if Burks is activated, fantasy managers should not rush him back into lineups unless they have to.
Michael Thomas Injury Update
We have not seen Michael Thomas on the field since Week 3 of the 2022 season. After missing four games with a toe injury, the New Orleans Saints placed Thomas on the IR ahead of their Week 9 game. Thomas is out for at least the next three weeks. However, in his media availability, head coach Dennis Allen told reporters that Thomas is expected to miss the entire season.
This is all somewhat strange because Thomas was seen in pads at practice a couple of weeks ago before leaving practice without partaking. If you drafted Thomas, this season has been yet another disappointment. At this point in redraft leagues, Thomas is a deep-league IR stash in the hope he might be back. However, if you are tight on IR spots (or do not have any at all), dropping Thomas is a real possibility.
J.K. Dobbins Injury Update
We got an update on J.K. Dobbins from Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh this week. Harbaugh described the surgery as a “smashing success as far as you can tell right now.” He added that there was no accumulation of scar tissue, which is a good sign.
However, Harbaugh also added that the MRI did not show the full extent of the injury. He described what Dobbins was dealing with as “very significant.” Harbaugh finished the update by saying he “can’t wait until he’s out here running around in three or four weeks.”
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That last statement gives us a potential timeframe to work off. If we take the three-week side of that, we could see Dobbins back on the practice field heading into Week 12. The Ravens are on a bye in Week 10, so if Dobbins returns in Week 12, he would only miss one more game. Week 12 is when Dobbins is first eligible to return after being placed on IR ahead of Week 7.
However, the phrasing of Harbaugh’s statement of seeing Dobbins being out here running around in three or four weeks does not mean he will definitely be activated in that timeframe. Therefore, we could be looking at a Week 13 or Week 14 return at the earliest.
That means there is limited fantasy value to be found with Dobbins this season. If your team is not currently trending toward the playoffs in your league, you may want to consider selling Dobbins for a fantasy asset that can help you in the next few weeks.
Injury Updates for Marquise Brown, DJ Chark, and Carson Wentz
In the next couple of weeks, we could see Marquise Brown, DJ Chark, and Carson Wentz all return to the field. However, the only one of them seemingly in line to be starting in the first week of his potential return is Chark.
Detroit Lions beat reporter Dave Birkett tweeted that Chark expects his stay on the IR to be a minimum of four weeks. That puts Week 11 as a target date for Chark to return. However, with the short week for Thanksgiving in Week 12, the Lions may decide to save him to return for that game rather than bring him back to play two games in five days.
It is uncertain what role Chark will have when he returns, so fantasy managers should not rush him back into their lineup. However, he is still worth stashing. With T.J. Hockenson gone, an injury to Amon-Ra St. Brown would make Chark the potential No. 1 WR for the Lions upon his return.
When Brown was hurt, the timeline given was a six-week absence. That timeframe would mean Brown is out through Week 12. However, with the Cardinals having a bye in Week 13, we may not see Brown until their Week 14 Monday Night Football game against the New England Patriots.
For fantasy managers, if you are not trending to make the playoffs, you may want to sell Brown for an asset that can help you with that push. With his projected timeframe for return, stashing him until Week 14 may mean it is too late for him to help you make the playoffs.
Carson Wentz is another player that has an uncertain future. With Taylor Heinicke putting in mixed performances, it is not certain who will start for the Washington Commanders when Wentz is ready to return. Nonetheless, he remains worth a stash in Superflex leagues, where any starting QB can have weekly matchup-based starting value.