Fantasy football managers would be hard-pressed to find a season where there have been more injuries to high-profile quarterbacks than the 2023 NFL campaign.
Joe Burrow, Kirk Cousins, Aaron Rodgers, Anthony Richardson, and now Justin Herbert are all unavailable heading into the fantasy playoffs due to significant season-ending injuries.
Now, the likes of Will Levis, Geno Smith, and C.J. Stroud have all made an appearance on injury reports this week, which brings into question whether or not fantasy managers can trust them in their fantasy lineup in a must-win matchup in the fantasy playoffs.
Here is the latest injury update we have on some big-name fantasy QBs heading into Week 15.
Latest News and Injury Updates Impacting Fantasy
C.J. Stroud, QB, Houston Texans
The leading candidate for Offensive Rookie of the Year this season has his team in the thick of the AFC playoff picture heading into their AFC South showdown against the Tennessee Titans, but Stroud will have to clear concussion protocol first in order to have a chance to play on Sunday.
According to a recent report from Aaron Wilson from earlier today, Stroud is making progress but hasn’t been cleared to practice yet. The Texans will hold one more practice tomorrow, and it would be a huge step in the right direction toward Stroud’s potential availability to play on Sunday if he is cleared to practice on Friday.
Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans commented on Stroud’s status when speaking to the media earlier this week. “Yeah, C.J. [Stroud] – he’s getting a little bit better, and we’ll see how the week continues to go,” said Ryans, “but he’s still in the concussion protocol.”
Stroud is currently the QB7 in fantasy football this season, and he’d be a top-8 play at the QB position in Week 15 with a favorable matchup against a Titans secondary that gives up an average of 229 passing yards per game if he is able to clear concussion protocol in time to play.
Will Levis, QB, Tennessee Titans
Levis is coming off of one of the best performances of his career with a comeback win against the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football, throwing for 327 yards and a score against a playoff-bound team.
While Levis was able to play every single snap last week against the Dolphins, he appeared on the team’s injury report on Wednesday as a limited participant in practice due to an ankle injury.
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Fantasy managers will want to keep an eye on his participation in practice the rest of the week, but if he is able to log a full practice on either Thursday or Friday, it’s entirely possible Levis won’t even carry an injury designation heading into the weekend.
Levis still projects as a QB2 against a quality Texans defense in Week 15.
Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks
Smith went into last weekend deemed as questionable for the NFC West matchup against the San Francisco 49ers before ultimately being a late scratch for the Sunday afternoon showdown.
At this time, the Seahawks haven’t held their first practice of the week heading into their matchup with the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football (MNF), but Seattle head coach Pete Carroll did shed some light on Smith’s groin injury when speaking to the media earlier this week.
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“When you have a groin injury, and you push one way or the other away from the side of the groin, it’s sore, and you can feel it,” said Carroll, “It can have to do with opening up and running, it can have to do with striding to throw, changing direction when you have to call on that side, it activates. That’s why you feel your groin when it’s sore… These couple days right here are just so valuable for him, getting all the treatments he gets and just the rest time.”
Smith has had a very up-and-down 2023 campaign, as his 15 touchdown passes through 12 games have him on pace to finish well shy of the 30 TDs he tossed last year.
If Smith is able to return to the field for the Seahawks’ primetime game on Monday, Smith will draw one of the most favorable fantasy matchups a quarterback can have this season against a Philly defense that is giving up an average of 22.3 fantasy points per game to opposing signal callers — which is the most in the league.
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