Edwin Porras 
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Week 1 of the NFL season and you need the key injuries and outlooks to set your perfect DFS lineups. So, that’s exactly what you’ll get from me, @FFStudentDoc. No fluff on this one. Here are Five Injury Outlooks For Week 1.
Odell Beckham Jr.
This first injury outlook ain’t so pretty. In a Thursday interview, Beckham described his body and hip injury (that we presumed was no longer a factor) as a sports car with misaligned tires. He mentioned “something off” and that he has been “in and out of rehab every single day.”
Yikes. Several red flags there from a DFS perspective and from the clinical aspect. First, if an elite athlete (they’re known for their ego) is admitting that he hasn’t been able to run full speed yet because of an old injury, you take him at his word. Second, from a clinical perspective there is no reason to be “in and out of rehab every single day” unless you’re managing an injury that continues to linger. I could describe the different diagnostic theories, but the bottom line is that his pain and symptoms must be persisting, and considering you have access to our experts at Win Daily there’s no need to take on this risk with Odell. Ultimately, if he’s playing mind games with the Titans defense and he’s fine in the end, I’m perfectly okay with looking elsewhere.
Stefon Diggs
Injury outlook number two is for Stefon Diggs, who did not practice on Wednesday and was limited on Thursday and Friday by a hamstring injury. To make matters worse, Coach Mike Zimmer said on Friday that he was not sure if Diggs would play on Sunday. I am not comfortable sliding Diggs into my DFS lineups because he popped up on the injury report in an unexpected fashion, which means that he sustained some sort of injury (minor or not) during practice this week. Although the sample is only five or six games, and I really am not extremely concerned about him in the long run, the DFS game (especially in cash games) is all about risk reduction and having a high floor. Feel free to peruse Win Daily for another player in this same game that should have plenty of points scored, as the line is set at 48.
Robby Anderson
Anderson’s injury outlook for Week 1 is similar to Diggs’ in that it doesn’t seem to be severe, but there is legitimately no reason to risk starting him in this matchup. Anderson was limited in practice on Thursday, and despite Gase’s optimism, I’m not sold on a great performance. Players tend to come back earlier than they should from minor injuries like this, and considering that it’s a calf strain, I could see it holding him back. The reason for this is that the calves are responsible for propelling your body forward by pushing off of the ground while running. For a burner like Anderson, even minimal limitations in sprinting can be detrimental. Add in the fact that depending on where you look in states where betting is legal, the point total is the second lowest of the entire weekend. Again, make sure to check windailysports.com for specifics on who to take over Anderson, because there’s no reason to start him this week.
Note: The name of this article is Five Injury Outlooks For Week 1, but the following two players are not necessarily injured. However, the human performance side of my brain has an opinion on them.
Ezekiel Elliott
Despite the fact that Elliott was reportedly training while in Cabo (is that what the kids call it nowadays?) I have a hard time imagining him showing up less than a week before Week 1 of the NFL season and being that ‘Zeke. There is no substitute conditioning drill for putting on pads and playing a game or practicing against an NFL defense. Secondly, he’s been sedentary, sitting on an airplane for approximately 12 hours in total over the last three weeks flying back and forth from Cabo to Dallas. Now, if there’s a freak of nature athlete who can overcome these physiological laws of exercise, it’s Ezekiel Elliott. Similarly, if there’s a hover-owner telling his coach to give Elliott the ball 35 times so he can show off his brand new $90 million dollar toy, it’s Jerry Jones. So, there is a universe in which we see that ‘Zeke, but I would view that as concurring the odds of a mediocre performance before he can get into true NFL game shape.
Todd Gurley
Gurley is my DFS risk play of the week from an injury perspective. Here’s the quick and dirty injury outlook for him: If he’s going to be healthy, it’s going to be week 1 of the NFL season. Couple that with reports of coach Sean McVay not planning to have a snap count for Gurley with a dash of the general public being afraid of his knee, and you get a perfect contrarian play.
Disclaimer: I’ve mentioned all pre-season that it just takes one hit for Gurley to become a season long start/sit nightmare. So, start him at your own risk. But again, if you’re gonna use him at his current DFS price, it’s going to be week 1.
So there you have it, Five Injury Outlooks For Week 1.
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Odell Beckham Jr. Featured Image via Erik Drost
