Can you think of a holiday or time of year you’ve loved since you were a kid? It doesn’t even have to be a holiday, just think of a time that excites you every single time it comes around—that’s the feeling we get over at Win Daily every NFL season. That excitement is rooted in helping people like you make the right fade/play decisions all NFL season long. This year not only will you receive advice from fantasy legends like Scott Engel, you’ll also have access to injury analysis from me – The Student Doc (@FFStudentDoc on Twitter).
I’ma doctoral physical therapy student who graduates in May—I also happen toprocrastinate from studying for Management of the Integumentary System forthe Physical Therapist by adjusting my daily and season long lineups. I’vededicated the last seven years of my life to helping patients rehab from allsorts of muscle, bone, tendon, and nerve injuries—and now I’m using thatknowledge to help you decipher the murky waters of NFL player injuries. I’lllist the player, his current status, whether I’m starting him, and why. First,we need to establish important points:
- Atrue clinical opinion is only possible by physically examining thepatient personally.
- NFLteams cannot and do not release every detail about a player’s specific injury.
- Generally,there is enough information available for people like me to provide reasonableanalysis.
- Iam conservative by nature, so if I would not start a player myself, I am goingto advise you to do the same. It’s all a matter of how risk averse you are.
I’llalways try my best not to nerd out on anatomy and physiology, but no promises.
Trey Burton– Game time decision: I think of Burton as a “red light” and here’s why: His injury is being deemed as having a minor groin injury, which adds up because he had a “sports hernia” repair approximately four or five months ago. This is relevant because a “sports hernia” is actually a groin injury. Most reports are stating the injury is “new” and “minor”, this is difficult to imagine for two reasons: the pelvic girdle and core musculature are intimately interconnected, regardless of which “side” is affected and depending on the specific procedure done, Burton’s expected return could be up to four months with no setbacks or recurrences. So, considering his current status, his symptom report, and the fact that he had surgery within the last five months even if he becomes available, I’m not playing Burton in Week 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22955404
DKMetcalf—Sticking with the traffic light analogy, I view DK Metcalf as a “yellow light”considering the fact that despite the public’s use of the phrase “minor surgery”the fact is that surgical tools were placed inside of his knee. That is a causefor caution, especially when considering that Week 1 falls right at post-op day19 for Metcalf. This timing lands right in the middle of the 2-4-week layoffexpected with the procedure he had. The flip side is that Metcalf has been onthe field and practicing with no limitations and no setbacks have beenreported. Keep an eye on the injury report for any developments or flare-ups.Metcalf is a consideration, but the fact that it’s Week 1, he’s a rookie widereceiver, and he’s missed the last three weeks of practice, you’ll likely havebetter options. https://www.uwhealth.org/files/uwhealth/docs/sportsmed/SM_knee_arthroscopy.pdf
DeSeanJackson:Jackson suffered a broken left ring finger last week in practice. According to Eaglesinsider Dave Spadaro, Jackson is expected to play in the season opener thisSunday against Washington. This comes after several contradictory reports thatincluded one of Jackson being fitted for a splint. Even if this is the case,we’ll need to monitor Jackson’s participation in practice, which will helpguide this start/sit decision. With injuries like his, the ultimate driver ofproduction is his tolerance to pain. That said, he will likely tape or splintthe finger and receive something for the pain on Sunday. Adding in thefact that Jackson is right-handed leaves me with minimal concerns. If hepractices all week with no setbacks, consider him a leverage play from aninjury perspective. https://twitter.com/EaglesInsider
JulianEdelman—We’reback to a yellow light. Edelman fractured his left thumb in the offseason butdepending on the complexity should have been a no-brainer…until the Patriotslast pre-season game. Edelman ran a crossing route and was taken down by adefender. He stood up and immediately grabbed for the same previously injuredthumb. He didn’t play any snaps following this incident, but it makes me raisemy eyebrows. A receiver like Edelman is much useful than a DeSeanJackson. Edelman catches balls in the short and intermediate range of the field,requiring dexterity of both hands and the ability to withstand highvelocity passes repeatedly. Keep an eye on the injury report as the weekprogresses (despite how cryptic the Patriots tend to be). We’ll have a betteridea of how he’s doing late in the week, but for now consider other options indaily.
CamNewton:Green light it with Cam. Although he had an injury scare in the Pantherspreseason game, there were no reports of fractures on the X-rays and(presumably) he had minimal swelling to begin with. Clinically this ultimatelywas diagnosed as a “sprain” which essentially means Cam reported pain withwalking and when he was being poked at. At this point, Newton has not beenrestricted while at practice in any way and should be cleared with no concernsfor Sunday. It’s also worth noting that in the offseason Newton had a “cleanup” procedure on the shoulder that he injured last year, and all of thosestructures were intact. I don’t expected Newton to be a large injury risk.
Emmanuel Sanders: Sanders is intriguing to me from an injury perspective. He had two procedures over the summer—one on each ankle— for completely different reasons. The non-Achilles procedure was to repair the connective tissue in between his tibia and fibula, which essentially amounted to a high ankle sprain that never completey healed on its own. The Achilles reconstruction is holding up well to this point, but I’m not certain about his season long outlook. To spare you the details all tendons, including the Achilles, can take up to 12-18 months to completely heal. This is because it responds to low and slow load. Too much load too quickly can result in disaster. So, although I don’t expect a re-tear of the tendon for Sanders, it is completely within the realm of possibilities that aches and pains for a 32-year-old who had two different surgeries can begin to hinder him as the season wears on. If you’re using Sanders this season, it’s in Week 1.
Now,the moment you’ve all been waiting for:
Todd Gurley— Green light at your owndiscretion: It’s just easier to list my concerns with Gurley like this:
- His availability does not precludean RB1 performance.
Because,
- Pain is notGurley’s only limiting factor
Alongwith reduced conditioning due to “load management” and (likely) reduced goalline work, his knee will swell due to the condition. When the knee takes oneven minimal swelling, the brain shuts down use of the muscles surrounding thejoint, usually the quads. No amount of “toughing it out” can turn thisevolutionary mechanism off.
- Gurley couldbe a home run…or a whiff.
Worstcase scenario: Gurley takes the handoff, is slammed into the ground knee firstby a 300lb linemen and a 16 week-long cascade of inflammation and a dance withthe injury report begins. Best-case scenario: the Rams manage Gurley’s workvolume perfectly, his body responds well to the daily prehab/rehab, and hisclinical signs and symptoms are kept at a minimum allowing for a top 10 RBfinish.
Butultimately,
- Expect headaches:
Therewill be weeks in which Gurley is listed as doubtful, upgraded to questionable,and lays a goose egg. Conversely, there’s a universe in which he starts theweek with no designation, ends with a “game time decision” on Saturday, andgoes off for 30 PPR points.
So, there you have it. An injury outlook for Week 1 on every relevant player . Look for an update to this article on Friday and make sure you create a free profile over at windailysports.com and follow me on Twitter @FFStudentDoc for up to the minute injury analysis.
Todd Gurley Featured Image via mario957
