DFS: Final Injury Report

We’ve arrived to the final “normal” week of the regular season. It will be normal in terms of starters who are expected to play and contribute. Week 17 will bring a whole new host of opportunities to cash due to second-teamers running the show, but this week I’ll discuss the injuries that will affect us this Saturday through Monday. Note that all of the following prices are from DraftKings. Let’s get into the DFS: Final Injury Report

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Dalvin Cook ($8,100)

In Week 16 it seems that Cook dislocated his shoulder. My tweet below will give a better description of what happened. The bottom line is that when this happens damage occurs to the labrum, which helps to hold the shoulder joint in place. Cook has damaged his labrum twice before so this is not a new injury, which counter-intuitively is an advantage. When a person has this kind of recurring instability issue, most of the damage is done after the first dislocation.

In fact, a study in 2018 found that 92% of NFL players who had a shoulder instability injury (subluxation or dislocation) were able to return that same season. Players who had a subluxation (i.e. shoulder dislocated partially but went back on its own) returned to play at a median at zero weeks. This means they didn’t miss any time. The players who had a complete dislocation (required some pushing and pulling to put back) were able to play at a median of three weeks. This means half of them came back before three weeks and half of them came back after three weeks. The downside? Almost half of these players (47%) re-injured the shoulder once they returned.

The question is this: will the Vikings put Cook out there knowing he’s at a major risk for a recurrence that will almost certainly land him on the IR? They can either risk-it-for-the-biscuit for a shot at clinching a playoff spot or allow Cook to heal up for a few weeks before the playoffs begin. A classic case of what “should” a team do versus what *will* a team do? Check back with me for updates on Cook’s practice report but even if he’s active I cannot imagine using Cook in cash games or tournaments due to his volatility.

Alexander Mattison ($5,400)

Next on DFS: Final Injury Report Mattison’s last carry in Week 14 happened with 2:08 left in the 4th quarter. He took a handoff to the right and was tackled with both his ankles in an awkward position. Although this is admittedly speculation, my hypotheses are this:

1. Eversion ankle sprain to his right ankle and lateral “low” ankle sprain to the left.
2. High ankle sprain to the right and lateral “low” ankle sprain to the left.
3. Isolated lateral ankle sprain to the left.

If all Mattison did was pick up a low ankle sprain to his left ankle, he could return to play this week with minimal concerns (relative to the other two types of injuries) so long as he gets in at least one full practice by Saturday. Even if Mattison is active without Cook, I’m not confident he’ll dominate the snaps and be healthy enough to produce with Mike Boone ($,900) chomping at the bit. The Vikings have shown they have no issues spreading the snaps around.

So what does this all mean? I’m only confident in using one Vikings running back under one specific set of circumstances: Mike Boone is both Mattison and Cook are active. Otherwise, the entire backfield is a fade in cash and tournaments

Update: There’s nothing new to report on the Vikings backfield other than confirmation of what was projected earlier this week: Alexander Mattison has a high ankle sprain, Dalvin Cook needs time off, and Mike Boone is a smash play and money saver this week. Obviously he’ll be big time chalk, so try sneaking in Ameer Abdullah into a few tournament lineups.

Dak Prescott ($6,400)

Prescott is dealing with finger sprains, a wrist sprain, and now apparently a shoulder issue. The Cowboys reported his MRI is “clean” but as we know from a year of injury reports from me, the MRI correlates very poorly with how an athlete feels. He could be in significant pain. Given the set of circumstances working against Dak with all of his injuries to the throwing shoulder, he’s a cash game fade for me. There’s no reason to take on the risk of re-injury to the shoulder this week. To make matters worse, Dak actually sat out of practice today while Cooper Rush took first-team reps. So, even if Dak is active, pivot to Carson Wentz ($5,800) in tournaments who has had no choice but to shoulder the offensive load for the Eagles in a crucial game to determine the NFC Least East.

Update: Dak was not listed on the final injury report but make no mistake about it, he’s injured. The A.C. joint injury he sustained takes at least a week to partially heal. There’s no plausible way he is 100% considering he missed an entire week of practice for the first time in his career. He is not a cash game play this week.

D.J. Chark ($6,300)

After rolling away(literally) from Week 14 in a walking boot and a scooter, it seems Chark has risen from the dead and is not running routes and cutting hard without restrictions. This is a head-scratcher to me as usual, a rolling scooter is a sign of the IR for players. Whatever the case may be monitoring his practice reports and only use him in cash if he can get in a full practice before Sunday.

Josh Jacobs ($6,700)

Last week I didn’t expect Jacobs to be active but he indeed was and took on a full workload. The result was that against a bottom two rushing defense and bottom five passing defense Jacobs totaled just 89 rushing yards on 24 attempts and two receptions for 20 yards. Now that he’s been officially ruled out for Week 16, it’s evident that I was a week early on Jacobs (read my breakdown on him from Week 15).

DeAndre Washington ($4,000) will be the chalk so, consider a pivot to Keenan Allen ($6,300) against these pathetic Raiders linebackers who won’t be able to slow him down out of the slot.

Update: Jacobs was officially ruled out early in the week, and Jalen Richard is a tournament play in a game the Raiders are seven point dogs in.

JuJu Smith Schuster

JuJu was finally a full participant in practice with no setbacks this week, which is only slightly encouraging given the long road he’s had since a presumed MCL/meniscus issue dating back to Week 11. You can fire him up in tournaments as a contrarian play.

Joe Mixon

Mixon had a setback early in the week with a calf issue as he went from full practice on Wednesday, to partial on Thursday and back to full on Friday. This calf issue is only mildly concerning and theoretically shouldn’t affect Mixon’s production. Just keep in mind the achilles is always at risk here but it appears he’s doing just fine.

Thanks for reading DFS: Final Injury Report. Check back later in the week with me for definitive injury fades/plays.

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Featured image courtesy of Keith Allison.