Edwin Porras 
As the season marches on injuries begin to pile on. At this point, no player is completely healthy making the injury landscape a deep shade of gray. Luckily, I’m here to help you wade through the waters of uncertainty with the DFS Injury Update- Fades and Plays. Keep in mind that all of the following prices are pulled from DraftKings.
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Patrick Mahomes ($7,000)
I won’t bury the lead and start with the player everybody is asking about: “Patty” Mahomes. From a DFS perspective, it’s tough to fade Mahomes at all- cash or tournaments- but coming off an instability injury like a dislocation makes me nervous about a re-injury. The flip side of this argument is that Mahomes is unlike any talent we’ve every seen, and the literature says that his relative risk of re-dislocation, though elevated, is still not likely. Additionally, what he might lack in mobility, he more than makes up for with his cannon arm. So, the net injury perspective of these arguments is that I would consider using Mahomes in his first week back as leverage against the majority of people who would normally play him but won’t this week due to the injury. Don’t go over board with your shares in cash games, but the Chiefs’ running game is non-existent and if the offensive line can protect long enough for a few deep shots down the field, count me in.
Jacoby Brissett ($6,000)
Brissett sprained his MCL last week against the Steelers, but has continued practicing this week in a limited capacity. The MCL is responsible for stabilizing the knee and preventing it from caving and rotating inward during planting and cutting. I’m not concerned about Brissett dropping back and passing, but I am worried about his side to side mobility in the pocket. He’s also at a relatively elevated risk for re-injury to that ligament. All in all, Brissett is a fade for me altogether as I can see this being a big game for Marlon Mack ($7,000) and the running game. This will help to protect Brissett from contact and run down the clock on a terrible Miami defense.
Update: Jacoby Brissett has was unexpectedly been ruled out. I think this has less to do with Brissett’s injury and more to do with the Colts’ confidence in beating the Dolphins.
Marquise Brown ($5,100)
Next up on the DFS Injury Update- Fades and Plays is Marquise Brown, who has been dealing with nagging injuries all year. It’s concerning to me that even after a bye week, he re-aggravated an ankle injury. If you combine his limited practice participation on Friday with the fact that he has only scored more than ten DraftKing points once since Week Two, this makes Brown a fade for me in cash. I might consider him in a handful of tournaments given they play the last-place Bengals. This might be a bounce-back game for Mark Andrews ($5,200) from a passing game perspective.
George Kittle ($6,700)
Kittle is dealing with a knee and ankle injury that is compounded by an ongoing groin issue. As of today, San Francisco has not released his practice participation but at this point, he is considered questionable. Very questionable. It’s an absolute bummer, but Kittle is a fade for me on the Monday night slates even if he is active as there are simply too many moving parts to his injury situation to comfortably use him. The good news for those playing this slate is that Emmanuel Sanders is only $100 more expensive and will likely absorb the targets Kittle would normally see in a game that could easily smash the over of 46.
Updated List
In case you haven’t heard, Matthew Stafford ($6,400) will not play today due to a back injury. Jeff Driskel ($4,100) is a complete hail mary and not worth using in tournaments as a journeyman backup who has not made a single professional start since entering the league in 2016.
Amari Cooper ($7,200)
The Cowboys hadn’t given much insight on Cooper’s injury this week until the practice report revealed his limited participation. Cooper went from a limited practice, to sitting, then back to a limited practice again on Friday. If you remember, Cooper had a thigh contusion a couple of weeks back, and this very well could be the same injury. They’re painful to play through and stubborn to heal. Additionally, Cooper’s day was saved last week by a late touchdown catch and run in a game where he otherwise had just three receptions on 35 yards. Is this lingering injury holding him back? The up and down nature of this injury makes Cooper a volatile play this week, but may raise the ceiling of one Michael Gallup ($6,300). I’m not using Cooper in cash games this week and would consider Gallup in tournaments.
JuJu Smith-Schuster
To say JuJu has been a disappointment this year is less of an indictment on him, and more a reflection of the Steelers as a whole. When “Big Ben” went down in Week Two that offense entered a state of disarray and JuJu has arguably taken the biggest hit in terms of production. To make matters worse, JuJu popped on the injury report on Friday with a foot injury. This foot injury caused him to be on the DFS Injury Update in previous weeks. All things considered, JuJu is a complete fade for me this week.
Thank you for reading the DFS Injury Update- Fades and Plays. If you have any more injury questions make sure to follow me on Twitter @FFStudentDoc and check back with me here for updates.
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Featured image courtesy of Merson.
