5 Biggest Injuries Heading Into The Fantasy Football Season

Draft day is coming fast, and the fastest way to lose value is to treat every injury label like it’s the same problem. We’re ranking five of the biggest fantasy football injury situations and doing what most shows don’t: pairing real sports rehab context with the draft math that actually decides your season. 

We start with Malik Nabers and unpack the ACL plus meniscus tear, surgery timing, the nine to 12 month return window, and what his training camp movement tells us about Week 1 readiness. Then we zoom out to the Giants offense and explain why coaching, coordinator style, and even the backup quarterback matter when you’re betting on a WR1 in PPR leagues. 

From there we hit the hard calls: Joe Burrow’s long injury history and how turf toe surgery, wrist surgery, and offensive line concerns should impact where you take him among the top fantasy quarterbacks. We also tackle Patrick Mahomes returning from an ACL plus LCL injury, why the first month can be tricky even if he suits up, and how Kansas City’s shifting weapons and run game could cap or unlock his fantasy ceiling. 

We close with two draft-shaping positions: Tucker Kraft as a potential tight end steal coming off an ACL, and Jonathan Brooks as the late-round stash with two ACL tears in the same knee and a ramp-up workload behind Chuba Hubbard. Stick around for rapid-fire draft or fade picks for every player. Subscribe, share this with your league, and leave a review with the riskiest player you’re willing to draft this year.

Transcript

Welcome And The Injury Draft Plan

SPEAKER_00 0:09

All right, everybody. Welcome in to the sports rehab show. Eric, how are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 0:16

Doing pretty good, man. How's everything going with you over there?

SPEAKER_00 0:19

Good, man. I'm excited for today's show. We got a big fantasy football show. The five biggest injuries heading into fantasy football season. You're not going to want to miss this, especially if you're drafting this month, like most of us are.

SPEAKER_02 0:36

Yeah, I mean, a lot of obviously we're getting kicked off for the preseason, and you have your clear uh guys that you're gonna want to draft, and that's pretty obvious. But we thought it'd be best to first get into some guys that are obviously damn good players, but coming off injury could be a little risky. So um super excited to start talking about talking about that tonight.

SPEAKER_00 0:59

Yeah, and we wanted to rank these players kind of from you know most likely best draft position, likely to succeed coming off of injury to the worst, right? And and kind of give you that idea of what we think um is gonna happen. Um, I think what separates our show is the fact that we are gonna talk about the injuries in detail, and then we're also gonna talk about the fantasy impact and your team's impact, right? So we're gonna be able to do all that throughout the whole season, and we're starting off the show today with some big name players from last season that had some major injuries, include including Malik neighbors, we got Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, got some other people I can't talk about just yet, but we're gonna get into those details as we go on with the show. Eric, you ready to get in this the show cracking?

SPEAKER_02 1:51

Yeah, let's do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

All right.

Malik Neighbors ACL Timeline And Value

SPEAKER_00 1:54

So I wanted to kind of start off with uh one of the major injuries that happened, especially a player of his caliber, uh wide receiver one, Malik Neighbors, and the Giants, right? He's obviously had some pretty good seasons already and just was coming into his own in the second season, and then week four against the Chargers tears his ACL and his menicius and is out for the season, right? And this on the heels of you know Jackson Dart and kind of getting some momentum and them ready to kind of take that young approach with Scataboo and everybody like that. Um but we got to talk about it, right? So it's a it was an like I remember the play, like it was yesterday, right? He's coming down the sideline trying to catch a fade, and um, and his knee just buckled. So tore meniscus, tore his ACL, and at that point he had he waited about a month to have surgery, and that's pretty typical. You're gonna wait about a month to let the swelling go down, and he had this surgery on October 28th, right? So that's gonna put him uh right now about 10 months, and so it puts him in pretty good shape for the season when you kind of think of the overall uh like re timeline to return is anywhere between nine and twelve months, right? There's been people that made it back in nine months. You got rare people like Adrian Peterson that think he was like six months or something like that. Um, just one of those rare breed athletes that will I mean he breaks every type of physical measure always, right? Uh but the typical is nine to twelve months and sometimes even longer than that, right? So he is on track about 10 months right now. You get into the season from the injury, the season starts in September, it's almost like a full year, right? So I think that's a good thing. Head into it. What are your thoughts on Malig Neighbors and what you have seen from him in training camp thus far?

SPEAKER_02 3:55

So yeah, he he he obviously had a uh a damn good rookie season, and so um just kind of looking here, especially if you're like in a PPR league, caught a 109 balls, 1200 yards, seven touchdowns. I mean, I would say a real solid rookie uh campaign. And and as you would imagine, in year two, you're probably expecting uh that production to even go up more. And he he obviously unfortunately had that injury. And I think the good news for him, uh as you kind of talked about, it's it's almost gonna be a full year by the time they um get going, um, September 13th against Dallas. Uh that's what they kick off the season against, right? So um, you know, well, what what a game to start. So um, you know, obviously you got to be like when you're drafting and you're you're kind of in your league, you got to take some chances. There's some guys that you're gonna uh need to gamble a bit and probably pick up pick them up sooner than you want to. And so, I mean, if if we're saying that it's been enough time for him to just pretty much be at 100%, um, then you know it's somebody you have to grab in particular. Um, it's gonna be an exciting season, I think, for the Giants, obviously, with um, you know, John Harbaugh as our new coach. Um, we know that it's gonna be a full season of Jackson Dart. Um, and so I would shoot. I mean, I I don't I don't know, can't anticipate how it's gonna go, and I don't know if he's gonna have potentially a slow start. Um, but if you're in a PPR league in particular, I would say I think that's where he holds his most of his value, to be honest, in my opinion. I can see him getting around the same yards or so-ish, yeah, um, in the same amount of touchdowns, but those grabs, you know, are are obviously huge in a in a PPR even or even a half point PPR league. So um, yeah, I mean, he's obviously a baller. He was an amazing talent at LSU, and and it's just obviously tricky coming off a knee injury, but with today's kind of medical advances, and we've seen many guys come back and and kind of tear up, tear up the league, so to speak. And so um, I think he'll be able to do that.

SPEAKER_00 6:05

Yeah, and you know, obviously, new coach, John Harbaugh, right? And Matt and Aggie is offensive coordinator, obviously been the Chiefs coordinator for the last two years. Um, so I I think you know, when you look at Harbaugh's system and you look at Lamar Jackson, you picture Jackson Dart, but this is a totally different offensive coordinator than he usually goes with, right? Um, so you think about the running quarterback, that type of quarterback that are gonna have. Jackson Dart has that ability. But we also would happen with Jackson Dart last year where he got concussions, um, he's kind of putting his body out there, and he's gotta be smarter. So I can guarantee you that they are trying to get him to not be like a run first type of quarterback, but run when he when he can, right? And if you look at who does that the best, is Patrick Mahomes, right? So is Patrick Mahomes a running quarterback? Absolutely not. But will he get you 60 yards when he needs to? Of course he will, and he's and he's one of those like great escape artists, and so I think this bodes well for Malik Neighbors. Um, if it was if they kind of brought in the typical Baltimore assistant um offensive coordinator, I would actually not be too high on wide receiver one. If you think about Baltimore's wide receiver ones, they've never been like I would say top fantasy notch players. They're really great players, but they're never like the one number wide receiver one, right? Um, so I think when you when you put the fact that he's coming off the ACL, he's got a good time of rehabbing, and then you got a new offensive coordinator like Matt Nagy, I think those are all good things. The only thing that was questioning for me was that he had the second procedure on his knee to clean up scar tissue. So that was a little concerning, but once you saw his footage in training camp of him being to make cuts looking good in his routes, I kind of was able to throw some of that aside and be like, well, that happens in rehab, like it happens to my clients all the time. Knee gets too much scar tissue, and they kind of have to go in there and clean that up a little bit in order to kind of advance to that next stage. And I think they did that, it looks like it worked really well, and I think it's gonna bode well for the Giants and for fantasy football teams.

SPEAKER_02 8:27

Yeah, I mean, as you were kind of started talking about the the Ravens, I did start thinking about it like, man, just you know, obviously, we're talking about the Ravens because again, they have John Harbaugh as our coach. I can't think of just a top-notch like receiver that's had a top five right fantasy year. I know, you know, obviously you've got Zay Flowers, you had maybe Ancol Bolden, you know, back in the day, like some quality players, don't get me wrong. Um, they've had some tight ends, have some damn good seasons, yeah. Um, but not a receiver. And so, um, but as you said, it's a little bit uh different, you know, with the offensive coordinator. Um, the one thing I do think about though is if something happens to uh Jackson Dart, we we know who the backup is. Uh uh, so is Jameis Winston gonna be, you know, I know you know he's he slings that thing.

SPEAKER_00 9:19

He does sling the thing, though. He slings that thing. So there there could be worse backups, Eric. So there you go. So you gotta think about that too. He does air it out. So I I like that though, because you do in fantasy, you literally are reliant on the quarterback, right? If you don't have a good quarterback, don't draft him as a wide receiver one. And I do believe in Jackson Dart, but like you said, you do have a backup because you you gotta count for Jackson Hart Dart maybe missing some games because of the way he runs and things like that. I could see that so James Wilson, great backup to have, and I think he can definitely air it out.

SPEAKER_02 9:55

Yeah, I don't know if they're gonna you know win a bunch of games, but they're gonna still, I think, be able to air it out and put up points, and that's kind of what you want in fantasy. That's all that really matters. So, yeah, I I think as you guys you know all look at all the factors, you know, think if you have an injury-prone type quarterback, think about who that backup is. Is it someone that's gonna come in and be more of a um you know dink and dunk, right? Game manager, that might not be uh the best player to have, right? So um, but yeah, I mean obviously hopefully a hopefully a healthy start for uh for Malik.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

Definitely. Um, and you know, when you look at ESPN draft rankings and thing, they kind of have them at a consensus uh wide receiver 14, um, just where their draft is drafted position, um, anywhere between 12 and 19. Um, so that would be second round. If you can get Malik neighbors in the second round, I think you're doing pretty damn good, right? So I think he's gonna, I think as the drafts go on and as training camp goes on, if you kind of see a little bit more footage, you might see him slip into that first round. But I think his value is if you can get him in the second round, I think that's a great value for you to have. I'm not overly concerned of this being a you know a player that's such an injury-prone player because of one injury. It's more of like ACLs happen, right? Patrick McOns has an ACL, Tom Brady had an ACL, played another 15 years or whatever it was after that. So it just he's not a player that you can say, oh, this is what happens now. He's an injury-prone player. So I wouldn't really put that on him. There's some players we're gonna talk about later as we go on, but um, as far as Malik neighbors, I got him as a nice, nice pick in the second round.

SPEAKER_02 11:41

Yeah, he's young, he he's obviously a really good player, and so um, like we said, it is an ACL injury, it happens, people have come back from it. Um, he might be uh, you know, I think if he had a regular type of season last year, he's probably a for sure first rounder. But if you can somehow snag him in the second mid-second or so, um, then you know, you probably got yourself a steal.

SPEAKER_00 12:04

Yep, definitely. All right, so let's move on um to uh a person that I would say there's just always a lot of info and not drama, but there's just a lot of intrigue about this player, and that would be Joe

Giants Offense Fit And Quarterback Backup Risk

SPEAKER_00 12:25

Burrow, right? I I put him on the list because he obviously had the turf toe injury last year, it would kind of put him out most of the season, but he did come back for like the last six games uh and showed kind of who he is. Yep. But he's had a long injury history, Eric, right? So it this is not something that's happened just now or just one season, it's kind of been

Joe Burrow Injury History And Draft Range

SPEAKER_00 12:50

multiple seasons, right? So when you look at his injury history, he had the turf coat last year, which which he actually had to have surgery on. He had the wrist injury, which he ended up getting surgery as well, that cost him seven games in 2023. And then he also had the really severe injury, the ACL, MCL, and PCL tear, uh, his his rookie year, right? So he's had these multiple years of injuries, um, which concerns me a little bit with how high of a quarterback he is in fantasy rankings, right? They kind of got him slotted in that four to six range as far as like top four to six quarterback, um, which will put you like in you know, somewhere in that like 47 to 68 overall pick, right? Depending on standard uh PPR leagues and things like that. So I think there is a ton of value with him. I know people are hopping on the Bengals bandwagon this year because they think they're due. I've always thought he just has had a bad offensive line constantly, and I think that makes it just difficult for him to stay healthy. Um obviously he has all the weapons you need Jamar Chase, um Higgins, um, Chase Brown, all these players that you know are offensive threats, you want them on your fantasy team. What are your thoughts of Joe Burrow heading into the season, Eric? And does his injuries scare you?

SPEAKER_02 14:26

Yeah, so I I I'm a big I've I've I've always been a big Joe uh Joe Burrow guy, and and um a little bit more a couple years back. I always thought for sure, like to me, he was like the number two guy uh after Patrick Mahomes, just because I just thought he kind of just has that mock, he has that factor, big game, you know, get give give me Joe Joe Burrow. But um it's starting to kind of scare me a little bit in terms of uh depending on him, like being one of your, like you said, you know, top four or five quarterbacks, fantasy-wise, of course. Um, I I think it's a bit of a risk. Now, depending on your league, right? So I I know we have uh kind of the standard league, it's like four points, right? For passing touchdowns, and then um kind of like our league, uh, for example, the ones that that you and I are in, we we do six points. So there's a little bit more value there when you have a non-running quarterback, right? And so that's something that you have to keep in mind if you're kind of in a standard league. I think there's gonna be probably seven, eight guys that I I think are better off um or you're better off with. Um simply because it's just that you gotta measure everything. And while while I like Cincy, I I love their weapons, and I and I think part of it is they are obviously spending on that part of the the field. Um, and you know, the O-line is part of that field too, but it it just seems to until I see it, till I see him protected back there, sure, like I I won't believe it. And so again, he's a baller, like you know, he's if if I got one game to win, uh you know, I want him on my team, but it's just the longevity of a season uh as of late, it it's been tough. So I I I I to be honest, I I think I may stay away.

SPEAKER_00 16:14

Yeah, and when you just look at overall seasons, right? He's played one, two, he's played uh six seasons, and three of those seasons he played 16, 16, and 17 games, right? So he's kind of like a every other season, and when you look at stats with Joe Burrow starting in 2022, he had 35 touchdowns, next year he had 15 touchdowns, next year had 43, and then last year he had 17. So if you put it in that way, he's likely due for a big season. So there is a big risk with Joe Burrow, but an even bigger reward. And I think some of those rewards in fantasy is what gets you a championship.

SPEAKER_02 16:58

So I would say yeah, he tends to start off slow too, a little bit. Yeah, he does, right? That's you gotta stick it out if you were to get him, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:08

And I also would say, look, this division is totally different, right? He's gonna be in a division now that I don't know what you're getting out of Baltimore, like there's no stability there. I don't know what you're getting out of Pittsburgh, and we all damn know what we're getting out of Cleveland, okay? That's not even a question of what Cleveland is gonna look like. They will be 0-17, 1-16, 2-15, whatever that is, and they will have um the number one pick next year, and you know who they're gonna be drafting. But that's regardless to the point. I think that division has changed. I think defenses that are not as good in that division. Um, I think there's a real chance to win the division for the Bengals. And so if you got a team that's gonna win the division, likely you're gonna have a really good quarterback winning that division. Um, and I think he's, you know, I think he's destined, or at least this season, to kind of make that push and be back in the playoffs. I don't he's been missing the playoffs a little bit too much for my liking, for the talent that he has. And I think he wants to prove a lot of people wrong this year. And I think the AFC, to be honest, is really for the taking. There's no team out there I think is totally dominant. And I think Joe Burrow can kind of be that um that leader that kind of leads him.

SPEAKER_02 18:28

Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's I think it's a big season for them. Zach Haler, uh, I think you know he's he's it's probably like put up a shut up time. Um, what I'm just interested to see is not that you're gonna like handcuff him because you gotta do what you gotta let him do what he's gotta do, especially with those weapons. But for them to not succeed in September, October, for but for them to grind it out and have a really good team winning that division, getting into the playoffs, are they gonna kind of have to turn it down a notch and maybe run the ball a little bit more, maybe you know, not put him in harm's way. So that's something to think about too, you know. And maybe that's not in Joe Burroughs' DNA, and maybe that's just you know, maybe just not gonna happen. But I don't know. I just feel like something has to change just to kind of keep him up right. Um, and so that's something that you can't really control. Obviously, you still want to get him because he, I mean, he does have Jamar Chase, as you said, and and and and a plethora of receivers, but um, I mean, if he's if he's there like kind of dangling, you know, kind of down into the draft, I I mean, I do think it is a very much a high reward, but you gotta you gotta be cautious um uh with him for sure.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

Yep, for sure. Um, so it'll be a little bit interesting. Um, we're gonna kind of at the end of the show, we're gonna give a little panel on draft or fade with all these players that we just talked about. Um, and we're gonna just give a quick spitfire reaction to that. But overall, when you look at he was already able to return from that turf toe, so that wasn't an issue going into the last couple games. So I'm not too concerned about his current body state, right? It's just more his injury

Patrick Mahomes ACL LCL Rehab And Fantasy Ceiling

SPEAKER_00 20:09

history. Um but that leads us to another quarterback who's making a huge return, and that would be Patrick Mahomes. Now he's never really dealt with any major injuries in his career, and this is the first time that he's you know had a season like this kind of just end tragically with obviously tearing his ACL. Not only his ACL, but he also tore his LCL in this injury. Um, so he had to rehab surgery for both, which is it does, I would say, complicate complicate things in the beginning as far as the recovery process, but as he gets into the later stages of it, it's all the same. The LCL heals really quickly. The ACL just needs a little bit more time for more of the stability component there. Um, but in the beginning, yeah, it can be a little more tough and um tougher on them because usually it's more ACL meniscus kind of issue. Um, and this was more the ACL and LCL. So um right now, you know, where he is, he had the surgery on December 14th. Uh sorry, that was the actually injury date, but he had the surgery actually the next day, which is sometimes they wait and sometimes they don't, right? And and a lot of times they always say, Oh, it's inflammation that causes them to wait. And then sometimes you have players like Kobe who say do the surgery that the next day. Um, you have players like Patrick Mahomes, I want a surgery the next day, because they know every day that they waste is likely gonna push into the season. Yeah, that's why I mean he was already in December, anyways, right? So that's already late into this season, kind of jeopardizing the start to um the 26th season. So we are now roughly only what eight months uh Um he's yeah, seven and a half, eight months away from his injury uh surgery, which is pretty remarkable to see that he was cleared for training camp activities. And if you've seen any of the footage, I mean, I saw him in the pocket kind of scramble, take off, and run 20, 30 yards. And I'm like, oh, he's good. He's gonna be there for week one, right? They obviously haven't said that yet, but what are your thoughts on Patrick Mahomes coming back this year? And does this mirror another player of GOAT status, Eric, and Tom Brady?

SPEAKER_02 22:34

Yeah, so I mean, believe it or not, this is year 10 for former home, Patrick Mahomes. Crazy, pretty crazy. So Tom Brady um famously you know tore his ACL in in week in season nine as well. So this ninth season. I know Tom Brady was, I believe, week one um against Kansas City, I think, too. But um, so he obviously when he came back, it was a full year later, and that was the year that they went 16-0 and almost um went undefeated the whole season, obviously, just to lose to the Giants in the Super Bowl. And Tom Brady had, I mean, I don't I don't have his numbers right in front of me, but he had a crazy year along with Randy Moss. And so um, this is uh it's interesting, just the parallels, but obviously it could be a little different because Patrick Mahomes hurt his leg um pretty late into the year, and so I'm definitely surprised he's he's coming back so soon. Just like kind of Adrian Peterson, like you talked about a moment ago. I think he's just superhuman and he's just one of these guys that can come back like and heal quicker than others. Um, I don't know. I I mean, I know we're gonna talk a little bit about the the the fantasy part of it. Um I mean, even the last couple seasons of Mahomes Healthy, um, it just I don't know. It obviously they won, they won Super Bowls, and that's all that matters. But for the fantasy folks, I know it was a bit frustrating. So is that first year coming off an ACL gonna be a dominant type year like we've seen from him, but not in a few seasons? I don't know. I I think that's a question that that kind of hangs over um you know everyone's head, really.

SPEAKER_00 24:18

Yeah, I mean when you look at Patrick Mahomes' career, right? Like he's he started off ridiculous. I mean, if first year starting getting 50 touchdowns is something that I mean, nobody's ever done that before. And like when you thought about that way, you're like, dude, this is gonna he's gonna be the most dominant quarterback in fantasy purposes, right? And and for a while, for years, you know, he kind of had a little down year the next year, only had 26, 6, but then he had 13, 37, 41, right? So he had these three years in a row where you're like, all right, he's throwing for a bunch of touchdowns, he's doing all that. And then what happened, Eric? He lost Tyreek Hill, he lost some weapons, and I think that like long ball that he used to throw and he'll just catch it, he lost that, right? So he's kind of had over the last three seasons, he's only been in the 20s, 27, 26, 22 touchdowns, right? And obviously last season cut it was cut short. To me, that reminds me a lot of Tom Brady, right? Like where no matter what, you knew he probably will end up in the Super Bowl or a close, but as far as the fantasy purposes, he was middle tier, right? Like it was like QB2, right? Like maybe low-end QB1, but a lot of times kind of staying in that QB2. And then Tom Brady had some years where he just became back, he got back in the QB1 type of status in fantasy football, right? So I think Patrick Mahomes can come back and do that. I think he's out to prove some things. He's got some more weapons now. He got uh a run game, which he's never really had. So I think adding Kenneth Walker is gonna help us help him tremendously. Just keep the defensive honest, right? I think that's the biggest problem with them. They've been a little bit more too too predictable. Everybody knows they're not gonna run. Um, I think with Kenneth Walker, they're gonna have that run game. I think with Travis Kelsey, he has obviously slowed down a bit, but if he can still get that sheer possession type of tight end, I think that's gonna be important. Um, and then you have Noah Gray on the other side, I believe, um, at least having some other options there. So I'm hoping that he can come back and have that type of fantasy season. I'm not banking on it though, right? This is coming off of ACL injury, LCL injury. So I think it's gonna be where your first couple weeks are gonna be a little bit tough. You're gonna, if you draft him too early in the first four weeks, you're probably not getting as that type of production. Um, I think he might be a steal if you are the type of uh fantasy drafter that wants a load up on running backs and receivers and tight ends and just draft a quarterback late. I think he would be your guy, right? He's gonna be that type that could injure the QB1 conversation in the lower end, um, but likely around the QB2.

SPEAKER_02 27:22

Yeah, and I sorry, I just want to correct myself from earlier. So Tom Brady, he actually had the his best season the year before he got injured. So he got the 50 touchdowns, um, Randy Moss here, Super Bowl the year after goes down week one. Man, what a tough time for England.

SPEAKER_00 27:40

So right after that, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:41

Yeah, and then he comes back and he's got, I think I looked, he had 27 and 13. So, you know, obviously a decent year. And then after that, he kind of really got it going in terms of like numbers, a lot of like high 30s in terms of uh touchdown uh passes. Yep. Um, so you know that being said, yeah, it's I think it's kind of like a buy low, and and and it's weird to say for still arguably, arguably, I think, and I and I think the best quarterback um out there, but we have seen that it's not um he just wins, he he knows how to win if it's a close game. You don't want Mahomes with the ball. But uh I'm be interested to see if we kind of get a little bit of what we've seen in the past. I know Travis Kelsey was a big part of it too, and I don't know. I don't think he's you know, he's obviously not getting any younger, and I can't see him playing big big dividends. So um want to see who it is, but yeah, it's one of these things it like you don't want to pick him too high because there's a risk of he's obviously coming back on injury, and even without the injury, it's been a few seasons since he's had a dominant year fantasy-wise, so keep that in mind.

SPEAKER_00 28:52

Yeah, I mean, I'm I'm on the same kind of wavelength with that. I think it's gonna be special to kind of see him back. I think wins are gonna be more important than fantasy, like always for them. So I I think they're gonna be concerned more with that, and you might see Kennet Walker having more touchdowns because of that, right? They might be rushing a little bit more inside the five or inside the 10 because they actually have a back that they can trust. Um but I I I do think he'll end up with like it wouldn't surprise me if he had 30 touchdowns, right? If he ended up with 27, be like, yep, that's about normal. And then if he ended up with a high like somewhere in that 35 range, then you got tons of value right there, right? But I I I do think you know, there's a lot of people that use that strategy where they're like, I would rather have that like low-end QB1 and have a bunch of skilled players getting my points versus having that high-end quarterback, especially in the standard leagues that you know get four points for quarterbacks touchdowns. We still play in that like archaic league that has six points for a TD for passing in one of our leagues, Eric.

SPEAKER_02 30:02

Yeah, yeah, that's obviously what I was mentioning too with Joe Burrow. So that's why for like our league, he might um a guy like Joe Burrow and um Mahomes, there may be a little bit more value there, right? For sure. Um, but yeah, obviously um draft with caution, I would say, and it's not taken away from his ability.

SPEAKER_01 30:23

For sure.

Tucker Kraft ACL Return And Tight End Upside

SPEAKER_00 30:24

All right, so let's get into our first tight end of the day. We gotta talk about Green Bay Packers, Tucker Kraft, right? Did you know, Eric, that he was the number one tight end in fantasy through the first eight weeks last year?

SPEAKER_02 30:43

Yeah, I did. I mean, I I recall him having a good start. I just didn't think it was that good, but yeah, obviously a tremendous first eight games.

SPEAKER_00 30:50

And essentially, he is the Packers' number one receiver, tight end, whatever you want to call it. Yeah, I don't know if you know this, but my man Christian Watson has only I think the most receptions on the season is 36. Yeah, yeah, and he's never gone above uh 600 yards, too. So I think Tucker Kraft coming back is gonna be huge for the Packers. Now let's get into his injury. Obviously, another ACL tear. Um, this happened in November, is November 2nd. Um, he did have surgery about 10 days later on November 12th, uh, which is great because that puts his timeline at a much higher timeline here. Um so essentially, right now he's about nine months, and by the time the season starts, he'll be around 10, almost getting to um the 11-month mark, right after the first four weeks of the season. So I think that puts him in a good space um as far as recovering. I don't know if he heard, he said that his doctors have told him they've never seen somebody recover so fast from ACL injury, um, for whatever that's worth. Um, but that means he's been doing well for at least the last couple months, like super, super well. And so I think that gives him a good shot, obviously, at playing week one and being fully ready to go. And the Packers are gonna need him big time because they lost Romeo Dobbs, they lost Dante Wicks. Um, and so they've lost some receivers and and talent on that team. And I know Jordan Love, he loves Kraft, and he needs him on the field on week one.

SPEAKER_02 32:39

Yeah, I I think when you're thinking about your tight end, you do got to think about like where they are in the in the in the like pecking order, you know, uh so to speak. And so when you have a tight end that's gonna be blocking and kind of doing more of that, and maybe being a third or fourth option, um, there's still some value there on a really good tight end. But like as you said, when he's a number one option, um, obviously coming off of injury, um, which would be the concern, but if he's like ready to go, kind of like the couple the few guys that we've talked about already, and and I I think there's a common theme with all these guys that it seems like they're just like ridiculous when it comes to recovery, you know, and the odds are maybe one of these four or five guys we talk about, maybe it's that recovery is not looking as good as as we as we think it is, and um, but like in terms of you know him, right? He had a um kind of an ordinary rookie season, right? Especially for a tight end, it just kind of happens, but he came out just man, like 50 catches and eight games, right? Uh last year. Um, you know, so again, he's a number one option. I think uh, you know, obviously, like you think of like a Trey McBride, it's like one of the guys where it's like they have like two or three options on that team and he's still putting up numbers, right? But I mean, somebody's gotta get the ball right. Uh Jordan Love's got to toss it to someone. And so um, yes, last year was a coming out party. And I expect if he's healthy, which it sounds like he is, uh, just to kind of pick up where it where he left off. And so I know sometimes these tight ends um, you know, don't have two just ridiculous years in a row. Um, but he didn't really get his chance to have his ridiculous year because he got injured, and so maybe that that'll happen this year.

SPEAKER_00 34:23

Yeah, and uh I think for value, right? Like if you look at some of the ESPN rankings, he's almost at he's at nine, right? Wow, and that kind of puts him it's a good it's a little low. Yeah, and and you look at draft position, that puts him around the 10th round range, around 115.

SPEAKER_02 34:42

I think that's a great if you can get him at that point, that's a great pick.

SPEAKER_00 34:45

To me, that is huge, huge, huge value value because I think you can get him that late, and he can be the number one tight end in the league, fantasy-wise. I think he has that much talent, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's at least top three this year, um, based on who the vetpackers actually have to throw to. I think he's gonna, you know, be in that range if he has a full 17-game season. He's gonna be in that range from seven to ten touchdowns at least, right? And then you figure if he's playing a full season, he's kind of got that whole like you know, he had that second season where he had about 700 yards, and then he wasn't like the you didn't really know about him being the number one as much then, and then he kind of took that over. Him a full season of being the number one. I mean, I'm sure he can get close to a thousand yards and get you almost 10 TDs, and I think that's gonna put him pretty close to tight end one status. Um, obviously, you got players like McBride who are freaking dominant, and you got Bowers. Um, but other than those two, I think he can be up there with those two. Bowers obviously is gonna get a billion receptions, right? That's just what he does. Um, I see you smiling over there, Eric. So hold on, hold on.

SPEAKER_02 36:06

I I think I I slipped a name. I don't I don't know if you heard me. What I slipped a name, I don't know if you heard me.

SPEAKER_00 36:12

Who'd you say?

SPEAKER_02 36:13

Kyle Kyle Pitts.

SPEAKER_00 36:15

Oh, why can we go a show without talking about Kyle Pitts? I know he if you guys don't know this, he's on my do not draft list, and it's not because of his production last year. Uh, we have a long standing. I know you guys out there, if you're listening to us right now, I know you have a player that you will refuse to draft because you have drafted him so many damn times. And not only did I take him last year when I said I wouldn't, I traded him before he had last year. Yeah, to me, that's like a bad omen. Like, I just I've had him at least four years and he's never been good. And the time I trade him, he blows up and becomes a number one tight end essentially the rest of the season. I just can't touch him. I just refuse to drop it for real this time, huh?

SPEAKER_02 37:13

Is it for real this time?

SPEAKER_00 37:14

I I said that last year. I said I was drafted him, but I'm I'm not gonna draft him, guys.

SPEAKER_02 37:21

All right, all right, yeah, point point taken. And so I I think when you like because he's a tight end going back to Tucker. I I mean, I I in my opinion, I I mean, I think about our league, it's like 10 teams. I swear, like there's probably two or three teams every year that are playing like the carousel like game with tight ends, right? Where you're dropping someone and picking someone up and drop, you know, so it's it's really hard to have 10 solid tight ends. Yeah, and so if he's at number nine, I mean that's kind of low. And I think if you can sneak up and you're probably gonna have to like um maybe pick him up a little earlier than the 10th round, but I think it's still a good spot because uh he's obviously as a especially like uh after the couple guys that you mentioned will be gone, they'll be gone early. Yeah, um, you know, McBride and and the um the uh kid from the Raiders, but um you know it it it's once you get after that, right? You're like um got a few others, obviously, but it I could see him being definitely if he's healthy, definitely a top, you know, two or three uh tight end, which he was uh obviously through eight games last year.

SPEAKER_00 38:29

Yeah, for sure. Um so it should be interesting. Um, but I you know, out of the ACLs that we've talked about, Malik Neighbors, um Patrick Mahomes, and now Tucker Kraft, the good thing about all those injuries is I feel like they will be available all week one, right? And and that's remarkable because those are three great players, especially fantasy production-wise. Um, but I I do think they all will be back, and this will all be back within a year, which is pretty damn amazing when you think about it.

SPEAKER_02 39:02

Yeah, yeah, lots of like pretty big injuries for guys that you would think it'd be a full year out, and and they're all basically projected to come back week one. Uh pretty crazy, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:13

It is

Jonathan Brooks Two ACLs And Stash Strategy

SPEAKER_00 39:14

crazy. All right, so that takes us to our last player, which is unfortunately another ACL um injury, but not just one, two in the same knee, Eric, and that's Jonathan Brooks, right? So this is a running back that Carolina's had for a little bit, but he came into the league with um an ACL tear um at Texas, right? So he he came into league with that, and he was able to make himself all the way get back, and then it was December that he played in 2024, and he tore the same knee again, right? So it happens, right? It's frustrating, right? But people have done that where they have torn the same knee, and you know, I've seen it a lot in high school athletes, college athletes, and some pros. Um, but it's it's unfortunate. It's one of those things where you know the knee was just, you know, either just it randomly happened, it just wasn't strong enough, or it, you know, it could be from contact, right? But I think in his case, it just gave out again and he tore it again. Second surgery he had was done by um the famous doctor in LA, Dr. Neil Elitrach, right? That was in mid-January 2025. Um, so he now has had about 19 months since the injury and 18 and a half months since the surgery. So he's had a long, long road, like missed all of last season, obviously, uh, which is pretty frustrating. And now he's back. And so when you look at his fantasy prospects, right, he's kind of like one of those deeper sleepers, but at the same time, Carolina Panthers don't have Rico anymore. Rico Doddwell went to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and so they still have Chuba, Chuba Hubbard, right? They still have him, and he's kind of like that old, reliable, he's still gonna kind of have some value. But now you got this young back that's coming off of two ACL injuries, and you kind of are like, hey, this could be a little sleeper. If you get him super, super late, this guy could be of value. What do you think of uh of his story actually? And then what do you think of his prospects?

SPEAKER_02 41:35

I mean, yeah, I mean, definitely the story is great. If he can get out there and suit up, I mean, it's it's I'm sure he's gone through trials and tribulations, probably like a lot of mental hurdles, which it's still maybe there are things that he has to get through. Um, you know, I I hope it's not the case, but I I worry about him, like his like longevity, right? You know, I think of like Todd Gurley. Um, not to say that they're the same player. And if he gets two or three seasons like Todd Gurley has, then shit, you know, sign me up uh for Jonathan Brooks. But I just think of guys like that where it's like it just their career kind of was cut short because of some serious knee injuries. But in this case, we're not talking about um the longevity of Javity of his career, we're kind of talking about this season coming up, and so I really do think it's gonna be like kind of just working them in. Um, they do have the the old reliable vet there, as you said. Um, and so when you have that, you know, you you you tend to um with with with Chubba Hubbard, uh Chubba um Hubbard, right? Yeah, Hubbard. Uh when you have him, you know, you you gotta they're still gonna use him. And so I would say um it's kind of one of those like draft with caution, but obviously he's gonna be a low draft pick. And again, as I said early in the show, sometimes you're just gonna have to take some risks and some gambles, and and if you can pick him up and he's like kind of the player that we know that he is coming out of college, uh look out. But it I do see it being a challenge, at least kind of the beginning of the season. Um, although he's obviously you know well rested, if anything.

SPEAKER_00 43:06

Yeah, and and I think they're gonna feature Chuba in the beginning and try to start to you know give Jonathan like five to ten carries. Yeah, I think this is a player that will be a stash, right? Like you're gonna snatch him on your bench as like your last couple picks, right? And and wait and see approach. Um, but I do think there's value here, right? Because the other players we talked about are all trying to rush to get back because typical ACL return timeline is a year, like you want to go a year. Statistics say that if you got a year, it is more than likely better. There's a better outcome, right? But the other three players we talked about are definitely gonna be under a year. Jonathan Brooks is gonna be about 19 months, right? So that is ironically interesting because he's the safest, like kind of re injury timeline wise. Um versus a player that's rushing to get back. Right. So I I I like that aspect because you almost gave yourself a year and a half and he's itching to get back. I'm sure he's pissed off and he can't wait to be on the field. And I think that does help him overall as far as longevity, as far as like he's taking the time to actually get right. And um yeah do you worry about the knee later in his life? Of course, right? Two ACLs is always tough, right? That always leads to you know likelihood of getting arthritis as he gets older. But in this short NFL career that most players have, you know, like and if he's thinking about five to ten years, I think he can prove himself this year, probably towards the back end of this year. But I think having him as a handcuff, having somebody like that is probably one of the highest values that you can have um in this draft.

SPEAKER_02 44:54

Yeah yeah definitely you always have to think of handcuffs and again if it's your last couple picks um where you can kind of stash them and hey sometimes you know how the season goes you may um depending on how things are going you may have to to wave them to pick up somebody or you can kind of keep them you know it just depends. I remember for myself I just thought about like I had like Zach uh Chabernay last year just like I for some reason I had him the whole season but I just thinking like oh he's gonna like get a crack uh like in in in there and he played him he got like 12 touchdowns and had 700 yards but you know you can kind of like hope that maybe he becomes like that main guy by like mid through way through the season. Yeah um and then you can like you know um how instead of like it being like the the hot waiver wire pickup you're gonna have them already so definitely something something to think about. Yep

Rapid Fire Draft Or Fade Picks

SPEAKER_02 45:44

definitely all right Eric you ready for draft or fade let's do it all right so we're gonna go rapid fire with this Eric yeah go to the back to the first player Malik neighbors draft or fade I'm gonna go draft you draft him in the first round I'm gonna go draft I guess I'll yeah to give add some context uh draft um I'm gonna say sec mid uh to late second round is uh like my second pick uh definitely third but second to third pick I'd feel comfortable with it.

SPEAKER_00 46:17

Got um I'm gonna go draft as well and if I'm the 10th person in a league I'm drafting somebody and I'm dropping him back to back right there. So that's where I see him kind of low in the first round high end of the second round. But I definitely think he is gonna be a player that you'll want as your wide receiver one.

SPEAKER_02 46:38

Absolutely all right Joe Barrow Eric draft or fade I'm gonna tough for me to say because I like him a lot like I mentioned um I'm gonna go fade just because I think there's um at this point just some better fantasy quarterbacks he could prove me wrong he can have a tremendous year but just the the risk of kind of the injury uh the O-line the the bad starts um I've picked him a couple times in my you know lifetime of of playing fantasy but um if he's drops is one thing and and I get I think we kind of mean like obviously if if he's are we gonna pick him kind of where he's projected to get picked I guess we could say yeah um yeah so I'm gonna go with fade what about yourself?

SPEAKER_00 47:25

I'm gonna go with draft okay and I'll say he's gonna be a top three quarterback and I want to give Joe Burrow his props because coming back from a a toe turf toe surgery in the amount of time that he came back last year to play on a team that was likely not going to get in the playoffs proves all you need to know about his character and like his ability to kind of like mentally challenge himself because he's always played through injuries but his ability to kind of like say nah I'm still going to come back to this team I could sit out the rest of the season but we have a chance to make the playoffs and he came back and did that so I'm gonna give him his his props and and I also think he'll be a top quarterback this year.

SPEAKER_02 48:06

Every other year Joe maybe we'll see it again. Yep all right we got the next maybe the mini goat there Patrick Mahomes draft or fade Eric uh I'm gonna go fade as well from a fantasy perspective I alluded to um I kept thinking the last few seasons he was gonna like become that guy that we saw a few years before that. So I really have to see it uh before I go drafting him.

SPEAKER_00 48:34

Yeah um I'm actually gonna go fade as well. I I don't see him dominating this season. I think it's gonna take a little bit of time to work himself back in um especially in the first four weeks. And when you take away four weeks of a season I think it's really hard to play catch up and I don't think they have that the offense to play catch up like that as far as statistics wise. I don't think I'm not saying they're not gonna win games but I just think like as far as getting where he needs to be for a fantasy quarterback. So I'm gonna hit the fade button on him I would draft a lot of quarterbacks over him.

SPEAKER_02 49:14

Yeah I see them featuring Kenneth Walker which is not a bad thing that you feature a running back you can still put up numbers but I think that that'll be a big part of the offense.

SPEAKER_00 49:23

He might not be on your fantasy roster but they might be in the Super Bowl.

SPEAKER_02 49:26

So exactly all right so next one we got Tucker Kraft draft for fade Eric uh a draft I mean he's a tight end I just talked about how you it is very hard to find 10 really good tight ends for a 10 team league just doesn't just doesn't happen. And so just on that alone and obviously his talent I'm gonna say draft.

SPEAKER_00 49:49

Yeah I'm gonna draft him uh like I said earlier I think he has a chance to be a top three tight end this year um and for his value to get him uh say a tenth round like that I think that can win you a championship so I think Tucker Kraft is gonna win a lot of people fantasy championships this season.

SPEAKER_02 50:10

Absolutely I agree all right and then we last one Jonathan Brooks draft or fader um I'm gonna put a little little nugget I guess uh if you're in a 12 league team um I'm gonna say draft if you're in a 10 definitely not an eight team um I mean kind of I guess think about where you're picking your last pick right I'm pretty sure you could have worse uh last picks or you know second to last so I'm gonna have to say fade I'm still gonna go with fade there um but yeah I I I think the the larger leagues like I mean I think it's definitely worth stashing them.

SPEAKER_00 50:52

Yeah I'm gonna go fade Eric and and reason being because I don't think he's gonna do much the first four weeks and I think the people that do draft him are going to drop them and then that's somebody that you can actually stash on the waiver wire as the season goes on. So I think that might be somebody that you can just like stash them away when you need them and might be able to pick them up at at some point when he kind of starts his production. Because I don't think he's gonna be unless we see some out of the preseason like where it's like oh this dude looks dominant.

Wrap Up And Next Fantasy Injury Show

SPEAKER_00 51:23

Yeah of course I don't know if he's gonna be a 50-50 with uh chuba right now right so I think that's more gonna be like a 70-30 split or something like that at best to start the season um and then kind of work his way back in yep I agree all right so that wraps our first kind of training camp preseason uh fantasy football special um we're gonna have another episode as well coming up um again we're gonna be breaking down potential players that are coming back from injury and then also just where they um are on their draft rankings. Eric, you got anything else to say before we get out of here?

SPEAKER_02 52:01

No, that'll do it. All right.

SPEAKER_00 52:04

Yeah for sure. And we'll see you guys soon for the sports rehab team we are out. Take care you guys. Peace out