First Look: Week 3 NFL DFS Injury News and Notes

If you thought week 1 brought us a significant amount of injuries, well, you might want to buckle up for this one. There were a total of 7 ACL tears in week 2 (!), high ankle sprains, hamstring injuries, etc. If you’re playing seasonal fantasy football and or/best ball, odds are you didn’t leave week 2 unscathed. Luckily for you, if you’re reading this article, you also play NFL DFS and want to see the value behind all of these injuries. Below you’ll find a list of all of the injuries in week 2 followed by the backups and their price tags for week 3.

Saquon Barkley – OUT for the season with an ACL tear

– Dion Lewis ($5,300 DK/$5,500 FD; played 87.6% of snaps last week with Barkley going down due to injury)

UPDATE: The Giants have agreed to terms with RB Devonta Freeman. My guess is that Freeman won’t be the starter this week as he won’t have enough time to acclimate to his new team, but if he plays, he’ll cut directly into Lewis’ and Gallman’s value.

Christian McCaffrey – OUT for 4-6 weeks with a high ankle sprain

– Mike Davis ($5,100 DK/$6,000 FD; turned 8 targets into a 8-84-0 line last week with McCaffrey going down due to injury. FB Alex Armah will see some additional touches and the receivers in this offense will certainly receive additional targets without McCaffrey around, but we’re expecting Davis to be the starting running back)

Courtland Sutton – OUT for the season with an ACL tear

– Noah Fant ($5,400 DK/$5,800 FD)

– Jerry Jeudy ($5,000 DK/$5,300 FD)

– KJ Hamler ($3,000 DK/$4,500 FD)

Raheem Mostert – OUT for at least week 3 with a knee sprain; Tevin Coleman – OUT for multiple weeks with a knee injury

– Jerick McKinnon ($4,900 DK/$5,700; the 49ers are likely going to either call up a running back from the practice squad or sign a running back though McKinnon is likely going to be the 1a option for this week)

– Jeff Wilson Jr. ($4,000 DK/$5,200 FD; likely to play second fiddle to McKinnon this week though this is still a significant role given how much the 49ers run the ball)

Jimmy Garoppolo – Week to week with a high ankle sprain

– Nick Mullens ($5,100 DK/$6,500 FD)

Drew Lock – OUT for at least two weeks with a shoulder injury

– Jeff Driskel ($5,300 DK/$6,500 FD)

Sterling Shepard – Expected to miss multiple games with a toe injury

– Darius Slayton and Golden Tate will play 2 WR sets but neither is a backup to Shepard. Damion Ratley ($3,000 DK/$4,500 FD) is a Giants’ wide receiver that will be forced to play a bigger role. Slayton will continue to operate as the Giants’ top wide receiver and the price tags ($4,900 DK/$5,500) remain quite favorable in a matchup against a 49ers squad that just lost their best defensive player (DE Nick Bosa) for the season. 

Parris Campbell – Expected to be OUT for multiple games due MCL and PCL injuries

– Zach Pascal ($4,500 DK/$5,100 FD; played 80.8% of snaps in week 2)

– T.Y. Hilton ($5,600 DK/$6,200 FD; Hilton’s production hasn’t been great through the first couple of games, but Campbell’s absence should open up more targets and the matchup against the Jets is a great one to target)

Breshad Perriman – Week to week with a sprained ankle

– Braxton Berrios ($3,600 DK/$5,100 FD; played 1.7% of snaps in week 1 and followed it up by playing a whopping 70.7% of snaps in week 2 with Perriman getting hurt)

Cam Akers – Day to day with a rib injury

– Malcolm Brown ($5,200 DK/$5,600 FD; Brown is also questionable with a finger injury but he’s expected to play in week 3)

– Darrell Henderson Jr. ($5,400 DK/$5,800 FD; 12-81-1 rushing line in week 2 with Akers leaving the game and not coming back; also received 3 targets and turned those into 2 catches and 40 receiving yards)

Davante Adams – Did not return to the game with a hamstring injury

– Allen Lazard and Marques Valdes-Scantling; only available on showdown slates for the Sunday night game.

Adams doesn’t have an injury designation attached to him at this point but at this point we’re assuming that he’ll be questionable this week. Adams did want to go back in the game, but the Packers were already winning big. If he does miss time, it’s unlikely to be a significant amount. However, if he does miss this week, there’s going to be enormous amounts of opportunities for Lazard and Valdes-Scantling. Outside of Adams, the only other offensive player that has played at least 80% of snaps this season is Lazard.