Week 8 was pure carnage in fantasy football. Fantasy’s most valuable asset went down, with Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell tearing his MCL. He is going to miss the rest of the season.
Fantasy football waiver wire: Injuries heading into Week 9
The fantasy world lost yet another high-end running back. Who else went down for fantasy owners this weekend?
It wasn’t just Bell -- there were about seven must-start players going down on Sunday. We still don’t know for sure the status on some, but there’s a good chance 4-5 of them are out for Week 9. Hopefully, you didn’t lose half your team, but there’s certainly at least a handful of owners out there who just lost Bell and Baltimore Ravens receiver Steve Smith for the season. Fantasy football is not fun sometimes.
Here are the injuries from last week along with some injuries from previous weeks.
Injuries from Week 8
Quarterback
Running back
Dion Lewis, New England Patriots
What: ACL tear
Analysis: It’ll be James White as the next man up; LeGarrette Blout is also safer.
Wide receiver
Kendall Wright, Tennessee Titans
What: MCL sprain could cost him time
Analysis: It might be Dorial Green-Beckham stepping up and he’s worth a look in any league
Brandon Marshall, New York Jets
What: Ankle and toe injuries
Analysis: He’s probably going to need to miss a week; Jeremy Kerley would be a deep-league pickup while Eric Decker would be a must-start guy.
Keenan Allen, San Diego Chargers
What: Kidney injury
Analysis: Status unknown, so not worth picking up Stevie Johnson based on this injury.
Eddie Royal, Chicago Bears
What: Hamstring strain
Analysis: Suffered the injury on Sunday and could miss time
DeVante Parker, Miami Dolphins
What: Foot injury
Analysis: This guy can’t stay healthy and could miss multiple games.
Tight end
Larry Donnell, New York Giants
What: Neck strain
Analysis: Unknown how much time he’ll miss.
* * *
Injuries before Week 8
Quarterback
Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys
What: Broken collarbone, expected to miss a couple more weeks
Analysis: Matt Cassel won’t be an option even though Dez Bryant saved him on Sunday.
Running back
Matt Forte, Chicago Bears
What: MCL injury
Analysis: He will likely need to miss some more time; Jeremy Langford would be a hot pickup.
Carlos Hyde, San Francisco 49ers
What: Foot fracture
Analysis: Could miss more time. Shaun Draughn is the starter and saw 20 touches.
Wide receiver
Leonard Hankerson, Atlanta Falcons
What: Hamstring, week to week
Analysis: It’s all Julio Jones and Devonta Freeman with a little bit of Jacob Tamme.
John Brown, Arizona Cardinals
What: Hamstring strain
Analysis: He said he should be back for Week 10.
Vincent Jackson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
What: Knee injury, missed Week 8
Analysis: He should be back for Week 10.
Breshad Perriman, Baltimore Ravens
What: Suffered a setback in pregame warmups in Week 3
Analysis: Kamar Aiken is the last man standing.
