Steven Jackson Headlines Fantasy Football Injury News

The Raiders lined up McFadden at the QB position and Ford in the running back position behind McFadden. Although Ford could not catch the McFadden pitch on the option, it shows the Raiders are intent on figuring out ways to get Ford more involved in the offense.

Ford is a good buy low option at this point either via the waiver wire or in a trade. If he is on the waiver wire, it might be worth saving your waiver priority and waiting to see if he hits free agency. If he makes it to free agency you can scoop him up and not have wasted potentially important waiver priority. Just a thought.

Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio told the media Monday morning that tight end Marcedes Lewis would not miss extended time with his calf injury. Lewis left the Jaguars victory over Tennessee early in the third quarter with what appeared to be cramps. Following the game, the Jaguars described it as a calf strain, which opened up speculation that it could lead to missed games. Del Rio’s update is not all that specific, but would seem to indicate it’s not serious.

Lewis is coming off a career year in 2010 in which he had career highs in receptions, yards and touchdowns. He become a fantasy monster thanks in large part to his ten receiving touchdowns. The Jaguars had a lot of question marks entering 2011, particularly with the release of David Garrard.

Although the situation could get worse, Bryant is likely looking at nothing more than some missed practice time. If he does miss practice time, you’ll see his name on injury reports Wednesday and possibly Thursday. Do not panic. I would also predict that he will likely be a simply “Probable” on the injury report.

It’s only one quarter of one game, but if we’re lucky, Dez Bryant is getting locked in for a breakout season in just his second year in the league. The Cowboys have several big receiving weapons, but Bryant would appear to be the most explosive.

The NFL wrapped up its Sunday morning and afternoon slate of games and as Sunday Night Football roars on, there are several notable injuries to report from a fantasy perspective. We’ll have more on each injury later, but for now here is a quick rundown of some of the notable injuries:

We’ll be back later with more specific breakdowns of the fantasy impact of these injuries.

The Arian Foster injury situation remains a bit sketchy as John Clayton reported Friday on Sportscenter that Foster is not looking likely to play on Sunday. More importantly, Clayton believes the hamstring injury could be a three to four week injury, which would be a tough loss for fantasy owners given his status as one of the best running backs in the league.

For now, depending on game-time news, the safest play would be using one of the other running backs on your bench. It might be worth a roll of the dice on Tate or Ward, but if you’ve got another running back with a bit more certainty, I’d recommend looking at him.

The big news out of Indianapolis today is that Colts QB Peyton Manning had surgery Thursday morning that could potentially put him on the shelf for two-to-three months. We wish Manning the best of luck in his recovery, but the implications of this surgery are extensive. The folks at Stampede Blue are discussing Manning’s future, but we’re going to focus in on the impact this will have on fantasy football.

Whether or not Manning is placed on injured reserve, this surgery means he is likely done for the fantasy football season. Even if he returns in early December, league playoffs would be getting underway and it is unlikely someone would want to roll the dice with a recovering Manning at that point. It is a tough call whether to cut Manning but I would say, if you’ve got an injury slot on your roster, stash him there if you don’t have any other injured players.

For now, stick with the guys you expected to start with Manning this week. Any other choices would be nothing more than pure conjecture at this point. This is a situation that will have to be re-assessed following Sunday’s game.

The fantasy football impact of any sort of extended Manning absence is sizable. If you drafted Manning you hopefully added did not wait too late to add a backup quarterback. If you did wait, you may find yourselves rolling the dice. If you have not yet drafted, Manning is going to be downgraded across the board. Over the next three days it will be interesting to see what kind of average draft position Manning is at. Teams with injury spots or extra bench spots can stash him for a bit, but even still, if Manning could miss multiple weeks, that could be enough to drop him several rounds.

To be perfectly honest, much like the Las Vegas sports books will be taking the Colts off the board for various wagers, the safest bet might just be taking them off your draft board. Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark will likely get their numbers, but even though you aren’t drafting Kerry Collins, are you prepared to base some of your higher draft picks on Collins coming through? It may only be a few weeks, but a few weeks is all it takes to fall completely out of the playoff chase in your fantasy league. Consider yourself warned.