79 replies to this topic

[cbe_88]

There are a handful of players I avoid simply due to injury proneness, and was wondering how my list aligns with others. I was trying to piece together a type of rankings of all the mildly-high profile, to high-profile fantasy players who are most regarded as injury prone.

Here's my shot:

1.) DMC - Don't know how he isn't number one, "immense" talent but every year it's something, and it's always a "significant injury, extended time" something.

2.) Mathews - This is pretty high for Mathews but the double collarbone fiasco last year took it to another level.

3.) Nicks - Especially after this year he officially gets the injury prone tag. Elite talent will hard to pass up here, but you'd be foolish not to take into account his injury risk.

4.) Murray - Absolute STUD when healthy, IMO, but foot/leg/ankle issues he's a top-5 injury risk. Missed nearly half of last year with foot problems, and got knocked on to IR the year before with leg/ankle fracture.

5.) Gronk - It's back-to-back years now of scary types of injuries, as opposed to tweaks or slight pulls. Injuries that can affect him possibly long-term. I hated the report saying that forearm will be a long-term liability as more liable to crack again, yikes, and that's your 2nd round pick.

6.) Amendola - It was a serious elbow injury wiped out his entire 2011 campaign, and a long list of different moderate to severe (collarbone) injuries that gave him the "out" tag for half the season and a "questionable" for nearly the rest of it. It's pretty bad, he's right there, could be above Gronk. Gronk will be a much bigger investment for fantasy owners, however.

7.) Forte - Not the worst of injury-prone tags on Forte. Fortunately, a good portion of his injuries aren't IR death sentences to your fantasy roster, he's had his fair share of serious injuries tho, but not quite enough to be in the top-5 for me. He's turned to a near lock to miss at least 2-4 weeks, however. His talent could be worth it, but moderately injury prone he is, IMO.

8.) Austin - I think he's regarded as relatively injury-prone with his nationally acclaimed hamstring issues, both of them have proven liable to be pulled which doesn't help. There were a couple hamstring scares throughout his 2012 season, but he actually managed to play all but one game I believe. He took a step in the right direction, which slips him down to 8 for me.

9.) Hernandez - He's been known to have his fair share of injuries. Nothing too serious, but his "minor" ankle issues last year lingered unexpectedly long last year, and he clearly wasn't playing at a 100% for awhile which won't get him a "quick healer" reputation any time soon.

10.) RG3 - So early in his career so it's relatively difficult to immediately slap him with the injury-prone tag. But documented ACL issues are enough to crack the list, even only after one year in the league. At least immediately for next year he's a huge injury-risk.

Charles? Bush? Graham? Dez? Gore? Stafford? Daniels? Gates? Andre might should make the list, but I like the 2012 healthy campaign he just put forth.

Who cracks your list?

Guys like Beanie Well/Ryan Williams are huge injury prone guys, but these aren't the guys I'm talking about in this thread. These player aren't very high profile and given their ADP's they won't be bigger investments for fantasy owners.

[DocJ]

Great list. I would put Gates on there but he did have a healthy 2012 so who knows. I'm not sure if he's lost a step or two or was simply the victim of a horrible Chargers offense in general this past season, he still had 7 tds.

[cbe_88]

Yeah, Gates didn't make my list simply because he's starting to slip away from being much of a fantasy investment for owners. I'd say Gates, while he put forth an elite career and was a pleasure to watch, is simply declining at this point in his career. He's just an older guy hoping to play a few more years, he's just not the same guy that came into the league revealing what the new athletic, big pass-catching TE should look like. Respect him and love his game, and could even comeback with a decent year, but a bigger fantasy investment for owners he isn't, at least not anymore. He'll be 7th-8th round find, that's my guess.

Gore was close for me, but it's nice to see SF using him extensively, but not overusing him anymore to the point of injuries. The fact that he's turning 30, and Kaep's rushTD proneness will be the only reasons I don't draft him, cuz he'll be going pretty early I'd think.

You know I give injury prone guys a lot of heat, but really there are only 2 or 3 guys on my list I would try and immediately scratch off my draft board due to injury-proneness. I really thought there were a lot of injury prone guys out there, but by 10 I couldn't believe I was running out of players to mention. Some type of satisfaction I found that there are only handful of truly injury-prone blokes out there.

[Patrick Bateman]

1.  Jahvid Best
2.  Michael Vick
3.  Jonathan Stewart

[rraayy3]

"I'm so glad I didn't draft AP coming off injury or Calvin Johnson because he was on the cover of a videogame."

- no one right now

I'll buy Jahvid Best - head injuries are no joke and one concussion has proven to make you more susceptible to another... and another ... and another

I'll buy Rob Gronkowski, only because its a matter of time before he drinks himself into thinking he can fly and gets seriously injured. He is definitely prone to injuries.

Edited by rraayy3, 15 February 2013 - 07:29 PM.

[GottaGetTheWin]

My thoughts on injury proneness are if you have recurring soft tissues problems or continuing ankle/foot issues then I would say your injury prone.  Going down your list I would say DMC, Mathews, Nicks, Austin, Murray are all injury prone.  

I would then put Amendola and Hernandez as guys who are susceptible to injuries although Hernandez is one more injury filled year away from being on that above list.  Amendola just seems to have bad luck when he gets injured but it's so often it has to be noted. RG3 can go here as well because this is his second torn ACL in a short amount of time, doesn't matter if it was college or the Pro  

I would then say Forte is on a watch list as well because before the 2011 season when he ripped his knee in half he was one of the more durable guys in the NFL.  As he gets older we have to see if that changes.  

I wouldn't put Gronk on any of these lists even though he has missed some significant time two out of two years and thats simply because I just see them as hard luck football injuries.  A twisted ankle and a broken arm are just two things that happen in the course of a game.  I still feel his second broken forearm was because the first one wasn't fully healed regardless of what the Pats say.  But if whoever stepped on Gronks ankle happened to step 1 foot to the right or if whoever hit Gronks forearm happened to hit him in the stomach Gronk has 16 games and is maybe a first overall pick lol. jk

[DocJ]

I'll have Graham ranked above Gronk this coming season simply because of differences in maturity levels.

Amendola is on there simply because he hasn't learned how to protect himself while he plays. If he learns to do that he'll be fine.

[Proteus]

Here is my All Injury Prone team from 2011:

http://forums.rotowo...pic=262691&st=0

A couple guys have to get removed from that list after 2012, but for the most part it held up for more than a year and counting.

[BxBOMBERs28]

Harvin?

[pikerbkb]

Great list, but I think Jordy Nelson is missing from the list as well. I guess he still has some work to do lol. Fred Jackson is starting to earn a fragile rep. You could make a case for Alien Petersen as well, but he is so freaking dominant that you kind of forget that he has had some serious injuries, but he always recovers quickly or just plays through them. Rothlisbeger, Andre Johnson. Stafford had a good start, but has stayed healthy, still has potential. Danario Alexander is a sleeper for this list. How bout Mike Vick? Miles Austin?

[cbe_88]

pikerbkb, on 16 February 2013 - 02:29 AM, said:

Great list, but I think Jordy Nelson is missing from the list as well. I guess he still has some work to do lol. Fred Jackson is starting to earn a fragile rep. You could make a case for Alien Petersen as well, but he is so freaking dominant that you kind of forget that he has had some serious injuries, but he always recovers quickly or just plays through them. Rothlisbeger, Andre Johnson. Stafford had a good start, but has stayed healthy, still has potential. Danario Alexander is a sleeper for this list. How bout Mike Vick? Miles Austin?

Big Ben, totally forgot about him, he can be had as a QB2 next year but he's some type of an investment or fantasy owners, as some might count on him as a starter (paired with another viable QB), while admitting serious injury risk. Mike Vick is probably number one but he's far from a significant fantasy investment amymore, pure bench guy you hope works out, which takes him off my list. F-Jax is another guy who will be such a late rounder he can't make the list as the top high investment injury risks.

DX is valid, because he's a clear 5th-6th rounder next year at least. There's injury risk there, nice to see him stay healthy in his first year of fantasy relevance, however. Multiple years of cemented fantasy relevance with injury problems are the guys I was initially thinking of.

Not ready to put Jordy on the list, this past year was his first year dealing with a couple of minor nagging injuries. He has no serious issues, I think he has a real shot at shaking the injury bug since his minor ankle injuries this year were really his first injury scares. No broken bones or tears to worry about long-term.

Edited by cbe_88, 16 February 2013 - 11:39 AM.

[petekrum]

I dealt off both Nicks and Austin in one of my dynasties because of the constant injuries. Nothing more frustrating than a guy who has a Q next to his name every week.

[pikerbkb]

Here's an interesting question I am dying to know everyone's opinion on. Who has more potential to buck the injury bug trend and break out next year: Mathews or Murray? I have been stuck with Mathews since I drafted him as a rookie. Had a chance to deal him for Murray prior to the 2012 season, but the deal never happened. I feel a little disappointed, but only cause I am a Cowboys follower (yes I hate myself and Jerra as well) and I like Murray's warrior style over Mathews'.....I don't know, mangina style? To put it another way, would would you want to sell less?

Edited by pikerbkb, 16 February 2013 - 11:38 PM.

[cbe_88]

Murray vs Mathews likely comes down to mere preference. For me, it's Murray over Mathews every single time. I think Murray has taken advantage of his opportunities in a more impressive way. If Murray can just put together a 16 game campaign I really believe he can flirt with top-5 numbers, just look at his per game production. He's an intelligent and physical runner, he's got all the tools you want, and he's a truly complete back making him workhorse capable. If you take out his intense injury concerns I'm telling you he's bordering on elite.

[petekrum]

cbe_88, on 17 February 2013 - 04:10 AM, said:

Murray vs Mathews likely comes down to mere preference. For me, it's Murray over Mathews every single time. I think Murray has taken advantage of his opportunities in a more impressive way. If Murray can just put together a 16 game campaign I really believe he can flirt with top-5 numbers, just look at his per game production. He's an intelligent and physical runner, he's got all the tools you want, and he's a truly complete back making him workhorse capable. If you take out his intense injury concerns I'm telling you he's bordering on elite.

But you can't take out the injury concerns, which if I'm correct date back to college. I wash my hands of both these guys until I actually see a season of production. I want no part of a player that has a Q next to his name every week. Trade Matthews,but for someone else besides Murray.

Edited by petekrum, 17 February 2013 - 05:52 AM.

[egomaniac247]

I'll go ahead and make the case for Beanie.  I think if he COULD stay healthy then he'd definitely be on the fantasy radar.  In a 12 team league I'd put him in the low RB2 level if the guy was assured to play 16 games.  One good thing about him is that he's a good shot for mulitiple TD games if they get into the red zone.

But as it stands he just can't go more than 2-3 games in a stretch without injuring his legs somehow.


The rest of my list would definitely include Michael Vick and Ryan Mathews.   As a QB2, I'd put Kevin Kolb on that list too.  He could be a Matt Schaub level QB if it wasn't for his glass jaw.

[cbe_88]

petekrum, on 17 February 2013 - 05:51 AM, said:

But you can't take out the injury concerns, which if I'm correct date back to college. I wash my hands of both these guys until I actually see a season of production. I want no part of a player that has a Q next to his name every week. Trade Matthews,but for someone else besides Murray.

Right. I was just answering the question pikerbkb asked of who is more likely to reach their potential and shake the injury bug for a breakout year. I think it's far and away Murray. I just love the way he's a lock for production when on the field, you're getting insane production for a guy who'll be had in the late 3rd with a real shot to slip to the 4th. I take him over Mathews in a heartbeat, I think he's a better runner, but both of these guys are young and talented, that's why I conceded it's almost merely down to preference.

I'm all over Murray this year especially if he's indeed a 4th round bargain, he forces you to commit a middle round to another viable RB3 behind to fill in if needed, but what can I say? I'm a believer, there's easily a right to not believe in certain people, especially these top-5 injury prone guys we're talking about. I'm willing to commit to finding a pretty decent RB3 to take a chance on Murray's talent.

I'm personally hoping Dallas gets an RB in the middle rounds that carried the load for his pro style offense in college, to shoe-in as a relatively capable backup for Murray, because Murray's handcuff situation is very hazy right now. Felix already has one foot out the door, Tanner disappointed in a huge way in 2012 with a chance to capitalize when Murray went down after promising rookie flashes, and Dunbar is simply a smaller change of pace back incapable of shouldering any type of load.

[pikerbkb]

cbe_88, on 17 February 2013 - 12:13 PM, said:

petekrum, on 17 February 2013 - 05:51 AM, said:

But you can't take out the injury concerns, which if I'm correct date back to college. I wash my hands of both these guys until I actually see a season of production. I want no part of a player that has a Q next to his name every week. Trade Matthews,but for someone else besides Murray.

Right. I was just answering the question pikerbkb asked of who is more likely to reach their potential and shake the injury bug for a breakout year. I think it's far and away Murray. I just love the way he's a lock for production when on the field, you're getting insane production for a guy who'll be had in the late 3rd with a real shot to slip to the 4th. I take him over Mathews in a heartbeat, I think he's a better runner, but both of these guys are young and talented, that's why I conceded it's almost merely down to preference.

I'm all over Murray this year especially if he's indeed a 4th round bargain, he forces you to commit a middle round to another viable RB3 behind to fill in if needed, but what can I say? I'm a believer, there's easily a right to not believe in certain people, especially these top-5 injury prone guys we're talking about. I'm willing to commit to finding a pretty decent RB3 to take a chance on Murray's talent.

I'm personally hoping Dallas gets an RB in the middle rounds that carried the load for his pro style offense in college, to shoe-in as a relatively capable backup for Murray, because Murray's handcuff situation is very hazy right now. Felix already has one foot out the door, Tanner disappointed in a huge way in 2012 with a chance to capitalize when Murray went down after promising rookie flashes, and Dunbar is simply a smaller change of pace back incapable of shouldering any type of load.

cbe_88, on 17 February 2013 - 12:13 PM, said:

petekrum, on 17 February 2013 - 05:51 AM, said:

But you can't take out the injury concerns, which if I'm correct date back to college. I wash my hands of both these guys until I actually see a season of production. I want no part of a player that has a Q next to his name every week. Trade Matthews,but for someone else besides Murray.

Right. I was just answering the question pikerbkb asked of who is more likely to reach their potential and shake the injury bug for a breakout year. I think it's far and away Murray. I just love the way he's a lock for production when on the field, you're getting insane production for a guy who'll be had in the late 3rd with a real shot to slip to the 4th. I take him over Mathews in a heartbeat, I think he's a better runner, but both of these guys are young and talented, that's why I conceded it's almost merely down to preference.

I'm all over Murray this year especially if he's indeed a 4th round bargain, he forces you to commit a middle round to another viable RB3 behind to fill in if needed, but what can I say? I'm a believer, there's easily a right to not believe in certain people, especially these top-5 injury prone guys we're talking about. I'm willing to commit to finding a pretty decent RB3 to take a chance on Murray's talent.

I'm personally hoping Dallas gets an RB in the middle rounds that carried the load for his pro style offense in college, to shoe-in as a relatively capable backup for Murray, because Murray's handcuff situation is very hazy right now. Felix already has one foot out the door, Tanner disappointed in a huge way in 2012 with a chance to capitalize when Murray went down after promising rookie flashes, and Dunbar is simply a smaller change of pace back incapable of shouldering any type of load.

I had Dunbar on my roster briefly last season, but he never stepped up. The Boys are going to have to bring someone in, probably a mid-round draft pick, to push/back up Murray, they can't afford not too. If they happen to pick somebody with potential and upside, I am all over it because of Murray's IP status. Just a for instance, if the Cowboys roll the dice on Lattimore or go for some Arkansas product like Dennis Johnson or Knile Davis (definitely in the realm of possibility) I would not hesitate to stash any of them on my bench knowing that Murray could go down. Murray is a warrior and I love his heart, but if he misses time again this year, I think that he will never reach his full potential. I do agree with you that he has an elite skill set, but not sure if he will ever be a true workhorse back that can sustain his production.

[rraayy3]

Murray is not an RBCowHorse1WorkBell

way too injury prone

[cbe_88]

If Dallas really does commit to an RB in the middle rounds that has consistently carried the load in their backfield for most of their college tenure, I'm even more all over Murray. I've docked Murray's status because of a lack of a handcuff. If there's a guy I know will get every chance to carry the load in relief of Murray I'll be stoked.

When Murray went down last year, it went to crap, Felix, a pure change of pace back was hurt every week trying to play a workhorse load, and Tanner and Dunbar were incapable of stepping up either. Any new draft pick with potential to carry the load that's proven he can do it at least at the college level makes Murray's stock more able to invest in making sure you draft that backup as well.

There's no question, Murray is one of the biggest locks for solid production week-in week-out. He's a tough, physical and intelligent runner,  His top-5 injury proneness is the only true knock on his fantasy value. It's unfortunate, because that's a very big knock when you feel like a guy is gonna miss time at some point even before the season starts. I understand his IP status is enough for some owners to stay away, but he's one of the VERY few riskier picks I'm down to gamble on next year.