THE INJURED LIST PODCAST AND FANTASY SPORTS CORPORATION PRESENTS
Week 10
BY: BRIAN SCOTT AND ANDREW LEDUC
WELCOME TO THE MEDICAL TENT
Welcome back for the second year of “Inside The Medical Tent.” Each week I, Andrew Leduc, will be asking Brian Scott, of “The Injured List Podcast,” injury questions that could have a fantasy impact. Brian will be giving his professional analysis of the injury and potential timelines. I will then turn that around into what you should do with that player and who could be a possible replacement. Check back every Wednesday during the season for all the necessary information before hitting your league’s waiver wire.
Matthew Stafford - QB (LAR)
Andrew Leduc - Does the signing of Wentz signal a longer-term absence from Stafford?
Brian Scott - He continues to recover from a sprained UCL ligament in his throwing hand (thumb). Keep in mind, he had off-season surgery for this exact injury back after the 2020 season after playing with an injured UCL in his throwing thumb all year. So this is not new territory for him. Originally the Rams were optimistic that he might be available after their week 10 bye, however, news came out yesterday that they were scheduling a physical for Carson Wentz before signing him as a free agent. One has to wonder if perhaps there are some feelings that this thumb injury is more severe than they were originally hoping. Given this is a repeat injury to the same thumb he injured in 2020, it certainly complicates matters, not only for treatment but also in when to return him to action. He played through it in 2020, but this could be the year that it finally catches up with him since he reportedly only had a minor cleanup of the thumb in the offseason that year. I think he might test out his thumb coming off the bye week, but I anticipate that he might need a few more weeks if he does try to play through this once again.
Andrew Leduc - Quarterbacks are dropping like flies this year. Given the state across the league at the position, you may need to pick up Carson Wentz in this scenario. I do not love the prospect of him. The last time we saw him he struggled to get the ball downfield with any power behind it. Given the type of receivers the Rams have in Kupp and Nacua, he needs to be able to deliver quick and accurate balls. I do not believe this is what Wentz can do anymore. Look for Kupp and Nacua to take big steps back in my opinion if Stafford sits longer than expected.
David Montgomery - RB (DET)
Andrew Leduc - Can we expect a clean bill of health for Montgomery?
Brian Scott - It would appear as though the bye week heals all wounds for the Detroit Lions as all 53 men on their roster were accounted for at Tuesday's practice. This includes Montgomery who was dealing with a rib cartilage injury which seems to have greatly benefited from the extra weeks rest. I anticipate that we see him ramp up his practice participation this week and be ready to give it a go this weekend. However, the emergence of Gibbs, can see him get some limited action as they work him in slowly.
Andrew Leduc - The emergence of Gibbs changes things slightly for the expectations of Montgomery going forward, but I believe both are still viable. Montgomery should get a good amount of red zone work still. I think where we see him now take a slight step back is his involvement in the passing game. Gibbs has proven to be exceptional in that area for the Lions and I expect them to lean on his athleticism down the stretch. I could see a pretty close 50/50 split between these 2 backs, with Montgomery having the higher TD upside.
Tyrod Taylor and Daniel Jones - QBs (NYG)
Andrew Leduc - Do we see either quarterback even to start next season for this team?
Brian Scott - Well, we might as well lump in Daniel Jones in this discussion, since the NY Giants are now down to their 3rd string quarterback, NJ native, Tommy Devito. If it sounds like a bad episode of a Jersey Shore sitcom, it's because it is. Taylor ended up on IR due to a rib injury, which, in my opinion, rushed Daniel Jones back from his neck injury prematurely. This did not end well, as Daniel Jones tore the ACL in his knee and will now be lost for the season as he required ACL reconstructive surgery. There is optimism that he could be available next season, but I am very skeptical, as he will likely need at least 10-12 months to bounce back, which will put him well into the middle of next season. Taylor should be off IR after 4 games, which will translate to 5 weeks as the Giants have a bye week 13. Devito will be given a chance to prove his mettle. Not sure what they will do to fill in their QB room, but this is as bad as it can get for a franchise that has been awful, with last season appearing to be an outlier.
Andrew Leduc - It doesn’t get much worse than this for the Giants. DeVito will have his fun out there and learn a lot, but he is not the future. This offense is absolutely useless for fantasy now, outside of Barkley. Even Barkley though I think needs to be capped because I do not see beneficial game scripts in the Giants’ future. Look in any other place for help other than the Giants. Even the Patriots can offer more for fantasy at this time.
Dallas Goedert - TE (PHI)
Andrew Leduc - Should we be concerned there is more damage here than just the fracture?
Brian Scott - He reportedly fractured his right forearm this past weekend. He will likely go on IR as these will take at least 4-6 weeks to heal properly with him possibly being available by week 15 with protective padding assuming things heal as they should. Reports are saying that he is due to get an MRI, which is usually not standard of care for most of us. I am not sure if the MRI will change anything regarding his treatment or timeline to return. Could be just to gauge the amount of displacement and whether or not he might need surgery, but this is usually easily determined by regular plain X-rays. Depending on what part of the forearm is fractured, it could be problematic in that the recovery might be longer than 4-6 weeks, but from what I am reading, it does not appear to be too complicated an injury, and the MRI is more for sake of completeness.
Andrew Leduc - Either way, it seems Goedert is no longer useful to fantasy managers this year. You could stash him on IR in case he comes back in time for your league championship, but otherwise, he is effectively done for fantasy season. Look for Grant Calcaterra and Albert Okwuegbunam to step in to replace him. We are all familiar with the hype behind Albert O last off-season for the Broncos. I would prefer a chance on him in this offense if I needed to take a risk on either in this situation.
Cam Akers- RB (MIN)
Andrew Leduc - How bad is this for Akers given his history with this injury?
Brian Scott - Tough break for a young running back who returned in record time from a prior Achilles injury to the opposite side two years ago. The good news here, if any, is that he had surgery on the other leg by the same physician, Dr. Elattrache, who did Aaron Rodgers most recent Achilles surgery. So, although Cam Akers will not be playing this year, he should be ready for full return next season. If he can bounce back as well as he did from the previous injury, he should still be a sought-after back, although, having two ruptured Achilles tendons, one on each leg, in a space of 2 years, is not what you want as a running back in the NFL. It will have cut his career short by quite a significant amount of time had he never had these injuries. His power, explosiveness, and speed will all take a significant hit here.
Andrew Leduc - The Alexander Mattison owners are probably hyping themselves up right now with notions of “just in time for a run” or “now we will see him shine.” Let’s slow our roll with that. Mattison was severely underperforming given his draft capital even before Akers landed in Minnesota. I do not see him making a return to glory here, but do see him realistically being a mid-range RB2 given how many injuries are across the league at the position. He should be able to compete but do not expect the world from him.
THE DISCHARGE
Come back every week for all of the latest injury updates. If you have other questions we didn’t get to in this week’s edition you can follow us on Twitter below and message us directly.
Brian Scott - The Injured List Podcast - (@injuredlistpod) https://twitter.com/injuredlistpod
Andrew Leduc - (@theRealMrMallard) https://twitter.com/realMrMallard
If you are interested in Andrew’s weekly rankings as well, follow the link below to TSS Fantasy.
Andrew Leduc’s (Mr. Mallard) Rankings - https://tssfantasy.com/andrews-rankings
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