Picture this. You’re in a fantasy football draft. You’ve got your draft slot. You’ve got your fantasy football rankings. You’ve got your beer. You’ve done some mock drafts, and you’ve watched some NFL preseason games. You’re ready.

The draft starts, and you’re feeling good. But, all of a sudden, one of the potential breakout wide receivers starts sliding in the draft. This was a player you felt was one of the best wide receivers for fantasy football, but no one is picking him. It’s your pick, and the clock is ticking as you frantically Google his name with mixed results. You decide to take him, and your worst fears are realized as your league mates start to dog you - he’s set to miss the first two months of the season with injury.

That feeling is exactly what this article hopes to prevent. And we plan to do it every Friday until the NFL season starts on September 9th. We are going to quickly hit on all the important NFL injuries, the preseason camp battles, and the fantasy football sleeper hype to make sure you have the LATEST going into your draft.

Most Up-to-Date Fantasy Football Rankings

If you want to skip right to the answers to the test, simply grab access to the Fantasy Alarm Draft Guide where I have accounted for all of this information below in my rankings. In fact, using promo code COOP25 gets you 25% off your first month of our All Pro membership, which gives you access to EVERYTHING, including our Draft Guide for the same price as the draft guide itself! 

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Recent NFL Signings To Know For Fantasy Football Drafts This Weekend

There have been some players signed over the last month or two that folks might have missed if they weren't super plugged in. In fact, a couple of them happened this weekend. So let's start withe most recent ones first.

Najee Harris, RB, New York Giants

Najee Harris, RB, New York Giants - The Giants had invested the fourth least money of any team at RB. Cam Skattebo and Tyrone Tracy are both Day 3 NFL picks that topped the depth chart and Skattebo is still working back from injury. Harris at least will mix in and could threaten some meaningful work if he returns from his own serious injury. 

Keenan Allen, WR, Indianapolis Colts

As we will get to, it's starting to look like Alec Pierce will miss some time with his ankle injury. They have Josh Downs but, after trading Michael Pittman to the Steelers, the Colts were left thing at WR. They signed Allen to a one year, $8M deal to help. Allen actually led the Chargers in targets last season. 

Deebo Samuel, WR, San Francisco 49ers

This one goes hand in hand with the Ricky Pearsall news. But the 49ers have been crushed with injuries this offseason so they opted to bring back former WR Deebo Samuel. This team uses a lot of 2 WR sets rather than 3 so it sets for a battle between Samuel and rookie De'Zhaun Stribling for snaps.

Stefon Diggs, WR, Washington Commanders

After the Brandon Aiyuk rumors swirled all offseason, the Commanders settled on DC native Stefon Diggs. He's getting up there in age but last year he was also coming off a torn ACL. There is a world where he plays a bigger role in WAS than he did in NE but, at the very least, he should be their slot guy.

NFL Injuries To Know For Fantasy Football Drafts This Weekend

The scary thing is that, whether you play fantasy football on Yahoo, ESPN, Sleeper, or wherever, ADP on most platforms does not react as fast as we would like to injury news. Injured players routinely get autodrafted or actually drafted by fantasy gamers who are not paying attention. So here are some injuries you need to know.

Injured NFL Players Who Are Out For The Season

Injured NFL Players Who Are Most Likely To Miss At Least Week One

Jordyn Tyson, WR, New Orleans Saints 

It has already been confirmed that rookie wide receiver Jorydn Tyson will miss two months with a hamstring injury, which is a massive chunk of the season, especially for a rookie. 

Zach Charbonnett, RB, Seattle Seahawks 

There were some rumblings that Charbonnett could be ready for Week One following a serious and late knee injury last season. But that is looking more and more like wishful thinking as he “remains in recovery mode”.

Emeka Egbuka, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

Egbuka is dealing with a toe sprain that they have all but confirmed is turf toe. He was listed as week-to-week by Todd Bowles, and it is telling that most sportsbooks have taken down the option to bet his player props 

Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints 

Alvin Kamara is set to miss a month with an MCL sprain, opening the door for Travis Etienne

Sam LaPorta, TE, Detroit Lions 

LaPorta was already coming back from a back injury; now he’s dealing with a hip issue that makes Week One a legitimate concern. It’s notable that most sportsbooks have taken down their prop bets for LaPorta, which indicates a real risk that he will miss time. With the target competition, LaPorta becomes a tough pick at ADP.

Alec Pierce, WR, Indianapolis Colts

The ankle surgery for Alec Pierce has taken longer than expected to recover here to the point where it's likely he will miss time early on. This is another player where the sportsbooks have removed virtually all of the props. That has seen his ADP slide but possibly not as far as it should, especially with the Keenan Allen signing.

 

 

Injured NFL Players Who Could Miss Week One

Malik Nabers, WR, New York Giants 

Nabers has felt like he’s been trending in the right direction for the last few weeks, getting in more work, but he’s still not a lock to start or be at 100% if he does.

Jeremiyah Love, RB, Arizona Cardinals 

The Cardinals are getting crushed here for exposing their fourth overall pick RB in the preseason, where he suffered a high ankle sprain. Even if he is good to go, it makes the risk of a split even worse now.

Kyle Monangai, RB, Chicago Bears 

Anytime a running back suffers a knee injury, and his coach calls him “Week to Week” this late in the preseason, we have a hard time believing they will be good to go

Luther Burden, WR, Chicago Bears 

We remain hopeful for Burden, as many of the sportsbooks have left his prop bets up. But it was reported on August 9th that he would “miss a month” with this groin issue, which was basically exactly one month before the season kicks off.

J.K. Dobbins, RB, Denver Broncos 

Dobbins is dealing with some soft tissue injuries that have kept him out and could have him starting slow. Which he cannot afford to do with RJ Harvey and Jonah Coleman there.

Positive NFL Injury News Before Fantasy Football Drafts

It’s not all doom and gloom in this article - there has been some positive news on the injury front as well, which could lead to some values in fantasy football drafts. 

Tucker Kraft, TE, Green Bay Packers 

Coming off a torn ACL, Tucker Kraft has already returned to work in 11-on-11 drills and is expected to play in Week One.

Tyler Warren, TE, Indianapolis Colts 

Warren left practice with a groin injury, but it is not believed to be serious.

DK Metcalf, Michael Pittman, WRs, Pittsburgh Steelers 

Both players are expected to be ready for Week One following hamstring injuries. Sportsbooks like DraftKings never took down the prop bets on either player. 

DeVonta Smith, Makai Lemon, WR,s Philadelphia Eagles 

As we mentioned above, Eagles rookie WR Makai Lemon returned to practice while teammate DeVonta Smith remains out.

George Kittle, TE, San Francisco 49ers 

Not only has the news been positive on the recovery front for George Kittle, but sportsbooks like DraftKings are willing to let you bet the under on his yardage total. And his line of 699.5 is tied for the 6th-highest of any tight end. 

Jadarian Price, RB, Seattle Seahawks 

Price quietly missed the last five padded practices but returned to practice this week. There are high hopes for the rookie first-round pick.

 

 

 

Hyped Fantasy Football Sleepers Worth A Late Pick

As we wrote in our guide to Fantasy Football Breakouts in the Fantasy Alarm Draft Guide, breakouts happen at the convergence of talent, scheme, and opportunity. That article alone is worth the price of admission to the guide (as we mentioned, use promo code COOP25 to get 25% off your first month!)

These late-round picks not only have been hyped up in camp, but they actually have a path to upside. So consider them with your last few picks this weekend!

George Holani, RB, Seattle Seahawks 

I know pre-season depth charts don’t really matter. But George Holani has been listed as RB1 on Seattle’s. Zach Charbonnett is not ready to go, and Emmanuel Wilson has also missed a massive chunk of camp. If the backfield is split at all with rookie Jadarian Price (who also missed the last five padded practices), Holani could be a sneaky handcuff plus play. 

Jonah Coleman, RB, Denver Broncos 

When asked why Sean Payton pulled Jonah Coleman early in the preseason, he said he had seen enough, and it confirmed the good preseason he’s having. With the oft-injured JK Dobbins already nicked up, that makes him an interesting later dart throw. 

Ja'Kobi Lane, WR, Baltimore Ravens 

People loved Elijah Sarratt pre-draft. The Ravens did too. But they took Ja’Kobi Lane first. And folks are starting to see why they made that call. Zay Flowers is the WR1, but Lane could potentially overtake Rashod Bateman if he continues to play well.

Cyrus Allen, WR, Kansas City Chiefs 

Travis Kelce is getting up there in age. Xavier Worthy has not lived up to the hype. Rashee Rice is the top target, but he’s got his own issues going on. What if Cyrus Allen does actually carve out a role as the WR2 in KC?

Caleb Douglas, WR, Miami Dolphins 

Like Ja’Kobi Lane, there wasn’t a lot of pre-draft hype for Douglas. And people didn’t really love the pick in the third round. But this team is completely devoid of pass-catching talent, and he has been turning heads early on.

Terrance Ferguson, TE, Los Angeles Rams 

He might be more of a “continent upside” play because they have Puka Nacua and Davante Adams. But this guy could basically be the Rams' WR3 with TE eligibility. And if something happens to one of the WRs, it could be wheels up.