If you’ve found yourself reading this, I’m sorry. It probably means you were one of the very unfortunate fantasy football managers bitten by the injury bug, or even worse — bitter disappointment because even your healthiest players somehow found a way to let you down.
Gather round; this is a safe space. Let it all out here, and I promise, we’ll survive it and hit the reset button in Week 2.
Of course, injuries plagued all of the league in Week 1 (and even prior). The Minnesota Vikings continued their streak of bad injury luck with their quarterbacks with a season-ending knee injury to J.J. McCarthy in the preseason. The Green Bay Packers lost QB Jordan Love to an MCL strain in Week 1’s primetime showdown with the Eagles. He’s set to miss some time, though he managed to avoid a stint on the injured reserve list.
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Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua returned from a knee injury only to suffer a PCL sprain Sunday night and ended up on IR himself after just 25 snaps. Promising rookie wideout Rome Odunze is also set to miss time now with a knee injury of his own, dealing with a sprained MCL and considered “week-to-week”.
Two of everyone’s favorite mid-round tight end options, Jake Ferguson and David Njoku, suffered knee and ankle injuries, respectively, and could miss time. Even those with healthy tight ends like Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews and Trey McBride, everything just felt difficult in Week 1.
Not to mention several other duds from high draft picks like Marvin Harrison Jr and Chris Olave or, in some cases, whole teams like the Falcons and Panthers.
All of that hurt (literally for them, figuratively for us). None of it prepared us for what was to come, however — the surprise “inactive” status for San Francisco 49ers star running back Christian McCaffrey in Week 1’s Monday Night Football matchup.
Of course, it’s not like we didn’t know McCaffrey was dealing with a calf injury — many of us still opting to draft him with the 1.01 because it seemed like there was no chance it would actually linger into the season; the 49ers were just being overly cautious, right?
Wrong. So wrong.
It turns out that the 49ers were dealing with a little more than had originally met the eye of fantasy managers. After all, it wasn’t just a calf injury. There was also an Achilles component to this injury, which hadn’t previously been disclosed prior to the season (and, with that, your fantasy football drafts, probably), though they did announce it once officially required by league standards.
The word Achilles is enough to send chills down any football fan’s spine, but despite the Injury and subsequent questionable tag, he logged two full practices. GM John Lynch himself said he expected McCaffrey to be “out there and ready to roll.” So… how did fantasy managers find themselves in this mess scrambling to find a new flex play on a Monday night, after most of the players on their roster had already played and locked?
Well… I can’t answer that question. But I do know that I find myself stuck in a couple of leagues without any other option but to take the zero due to the fact that waivers in these leagues lock daily. And on that note, I never want to ever allow myself to get complacent enough to let it ever happen again.
What lessons can we learn from these various Week 1 disappointments?
Be prepared.
No matter what, if you’ve got a core part of your roster playing in a Sunday or Monday Night Football matchup with a “questionable” tag, be prepared with an insurance policy… just in case you find yourself with a surprise inactive like CMC was in Week 1.
Even if you haven’t been able to secure the starting backup option (in this case, Jordan Mason), having a viable flex play (and not burning it on Thursday night games) with any potential to earn you points (for example, WRs Allen Lazard, Jauan Jennings, TE Tyler Conklin, FB Kyle Juszczyk) — can be the difference between winning and losing your matchups.
After all, even though a “big game” from those deep down the depth chart is unlikely, it’s better than the guaranteed “zero” you’ll get from CMC. Plus, football is random; you just never know.
Never get too optimistic.
This is a Scott Pianowski special. Injury optimism? There’s no such thing. Always expect the worst when it comes to injuries and their projected timelines. As noted above, it’s always better to be prepared than to be caught off guard without any other options.
Don’t panic.
Remember, rarely will one injury or one surprise inactive ruin the course of your fantasy football season. Be a vigilant fantasy manager. Play the waiver wires and be an active leaguemate. Make trades to address vacancies in your lineup caused by long-term injuries.
Of course, your friendly neighborhood Yahoo Fantasy analysts are here to help you navigate those moves all offseason long with our weekly rankings, the Yahoo Fantasy Forecast and, of course, the Fantasy Football Live show there to answer your questions every Thursday and Sunday.