From Moore to Green: 2022 Fantasy Football Week 1 Injury Report

What’s up, everybody!? Welcome to your first installment of the fantasy football weekly injury report for 2022. Just so we’re copacetic, let’s establish our norms and understand what an injury report is all about: 

1) I’m Not Adam Schefter: Sure, I have a personality that’s absolutely made for the internet, but I am not a full-time employee of the NFL or journalistic institution whose job it is to report up-to-the-minute injury status. I hear the mass exodus of readers clicking away right now. But wait! Hang around for a hot minute. All I’m saying: this article is written on Friday night for Saturday morning publication, and the NFL plays games Sundays at noon. If you want up-to-the-minute injury reports, please access those writers who get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars per year to star on ESPN and have locker room access and a rolodex of professional secret leakers.

2) I Am EverywhereBlair: This means you’re getting pretty good fantasy football advice based on injury reports. Is your star injured? I’ll tell you an alternate play. Don’t like that alternate play? Who am I, Tennessee Williams? 

3) NFL Teams Lie: Some teams purposefully obscure their injury reports. Is a player actually injured, or is the team just messing with their opponent’s preparation? For this fantasy football injury report, I’m assuming all NFL injury reports are truthful. 

All right, let’s jump in and see what we can do to save your week 1 team. 

Rondale Moore: I’m shaking right now. Knees weak, heart palpating. Hands? Look like I just drank an 8-pack of Ecto Cooler. Our favorite receiver sleeper for Week 1 is OUT for week 1. Moore suffered a hamstring injury on Thursday and the Cardinals sent him out for an MRI with un-reported results. You ever have an MRI? It’s like getting into an argument with Magneto and you’re Iron Man. There’s a cross-over that I want to see! With Moore out on Sunday, that elevates A.J. Green to WR2 in Arizona, which is great for DFS and best ball teams. For your weekly fantasy team, Rudy’s projecting A.J. Green to be nearly on par with D.K. Metcalf. What is this — abbreviation tag team? How’s J.J. Watt doing? ENYWHEY. Green is a fine pivot. Rudy said so, and he provided the graphic below, which I stole and then posted to his own site, so it’s really just reorganizing his files without telling him. I’m a 733t H4kZ0R. Also, Zach Ertz is fine. I suppose he’s an OK fantasy football play too. The Chiefs/Cardinals game has actually increased to a 54 Over/Under since my Monday article, so Vegas thinks that we’re in for a shootout. Ear to the ground for Rondale Moore news, and stash him on the roster until we hear more news on his health. 

Tee Higgins: Off-season shoulder surgery seems to scare absolutely nobody. Just like The Invisible Man movie. Higgins is one of the top wide-receiver options for week 1 and all reports indicate that you should start him with zero concern. 

Chris Godwin: First, he was a maybe. Then, he wasn’t practicing. Now, NBC’s reporting he’s questionable for Sunday. Remember what I said about Adam Schefter, like 500 words ago? Maybe us armchair injury experts deserve a little more compensation and a little less derision. Godwin is officially a “questionable” for Sunday, but I’m highly suspicious. Let’s frame it this way: Tampa Bay will play its first game under new coach Todd Bowles, with 45-year-old Tom Brady — who either starred in The Masked Singer or spent some time with a bottle of tee-kee-la or trying to convince Gronk to return — and Godwin is coming off an ACL injury. What part of that situation screams: “START GODWIN”? Other than your drunk Uncle Chipper who still swears he’s one of the top open ocean canoe guides in the world. Tell Uncle Chip to calm down, and look for another play for Week 1 instead of Godwin in your redraft fantasy football leagues. However, feel free to include Godwin in maybe 5-10% of your DFS lineups if he’s formally going to play — Godwin’s injury status could shift the leverage on some mass entry tournaments. 

J.K. Dobbins: Questionable after missing the 2021 season. Yep, that was on my “Things I expect to see in Week 1” bingo board, right next to “Gabe Davis WR1.” I’m Flowstradamus! The Ravens are tight-lipped about Dobbins’ injury. Also, “Dobbins'” sounds like it’s the Queen’s English and now I’m simultaneously in mourning and horrified for the future of global monarchism. The Ravens won’t announce Dobbins’ playing status until 30 minutes before game time. Great for NFL strategy. Awful for fantasy football strategy. Remember how Cam Akers came back and was totally adequate unusable? I’m not saying that’s going to happen to Dobbins, but…it takes a hot minute for a running back to return to form after a year off. If Dobbins is your RB2 for week 1, I’d be looking for a fill-in right now. If you’re desperate, grab Kenyan Drake. If you like to combat injury with injury, grab Raheem Mostert. I support homeopathy with the same fervor I support the monarchy.

Diontae Johnson: September 7: “Ouch my arm.” September 9: “I am the bionic commando and I’m ready to catch Tru-bisk-bombs.” OK, maybe those aren’t actual quotes but the summary still stands. Diontae suffered a shoulder injury in the pre-season and was also bothered by a foot injury yet the Steelers are going to march him out there in Week 1 like this is a playoff run for their team. Let’s be fair — Mitch Trubisky isn’t actually as bad as we all think, but that’s mostly good news for Najee Harris who will receive approximately 956 dump passes this year. Still, the Steelers don’t need to risk their top player for some sort of Week 1 show of bravado. Monitor Diontae’s status come game time. Start if he seems fine during pre-game warmups. Chase Claypool — my favorite third-year underdog WR — stands to benefit for a bump in targets if Johnson isn’t full speed. 

Allen Lazard: There’s a couple million dollars floating around in Vegas money pools that this guy leads the league in receiving yards in 2022. Too bad he’s probably missing Week 1 due to a rolled ankle. Busted your bets and it’s not even Miller Time yet! For the Vikings/Packers game, Romeo Doubs stands to take over top receiver duties alongside Sammy Watkins. None of this is great from a statistical standpoint, but the Packers have never really been a statistical team, have they? Aaron Rodgers has been throwing shorter and shorter every year but he’s able to dominate the miserable NFC North year after year and produce elite fantasy receivers. Lazard was probably your WR3 or FLEX to begin with, so stash him for at least a week and see how he feels in week 2. 

Robert Tonyan Jr.: This guy was supposed to be out for the start of the season but he’ll put in reps in week 1. Sure, he probably won’t be fantasy-relevant, but A-Rog can make the magic happen. Tonyan was TE3 in 2020 before missing half of 2021 due to a knee injury. He’s available in about 85% of leagues, so if you’ve got space on your roster, here’s your agenda for Saturday morning: 1) get a frappucino — you deserve it!; 2) load up your fantasy team and admire it; 3) add Robert Tonyan; 4) start jittering. The question is whether it’s the caffeine or the injured Packers TE that’s making you shake. 

Sterling Shepard: Is there some kind of game requirement for union membership or something? Shepard was expected to debut on Injured Reserve to start the year, yet he’s marching out in Week 1 for the New York Giants. That’s never gone wrong for Saquon Barkley, right? [stares at Anakin Skywalker] Right? The Giants are watching Kenny Golladay go full zombie mode and Kadarius Toney struggling through pre-season injuries, so Shepard could walk into some bonus targets in week 1. This is Commander Shepard, and I approve of starting Sterling Shepard as your Flex receiver in week 1. 

Logan Thomas: 2020 was a great year for the TE free fall, and Logan Thomas finished as a top 5 TE for PPR leagues. In 2021, Thomas tore his ACL and was supposed to miss significant time in 2022, but he’s already listed as questionable for week 1 and could be cleared to play. Did the Commanders feel like Antonio Gibson playing on a stress fracture for all of 2021 was a vision board accomplishment? Was the Alex Smith gruesome leg injury a goal? Who knows what the Commanders are thinking. Thomas is 31 years old — no spring chicken for a tight end — and the Commanders aren’t going to be in the playoff race with that lineup. Sit Thomas in Week 1 if he appears, but stash him for later weeks if you have the roster space. 

Zach Wilson: You weren’t starting him unless you’re somebody’s mom anyway. Are you somebody’s mom? Joe Flacco will captain the Jets and probably get cut in week 5 like he does every year, and then Wilson will play for a couple weeks and get injured again, and then Mike White or the ghost of Steve McNair will show up. Wilson isn’t startable even in superflex leagues at this point so just divest from the Jets and spend your money on something more productive, like a space shuttle. 

That’ll get us started for week 1! Drop your questions below, and don’t forget to check out the Razzball Premium Fantasy Football Tools. Rudy has an auto-updating algorithm that incorporates injury status into predicted fantasy points. Plus, we need some nickels to buy the Arabica coffee instead of the Robusto blend. Help an office out! See you Monday for the fantasy football wrap-up.