NFL Injury Report: Week 15

1. Andy Dalton (Bengals) – Broken Thumb

Bengals at 49ers (Sunday, 4:25 PM ET)

This was a brutal week for injuries but the Red Rifle has to be the biggest of the week. Dalton went down in the first quarter against the Steelers after making a tackle on an interception. Dalton broke his thumb on the tackle and may be lost for the season. The Bengals Super Bowl hopes seem to be gone with Dalton's injury. Not only are the Bengals hopes of a championship gone but so were a lot of season long fantasy owners and million dollar dreams as the injury really affected a lot of fantasy owners, even ones that did not have Dalton on their team. The Bengals-Steelers game was expected to be a shootout and when Dalton went out the Steelers just basically put it on cruise control knowing that they were going to win the game. As a result Big Ben didn't really have to throw the ball much and didn't throw a touchdown pass. AJ McCarron came in relief for Dalton and saw his first major action in the NFL. McCarron did not play bad completing 22 passes out of 32 for 280 yards and two scores. He also threw two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. This week he gets a great match-up against the 49ers who allow 268 passing yards per game and are middle of the road in allowing fantasy points to the position at 18.03. While I will be avoiding McCarron in cash games, I will have a little exposure to McCarron in GPPs in this match-up with the skill position players that he has around him.

Expected ownership: 0-5%

2. Thomas Rawls (Seahawks) – Broken Ankle

Seahawks vs Browns (Sunday, 4:05 PM ET)

The other big injury of the week was to the Seahawks Thomas Rawls who also went down in the first quarter and is also done for the season. Rawls broke his ankle on his 6th carry of the game. Rawls was on pace for a huge game has he had already picked up 44 yards before the injury. After the injury DuJuan Harris picked up the bulk of the carries having 18 of them but he did not do much with those carries only gaining 42 yards. What the injury really did was force the Seahawks to pass later in the game than they probably would have since the Hawks were up by a ton and Russell Wilson took advantage. Wilson had another huge game with 5 more touchdown passes and over 32 fantasy points. While Harris will most likely once again get the bulk of the work in a great match-up against the Browns who rank 29th in rushing yards allowed per game with 131.3 and 9th most fantasy points to them at 21.70, Wilson will be the biggest beneficiary of the injury. Wilson will be asked to do even more than he has been the last couple of weeks and looks to be one of your top quarterback plays this week. As far as Harris goes he is not a player that is really on my radar despite the match-up as his price was adjusted for his new role already.

Expected ownership: 5-10%

3. Tyler Eifert (Bengals) – Concussion

Bengals at 49ers (Sunday, 4:25 PM ET)

Another big injury to the Bengals as Eifert the league leader in receiving touchdowns went down with a concussion a week after having to miss a game due to a neck injury. We are not sure how long Eifert will be out remains to be seen as Eifert has to pass concussion protocol but likely will be out next week. Tyler Kroft is the player getting the snaps without Eifert but really is a non play as he only has 4 catches for 52 yards all season. The other members of the Bengals passing attack mainly A.J. Green will get a boost even with a back up quarterback without Eifert. In the last game without Eifert, Green went 5/128/1 and still put up numbers even when Dalton went out. Green is someone that I will be having a ton of exposure to next week against the 49ers.

Expected ownership: 0-5%

4. T.J. Yeldon (Jaguars) – Knee Injury

Jaguars vs Falcons (Sunday, 1:00 PM ET)

Yeldon broke fantasy owners hearts twice on Sunday as he went down with a knee injury in the second quarter and was listed as questionable to return and looked most likely to be out for the rest of the game and then miraculously came back in the game only to leave later in the quarter. He did not return the rest of the game and finished the day with 12 total touches and 63 yards. The Yeldon injury looks even worse in hindsight for fantasy owners as the Jaguars crushed the Colts and put up 51 points. Shoelace Robinson replaced Yeldon and had a huge day with 15 touches for 87 yards and a score. The Jaguars face the Falcons next week who have been downright awful the past two months, especially against the run. They allow the second most fantasy points to running backs for the season with 26.73. I like Robinson this week as he has proven that he is a capable back in all facets of the game and is someone that I will be looking at this week.

Expected ownership: 5-10%

5. Brian Hartline (Browns)– Broken Collarbone

Browns at Seahawks (Sunday, 4:05 PM ET)

Brian Hartline is not a big name but he has been a fantasy force over the past 4 weeks. In that time frame he has 30 catches for 341 yards and had a huge 8/107 game before getting hurt. Hartline is done for the season which is a huge blow for the Browns passing attack who really was trying to see what they had in Johnny Manziel and have numerous injuries in their wide receivers corps. Not really sure who will take Hartline's place as the possession receiver for the Browns but you will most likely see more targets to their stud tight end Barnidge. Barnidge has been great this season with 65/901/8. While I will be avoiding Barnidge this week against a Seahawks defense that is back to being their old dominate self, I will be keeping an eye on Barnidge for the rest of the season.

Expected ownership: 5-10%

6. Brian Hoyer (Texans)– Concussion

Texans at Colts (Sunday, 1:00 PM ET)

For the second time in the past month the GOAT as Big Italy would say went out with a concussion. This could be bad news for the Texans as they are in the middle of a playoff race and normally the second concussion takes longer to get cleared than the first one but we are not sure how long Hoyer is going to be out. T.J. Yates will once again be called upon to replace Hoyer. Yates was decent in this start against a tough Jets defense going for 229 yards and two scores but should be better this week against the Colts. The Colts are a horrible defense that just let the Jaguars hang 51 on them. They have allowed the 4th most passing yards per game this season with 276.2 and the 6th most fantasy points per game to the position with 20.33. They have been even worse the past three weeks allowing 286 passing yards and nearly 3 passing touchdowns per game in that time frame and 24.99 fantasy points. As a cheap streaming option in GPPs, Yates is worth a look in the fantastic match-up.

Expected ownership: 0-5%