Does Preseason Equal Injury Season?

With the rash of injuries already in just the first week of preseason I start to wonder if the league should in fact shorten the preseason to protect the players in meaningless games for most of them.  Here are a few of the injuries that may have an impact on your fantasy football team.

Ben Tate, RB, Houston Texans – Tate will have surgery on his ankle ending his rookie campaign.  On a team that has a completely wide open backfield, Tate was expected to take some carries and possibly start.  Those of you with early drafts may have taken him on a flyer looking for that huge up side if he ended up starting in the same offense that brought us the endless supply of 1000 yard rushers and fantasy football stud running backs out of Denver.  You are now left looking for a player to fill a roster spot.  I would look to someone like Brian Westbrook.  He is on the verge of signing with a team (possibly the Rams) and is one injury away from being a starter(and if it is the Rams, he will have to carry that team).

Fred Jackson/Marshawn Lynch, RBs, Buffalo Bills – Jackson will be out 4-6 weeks with a broken bone in his hand and Lynch is gone for 3-4 weeks after spraining his ankle.  Holding out into the first part of training camp all means nothing now for CJ Spiller who is going to take all the first team reps in practice and start all the preseason games and probably most games for your fantasy football team.  This will give Spiller all the time in the world to remind the Bills coaching staff why they ignored glaring needs at quarterback and offensive line and picked him 9th overall in the draft.

Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Arizona Cardinals – Fitzy when down this week with a sprained MCL and will be shut down for the rest of the preseason.  For all you Fitzgerald owners out there this is worrisome as it gives him less time to develop his connection with the always underwhelming Matt Leinart.  For a team that traded away Boldin in the offseason I sure hope Steve Breaston and Early Doucet are the real deal or this will spell trouble for your fantasy football team if there are any lingering effects.

 Other injuries of note – Vernon Davis strained his knee this week.  The Beast should be fine but for an already troubled Alex Smith, he loses his best receiver from last year, at least for a little while and he needs all the help he can get.  Keep a watch on this situation as a lot of you are probably looking to Davis for WR type fantasy football numbers from the TE position for your fantasy team.

Mohamed Massaquoi strained his hammy during the Browns game this week.  If he misses time Jake Delhomme will have even less time to get on the same page with his best receiver . . . like it matters.  Delhomme had years to do that in Carolina but still couldn’t manage . . and that was with Steve Smith.

Torry Holt went on the IR ending his season and probably his career.  This won’t affect your fantasy football team but if I didn’t mention a former Ram going down DeeJ would have thrown a tantrum(those of you who listen to the podcast know that DeeJ thought Holt might actually be a factor).