With the first week of camp wrapping up, the list of walking wounded continues to grow—and add Niners WR Michael Crabtree to the list. Crabtree will miss the next week or two of practices, according to coach Jim Harbaugh, with an undisclosed injury. Harbaugh did disclose that the injury wasn’t to Crabtree’s foot (he entered the league coming off of foot surgery) or his Achilles’ tendon (he missed a good chunk of last year with an injury to that area). Considering only Seattle threw fewer times last season than the 49ers, Crabtree won’t be missed—so long as he’s back in time for enough preseason games to prove he’s healthy (for now) and worth a fantasy draft pick.
The outlook isn’t quite as optimistic for Packers rookie wideout Jared Abbrederis, who left Thursday’s practice session with a knee injury. The early fear is that Abbrederis tore his ACL, which would sideline him for the season. While it’s certainly not ideal, should Abbrederis recover fully he could return to a Green Bay receiving corps that is without Randall Cobb and Jarrett Boykin, both of whom are free agents following the season. A tidbit to stash away for larger dynasty leagues.
- Be sure to check out our latest article “Grasp These 5 Trends Before Drafting Your Fantasy Wide Receivers“.
We’ve talked glowingly of Jacksonville’s rookie receivers this week based on their early showing in camp… so of course Allen Robinson goes down with hamstring injury and is expected to miss at least the next couple of weeks. We won’t jinx Marqise Lee by noting he may be the only healthy Jaguars receiver in camp.
While the debate rages on as to whether or not Tom Brady can return to the ranks of a top-five fantasy quarterback or if he’s on the downslope of an outstanding career, there’s little doubt that there’s fantasy value to be found in the New England passing game. To that end, it was Kenbrell Thompkins and not Aaron Dobson running at the X with Brady during a recent scrimmage. You have to figure Rob Gronkowski is the go to guy if healthy, and Danny Amendola will take his share as well… if healthy. But that still leaves an outside receiver role to be filled, and right now it appears as if Thompkins is the value fantasy play in that role.
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Finally, while it may only be an exhibition game, football returns this weekend. The NFL will also induct a Hall of Fame class that includes four defenders, the first punter (finally!) to ever be inducted into the HOF, and only one traditional fantasy contributor in Bills WR Andre Reed. Enjoy the speeches, enjoy the game, and enjoy the return of football!
