Fantasy Football Injury Updates on Justin Herbert & DeAndre Hopkins

In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter:

We should be discussing snap counts for backup TEs on the Bears and Texans, but the NFL injury gods had different plans for us.

Instead, two worrisome injuries stole the headlines yesterday…

1. Justin Herbert was diagnosed with a foot injury. The Chargers announced yesterday that Herbert is dealing with an injury to the plantar fascia in his right foot.

Per the team, he’ll be in a boot for two weeks and then “gradually work his way back.” It sounds like there is hope that he’ll be ready for the start of the season, but it’s worth proceeding with caution in drafts until we get a more concrete timeline. The last thing we need is another excuse for Jim Harbaugh to run more.

2. DeAndre Hopkins suffered a knee injury. He’s expected to miss roughly 4-6 weeks, per Paul Kuharsky. Losing Nuk for the start of the season is a blow to the entire offense. Calvin Ridley is already pricey in drafts, but feel free to inch Tyler Boyd and even Treylon Burks (I know, I know, but he’s having a good camp) up boards.

Here’s to hoping we get all of these injuries out of our system early…

What else is in today’s newsletter?

Kendall Valenzuela: What To Expect From Tua.
Fantasy Fades: Why Waz is out on these four rookies.
Watercooler: Instant reactions to Week DFS 1 pricing on DraftKings.

The Fantasy Roundtable

by Kendall Valenzuela

Welcome to the Roundtable, folks! This season I will try to get many fantasy football analysts (and friends) to give us their best advice, overreactions and maybe even include some life lessons along the way. This is meant to be insightful, but also fun—so please be sure to enjoy and also give everyone a follow if you have the chance!

Today's Roundtable contributors include a familiar Fantasy Life face Sam Wallace and NFL Fantasy en Espanol's fantasy football analyst Mauricio Gutierrez.

Fantasy Life's 2024 Fantasy Football Draft Kit is LIVE (and free)! Click here to access all of the content you need to dominate your drafts this summer.

🐬 WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM TUA THIS YEAR?

Mauricio: Our biggest concern with Tua Tagovailoa last year was that he would stay healthy, and that's exactly what happened. He finished as the NFL's leader in passing yards—but he was inconsistent. From Weeks 1-8, he averaged 19.2 FP/G, while from Weeks 9-18 he averaged just 13 FP/G. He was a top-12 QB in 44% of weeks played.

But I still have hope that he can be a consistent top-12 QB. It's not a bad bet to have a QB tied to the offensive mind of Mike McDaniel and one of the best receiving weapons in the league. He proved that he can be an accurate, effective QB (QB2 in yards per attempt, QB7 in completion percentage, and QB1 in accuracy rating). ¡Vamos, Tua!

Sam: Honestly, I'm expecting Tagovailoa to run it back and have a similar season as last year. In 2023, among QBs who played at least 10 games, he finished as the QB1 in passing yards per game and QB2 in adjusted completion percentage. With his new mega-contract in tow, there's no reason Tua can't be a viable fantasy option with Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and De'Von Achane as his primary weapons.

Our Fantasy Life rankers have Tua as their consensus QB15. If you forego the elite options, Tua could be a great late-round option in redraft leagues this year.

Kendall: First of all, can I just say congratulations to Tagovailoa for securing the BAG over the weekend?! For the 2024 season, I am hoping that we see him be more consistent toward the back half of the season. Ian Hartitz has outlined what Tua has looked like in the colder months as the season has gone on, and it's not exactly pretty (they also have a tough schedule toward the end of the season). However, I'm optimistic about Tua because of the supporting cast and the coaching staff he has around him.

He's going as the QB15 on both Underdog and ESPN drafts, and I think that's a solid place for him. I don't necessarily want to be walking out of 1-QB drafts with only Tua, but in superflex and best ball, I am hoping for a high-end QB2 finish this season.

Fantasy Football Draft Season is Here!

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The Rookie RB to Fade in 2024

by Rob Waziak

The Hall of Fame game is Thursday night, the first of three preseason weekends begins next week, and 53-player rosters are due Aug. 27. From now until then, August will try to overprepare you for your fantasy football drafts but may also, unfortunately, provide an abundance of dissenting opinions.

Luckily, the team at Fantasy Life is backed by a suite of analytics tools, advanced data, and experts hand-picked by Matthew Berry to help provide clarity and leverage to those opinions.

To celebrate August’s kickoff, here are four rookies I'm ranking lower than the consensus ranking of fellow Fantasy Life rankers Dwain, Ian and Freedman.

Fantasy Life's 2024 Fantasy Football Draft Kit is LIVE (and free)! Click here to access all of the content you need to dominate your drafts this summer.

Audric Estime (ADP: Round 16) - Broncos

Them: RB62 | Me: RB78 (-16)

In true Broncos fashion, there are too many mouths to feed in the backfield, but that won’t stop the public from chasing the newest and youngest of the bunch.

Fifth-round pick Audric Estime joins a backfield “headlined” by 2025 UFAs Javonte Williams and Samaje Perine, along with 2023 UDFA Jaleel McLaughlin. Many believe the notion that only one of Williams and Perine will be with the team following roster cutdowns, which opens the door for Estime and McLaughlin to take command.

Will Williams’ 13.6 rush attempts per game or Perine’s 93% opportunity share in two-minute drills be vacated? Nobody knows yet, and that’s OK! It should be easy passing on a piece of the Broncos backfield, especially when there’s a three-way competition at QB between journeymen Zach Wilson and Jarrett Stidham, with first-round draft pick Bo Nix looming overhead. Additionally, Chris references how Estime’s history of struggling to earn starter opportunities and lack of experience in the passing game may limit him.

There are just too many question marks for me to buy into the what-ifs of Estime. And while there is value chasing upside, I see more value chasing the likes of Roschon Johnson or Dameon Pierce one round later.

Three More Rookies to Fade…

The latest fantasy nuggets, silliness, and NFL gossip from our merry band of football nerds:

✍️ DraftKings has released prices for the Week 1 NFL DFS slate. Some screaming values to target…

👀 Could Jonathon Brooks be a league-winner down the stretch? Let’s find out.

😴 Sleepers at the RB position? We’ve got you covered.

🧨 This Bears WR balled out last night. What a game.

🐏 Insights on Rams training camp battles. Solid intel here.

🙏 Scary scene in Cleveland yesterday. Get better soon, D’Onta.

🕯️ Another old fantasy flame retires. He was a fun player.

⏩️ “Cheat motion” is now officially cheating? C’mon, it’s good for fantasy points.