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Fantasy Football: Top 5 injuries to keep an eye on for Week 6

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 4:14 p.m. ET

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Injuries are part of Fantasy Football, unfortunately. Make sure to adjust your lineups accordingly heading into Week 6 action

Oct 2, 2016; Landover, MD, USA; Washington Redskins tight end Jordan Reed (86) runs with the ball as Cleveland Browns defensive back Briean Boddy-Calhoun (20) chases in the third quarter at FedEx Field. The Redskins won 31-20. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Considering the nature of the sport, fantasy football owners suffer their own sort of internal non-physical injuries—for the most part. Any freak injury to any of your players can and probably will decimate your entire team.

However, the good news is, not to sound like we’re cheering for someone’s injury to happen, but with one man’s opportunity gone, another’s presents itself.

With Week 5 in the books, fantasy owners everywhere are absolutely dismantled or pleased with their performances from the past week. As always, Week 6 should promise to be another good one as we get ready to put last week behind us and prepare for the upcoming one.

Without further ado, here’s an injury report heading into Week 6 fantasy football with the top five injuries to keep an eye on.

5. Running Back Eddie Lacy – Green Bay Packers

As of now, the 26-year old tailback is questionable entering Week 6. He suffered an ankle injury and was forced to leave the game last Sunday against the New York Giants. Despite head coach Mike McCarthy being adamant and downplaying Lacy’s injury as not a serious one, fantasy owners will want to look elsewhere as number 27 hasn’t had the season owners thought he’d have up to this point.

Lacy has yet to find the end zone through his first four games this season. He’s actually averaging 5.5 yards per carry and close to 74 yards per game, which is not bad. Perhaps the return of Jordy Nelson has taken away some of his passing opportunities as he’s only seen six targets from Aaron Rodgers so far.

Given the fact that teammate James Starks has already been ruled out with an ankle injury of his own, Lacy will most likely suit, but we wouldn’t expect much work from him fantasy-wise. He’s a desperation play if you have no one else on your team.

Oct 9, 2016; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Lions running back Theo Riddick (25) moves against Philadelphia Eagles free safety Rodney McLeod (23) during the first quarter at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

4. Running Back Theo Riddick – Detroit Lions

The 25-year old tailback has already been ruled out for Sunday’s tilt against the Los Angeles Rams due to an ankle injury suffered is last week’s match up against the Philadelphia Eagles, according to the Detroit Free Press. This is a blow for the Detroit Lions and fantasy owners all around.

Riddick had arguably his best game of the season following fellow teammate Dwayne Washington‘s injury. It was expected that Riddick would see an increase in volume and opportunity, and he made the most of it against the Philadelphia Eagles.

He rushed for 49 yards on 11 carries and added 33 yards on six catches. He also scored two touchdowns against a very good Eagles defense. The Lions had to make a move and scooped up the recently-released running back Justin Forsett off the street.

We’re expecting Forsett to see the majority of the carries this week but would temper expectations as this is a pass-heavy offense.

Oct 2, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Oakland Raiders running back Latavius Murray (28) runs for yardage against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

3. Running Back Latavius Murray – Oakland Raiders

The man out of Central Florida will miss Week 6’s divisional showdown against the Kansas City Chiefs. This is the second straight week that the 26-year old will have missed and it’s certainly reason to create concern in the fantasy world.

Oakland split the rushing workload amongst three different running backs; Jalen Richard (eight carries), DeAndre Washington (nine carries), and Jamize Olawale (six carries).

Washington saw the most looks, albeit it still wasn’t much to make us feel confident in starting him this week. He only rushed for 23 yards on nine carries but did add 29 yards on five catches.

Although we like Washington out of that group going forward, as long as Murray continues to be out, we’d recommend waiting and seeing how this running back situation develops.

Check to see if your waiver wire still has Washington available. Don’t sleep of Richard either as he was more involved in the passing game (66 yards on six receptions) than Washington.

Oct 2, 2016; Landover, MD, USA; Washington Redskins tight end Jordan Reed (86) runs with the ball as Cleveland Browns defensive back Briean Boddy-Calhoun (20) chases in the third quarter at FedEx Field. The Redskins won 31-20. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

2. Tight End Jordan Reed –  Washington Redskins

As expected (at some point this season), the former Gator out of Florida has been officially ruled out, with a concussion, for Sunday’s divisional game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Unfortunately when you have a past of series concussions, it seems that it increases your chances at vulnerability to suffer more concussions going forward. He initially suffered the injury during last week’s match up against the Baltimore Ravens.

This is Reed’s ” fifth documented concussion” in his NFL career. It was also reported that he suffered one known concussion during his time in college. Obviously there is much more at stake here than fantasy numbers, but owners will want to find an immediate backup and plan to be without the 26-year old for a while.

It’s a blow because Reed looked like he was coming off his best game of the season in Week 4, where he caught for 73 yards on nine receptions, and scored two touchdowns. It seemed as if he finally was ready to go on a tear the rest of the year, but then this happened.

Obviously, we are hopeful that Reed returns soon and healthy, but it’s scary to see that amount of head injuries to one man. Let’s hope for the best.

1. Tight End Rob Gronkowski – New England Patriots

The 27-year old tight end has yet to find the end zone this season. Granted he missed the first three games due to a hamstring injury, but it seems that his injury has yet to fully heal.

We all have come to learn, appreciate, and love the fantasy value Gronk has put up the past couple of years. He has been the best tight end in the NFL. That’s not a question. The concern is that with a lingering injury, despite him being tough, and with a legitimate weapon in teammate and Martellus Bennett, there warrants some concern as to how those two factors will affect his production the rest of the season.

It was definitely good to see him out there catching his 109 yards, on five catches, last week. He was just overshadowed by Bennett who caught 67 yards on six catches but scored three touchdowns.

What concerns us more in the injury, obviously. He will suit up and play against the Cincinnati Bengals today, per NFL.com reporter Ian Rapoport. Let’s see how this one plays out.

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