Wide receiver injuries continue to plague fantasy football fans

I feel like I’ve broken a record, but here we go again with the injuries… and they continue to occur mainly at one offensive skill position.

We saw four more superstar wide receivers go down in Week 9, and one of those may have lost its quarterback as well. Speaking of receivers, we also saw one of our heroes continue to struggle in the stat sheets, while the tight ends went right back into the tank.

With that said, here are my Fabs’ five storylines from Fantasy Football Week 9 that stood out the most. For all the latest news and fantasy advice, here you go check out Fantasy Dirt five days a week!

The Cowboys offense is falling apart

It’s bad enough being a Cowboys fan these days (believe me, I know it better than most), but now their poor play on the field comes with injuries… and serious ones.

Dak Prescott, who had a very “middle” game in the stats against the Atlanta Falcons, suffered a hamstring injury that will require an MRI this week. He left the game, was unable to return and finished with a paltry 12.3 fantasy points. (Let’s go, Cooper Rush!) Ugh.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Cowboys saw CeeDee Lamb miss time with an injured shoulder. Although he returned for a two-point conversion, he was clearly uncomfortable. Post-match reports suggest he will undergo an MRI for a right AC joint sprain. Lamb finished with eight catches for just 47 yards and 16.2 points. The superstar wideout, who scored 403.2 points last season, is on pace for just 314.5 points in 2024… and if he misses time (probably?) or catches passes from the backup Rush, Lamb’s current pace could be even worse.

Ouch.

More wide receivers are getting hurt

Lamb wasn’t the only receiver to go down this week. Chris Olave (concussion), Drake London (hip) and AJ Brown (knee) were also injured here and did not return. Olave’s concussion was his second of the season, so you have to worry about his future health.

This continues a terrible trend of prized fantasy wideouts getting hurt. Fantasy fans are without Brown (who has already missed games), Malik Nabers, Nico Collins, Chris Godwin (IR), Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua, Rashee Rice (IR), Deebo Samuel, Mike Evans, DK Metcalf, Stefon Diggs (IR) , DeVonta Smith, Davante Adams, Tee Higgins, Brandon Aiyuk (IR), Josh Downs, Rashid Shaheed, Amari Cooper, Jauan Jennings, Diontae Johnson, Keenan Allen, Christian Kirk (IR), Jameson Williams (SSPD), Hollywood Brown (IR ), Jordan Addison, Brandin Cooks, Quentin Johnston and Adam Thielen for at least one or more games.

(Did I miss something… is this crazy or something?)

This season has shown that running backs aren’t always the most injury-prone players among the skill positions, and it proves that the Zero-RB strategy has been a colossal failure.

Is Tyreek Hill really a failure this season?

Hill started the season as the fantasy superstar we all expected him to be, scoring 26 points in a win over the Jaguars. Little did we know this would be his best race (by a mile) for the next two months. While we’ve forgiven his lack of production without Tua Tagovailoa (he scored single digits in four of his next five games), the Cheetah hasn’t been great since Tua returned. Without a touchdown, he averaged just 12.6 points. What’s more? Hill hasn’t found the end zone since Week 1! With eight games in the books, he’s on pace to finish with 187.5 points… that’s it less than half of the 376.4 points he scored last season.

Joe Burrow throws for five touchdowns

Burrow had a huge game against both the Bengals and fantasy managers, throwing for 251 yards with five touchdowns in a blowout win over the Raiders. The performance was good for 29.1 fantasy points and was his second game in five weeks with five touchdown passes.

Surprisingly, Burrow’s stellar stats didn’t benefit Ja’Marr Chase. He did finish with seven catches, but he only had 43 yards and didn’t score. The touchdowns went to Mike Gesicki (2), Chase Brown, Drew Sample and Andrei Iosivas. However, Burrow and Chase should both find success in Week 10 after facing poor Baltimore pass defense on Thursday night.

Tight ends give, tight ends take away…

Remember how happy we all were last week when 18 tight ends scored at least 10.8 points, nine scored at least 16.8 points and five went over 21 points… on National Tight Ends Day? Well, every Sunday should have that label. The position suffered a huge decline in terms of fantasy points, as only 11 players scored in double figures before Sunday night, and only one (Mike Gesicki) had more than 20 points.

Additionally, six of the tight ends who scored in double figures (Gesicki, Taysom Hill, Theo Johnson, Ja’Tavion Sanders, Drew Sample, Nick Vannett) didn’t start in most leagues. In fact, only Hill and Gesicki were tied property in a double-digit percentage of competitions. So we can start complaining about tight ends again!