October 06, 2020
So far in 2020, nearly half of the top 25 fantasy football picks, by ADP (average draft position) have missed or will miss a game due to injury, heading into the fifth week of games. Yes, this seems like more big name injuries than usual, but is it?
With just four weeks in the books, it seems like there are more high profile injuries than ever before and it kind of makes sense. With less time for teams to practice, less time for live hitting, no preseason whatsoever and an overall lacking in preparation, injuries are taking a toll as COVID continues to rampage through our country.
Teams like the Eagles and 49ers have lost nearly an entire starting lineup's worth of players to injuries, and it's been just four weeks. There seems to be an indirect trickle down effect.
| Player | ADP | Status |
| Christian McCaffery | 1.0 | 2 GP, IR (will miss 4-6 wks) |
| Saquan Barkley | 2.0 | 2 GP, IR (torn ACL) |
| Ezekiel Elliott | 3.0 | RB4 |
| Michael Thomas | 5.0 | 1 GP (out with ankle) |
| Alvin Kamara | 5.0 | RB1 |
| Derrick Henry | 6.0 | RB22 |
| Dalvin Cook | 6.0 | RB3 |
| DaVante Adams | 8.5 | 2 GP (out with hamstring) |
| Joe Mixon | 10.0 | RB8 |
| Tyreek Hill | 11.0 | WR7 |
| Julio Jones | 12.5 | 3 GP (out with hamstring) |
| Nick Chubb | 13.0 | 4 GP, IR (will miss 4-6 wks) |
| DeAndre Hopkins | 16.0 | WR2 |
| Clyde Edwards-Helaire | 16.5 | RB12 |
| Josh Jacobs | 16.5 | RB9 |
| George Kittle | 17.0 | 2 GP (had sprained knee) |
| Kenyan Drake | 17.0 | 4 GP (out with chest injury) |
| Travis Kelce | 17.5 | TE1 |
| Patrick Mahomes | 18.0 | QB4 |
| Chris Godwin | 19.0 | 2 GP, (out with hamstring) |
| Lamar Jackson | 19.0 | QB8 |
| Aaron Jones | 20.0 | RB2 |
| Austin Ekeler | 21.0 | 4 GP, IR (will miss 4-6 wks) |
| Miles Sanders | 22.0 | 3 GP (missed Week 1) |
| Kenny Golladay | 24.5 | 2 GP (had hamstring) |
So what does this all mean?
For comparison sake, the top 25 players drafted in 2019 fantasy drafts missed a combined 48 games due to injury. That's 12%. (Barkley 3 missed games, Kamara 2, Hopkins 1, David Johnson 3, Adams 4, LeVeon Bell 1, James Conner 6, Jones 1, Todd Gurley 1, JuJu Smith-Schuster 4, Hill 4, Cook 2, Mahomes 2, Evans 3, Adam Thielen 6, Damien Williams 5).
So far in 2020, the top 25 picks have already combined to miss 17 games (easy math, 25 players, four games each, that's 17%). However, if you add in the 12 other games Barkley will miss with his torn ACL, the low end of the projected additional missed games for McCaffery (2), Chubb (4) and Ekeler (4), you are already at 39 games lost to injury. And that doesn't include the current injuries to Thomas, Drake, Adams and Jones, all of whom are likely to miss more games.
We wanted a little more context, so we went back one year to 2018 where Devonta Freeman and Leonard Fournette were among players who had season ending injuries. That year, top 25 picks by ADP missed a combined 58 games. The top players missed 14.5% of their games.
Here's an easy to interpret table:
| Season | % G's missed | Injured players |
| 2020* | 17% | 12 |
| 2019 | 12% | 16 |
| 2018 | 14.5% | 12 |
| 2017 | 13.8% | 13 |
*2017-2019 stats are through 16 games, 2020 through 4
So are we on pace to exceed all of these numbers in 2020? The simple sheer volume of injuries at every position, not just fantasy relevant ones suggests that the carnage could continue. It has never been more important for fantasy owners to be savvy in acquiring backups in a timely fashion. Nor has it been more elusive for them to squeak by without the injury bug decimating a roster.
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