Fantasy Performance and Re-Injury Rate by Position

Our Adam Hutchison examines how each position performs with an injury and their re-injury rate.

Adam Hutchison's Fantasy Performance and Re-Injury Rate by Position Adam Hutchison Published 09/01/2024

The Footballguys Injury Index contains injury timelines and fantasy performance outcomes specifically for quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends from 2017-2023. Altogether, there are over 2,000 injuries in the database. However, to avoid any confusion, it is important to lay some ground rules. I am not saying that this is exactly what will happen. I do not have a crystal ball, nor should this report be used as one. Like most things in life, context is important. Every injury is unique.

Enjoy.

Sections of the Footballguys Injury Index

Chance to Play, Questionable vs. Doubtful
Chance to Play, Practice Participation
Games Played and Positional Volatility
Fantasy Performance and Re-Injury Rate by Position

Injury Index: Fantasy Performance and Re-Injury Rate by Position

This is the section of the Footballguys Injury Index where we dig a bit deeper and see how different injuries affect a player's fantasy production. For example, High Ankle Sprains are notoriously bad for running backs, but are all injuries this devastating? Additionally, you'll get an analysis of how specific injuries might affect different positions. While a Shoulder Injury might be minor for a wide receiver, it's likely to negatively impact quarterback production.

  • Re-Injury Rating was calculated based on the percentage of players who experienced the same injury in the same season after returning. There are four buckets: Very High High, Medium (Med), and Low.
  • Fantasy production (FPTS % Change) was based on how a player performed the first week following the injury compared to their Healthy Average (Fantasy points per game when not injured). It includes instances where a player did or did not miss time.
  • An additional section examined fantasy production when the player missed at least one week with injury (Time Missed Fpts %) to gauge how more serious injuries affected performance.
  • When the sample size was sufficient, the Lingering Effects Rating was used. This averages fantasy production for the remaining games post-injury to determine if some injuries tend to linger longer and negatively impact performance. The scores were placed into High, Med, or Low buckets.

When the sample was not large enough to portray an accurate picture, "NA" was set as a placeholder.

Injuries like a torn ACL or a ruptured Achilles are not listed below. Those are season-enders.

Quarterbacks

InjuryAvg Time Missed (Weeks)Players who did not miss time (%)Players
who missed 5+ weeks (%)
Re-Injury RatingFpts % Change (+/-)Time Missed Fpts % (+/-)Lingering Effects
Rating
Sample Size
Foot Injury44020LowNANANA5
Low Ankle Sprain2.24411LowNANANA9
High Ankle Sprain4.21020HighNANANA10
Calf Strain2.400LowNANANA6
Knee Injury3.41229Med9.420.3Low17
Hamstring Strain2.31717High-17.6-15.6High6
Hip Injury3.72929Low18.1NANA7
Elbow Injury4.85033Low5.4NANA6
Hand Injury4.11841Low-16.3-17.8Med17
Shoulder Injury3.71738High-7.5-7.4Low24
AC Joint Sprain3.42533High-14.4-14.2Med12
Back Injury4.42943Low-38.9NANA7
Rib Injury1.761Low3.153.4Low12
Concussion1.471Med-1.811Low18
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