Analyzing Week 1's injury report

This is it! The final designation for injured players is on our doorstep for Week 1 of the NFL season. Each week, this blog entry will be dedicated to looking at the players who appear on the official Friday NFL injury report and how their status may have an impact on your fantasy teams.


A primer for those new to the game: Injury reports provide clues to a player's status for eager fantasy owners. The NFL requires teams to submit injury reports several times per week, identifying the body part that is involved in the injury. Early in the week, these reports will indicate whether a player who has some level of injury is not practicing, is limited in practice or is a full participant. On Fridays, all players on the injury report are assigned one of the following designations by their teams: probable, questionable, doubtful or out.


The explanation for each designation is as follows:


Probable (P): This designation indicates that a player has a greater than 50 percent chance of playing. Most players listed here are expected to play, barring a setback between the Friday injury report and kickoff.


Questionable (Q): This is the fantasy owner's most dreaded player designation. It means a player's status is on the fence and that there is a 50-50 chance he'll be on the field come game time. However, as fantasy owners have come to learn, many teams utilize the questionable designation for any player with a hint of injury. Whether a player ends up active often comes down to a game-time decision based on how he performs during warmups, so it is important for fantasy owners to check status reports leading up to the game.


Doubtful (D): The doubtful designation means a player has less than a 25 percent chance of playing that week. Rarely does a guy labeled as doubtful end up playing unless he experiences a major turnaround before game time. Fantasy owners who need to make roster adjustments before game time can feel fairly confident about sitting a player listed as doubtful.


Out: This is the easy one. The guy's definitely not playing Sunday. As painful as it might be to see this designation next to a player on your fantasy roster, at least you know in advance of the game that he's sitting out and can plan accordingly.


Each week in the Saturday blog, we will run down a list of key fantasy players, by position, who appear in the Friday injury report and analyze their chances for playing Sunday. The primary fantasy positions are covered (quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end), and this year, a few additional notables at both offensive and defensive positions will be added to the list. We'll cover the players listed as "Out" at the end of the blog as well.


Good luck in Week 1, everyone! May your players stay healthy and win for you.