David Chao, MD
2 min read • August 23, 2024
Posted in
With the NFL season rapidly approaching, our team at Sports Injury Central has you covered with all the injury insights you need when deciding which players to target or avoid in all formats of Fantasy Football.
This is a preview of our 2024 NFL Preseason Injury Guide, which will feature detailed injury insights, data and SIC Health Scores on all 32 teams. Sign up for our newsletter here to receive the guide and free injury-based picks for the 2024 NFL Season as they are released.
Here are the running backs whose injury concerns are in the past, so we recommend you target them in your fantasy football drafts. Note the ADP's are from Sleeper with standard scoring. If you haven't tried it for your Fantasy Football league, we recommend using it this year for the best fantasy football experience!
After tearing his ACL in 2022, Breece Hall had a breakout season in 2023, playing in all 17 games and finishing with over 1,500 total yards and 9 touchdowns. Pro Football Docs expect him to have a big season with the return of Aaron Rodgers, and now in his second season post-ACL injury, Hall could be a top 5 fantasy RB in 2024.
Jonathan Taylor has dealt with a laundry list of injuries over the past two seasons but enters this year with a clean bill of health from our Pro Football Docs. In 2022, Taylor suffered a right ankle injury that caused him to miss six games and required offseason surgery. In 2023, the same injury caused Taylor to start the season on the PUP list, missing the first four games. Once off the list, Taylor was awarded a new contract by the Colts but then suffered a torn UCL in his left thumb in Week 12, causing him to miss three more games and finish the season with a career-low 741 rushing yards. Entering this season, our Pro Football Docs expect Taylor to be fully healthy for the start of training camp and ready to be a workhorse RB beginning in Week 1.
After tearing three ligaments during his rookie campaign in 2022, Williams had a very strong 2023 season, missing only one game. Despite the missed game, he had lingering quad and hamstring issues but still managed to garner 217 carries for 774 yards with 3 touchdowns on the ground and 47 catches with 5 touchdowns. He’s not 100%, but he is continuing to improve in camp and is expected to be available to start the season.
Kyren Williams suffered a high right ankle sprain in Week 6, which kept him on IR and out of action from Weeks 7-11. Upon his return, he resumed his regular starting role. Despite a foot issue in the offseason, Williams is fully active at training camp with no lingering issues. He was a highly productive starter when healthy, finishing with 1,144 yards (3rd in the league) and 12 rushing touchdowns (tied for 5th), averaging 5 yards per carry. He is expected to be the primary ball carrier this season, with Blake Corum likely serving as RB2.
Raheem Mostert is coming off a career-best season, leading the NFL with 21 total touchdowns and achieving a career-high 1,012 rushing yards. He missed two games due to left knee and ankle injuries and has a long history of career knee injuries, including a torn ACL in Week 1 of 2021. Despite bouncing back to play in 16 games in 2022 and 15 games last year, expectations are for regression in 2024 from both a touchdown and injury standpoint.
Jonathan Brooks suffered a torn ACL in his right knee last November. It's challenging for any rookie to be productive in their first season back from an ACL tear, especially when also adjusting to the increased competition in the NFL. Therefore, expectations for Brooks' immediate contributions should be tempered, given the difficulty of returning to peak performance after such an injury.
Dobbins was cleared for football activities in late March after suffering a torn Achilles in Week 1 of last season. He is looking to shed the injury-prone label and claims to be '100 percent. We at sicscore.com will continue to fade the RBs production as we do not see him playing to full potential due to his second major injury in two years. Dobbins is currently listed as RB2 on most Chargers depth charts and will likely split time with Gus Edwards.
Nick Chubb played only two games last season before sustaining a major knee injury that led to two separate surgeries. Following his injury, Chubb underwent successful knee surgery on September 29, 2023, to repair his medial capsule, meniscus, and medial collateral ligament (MCL). Later, on November 14, 2023, he had another successful surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Recently, Chubb has been seen on video squatting over 500 lbs. Although he has not yet been cleared for football activities, he has reportedly been progressing positively toward a return this season. Unfortunately Chubb carries one of our lowest individual scores going into the new season as we find it difficult seeing him producing in any capacity. Squatting video looks great but is not the proper view on how he is recovering as we have had worry since initial injury that he will be unable to find his past high level of play.
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Written by David Chao, MD
