Fantasy Football: Miles Sanders dealing with lower body injury, but Week 1 not in doubt (yet)

How much should a vague 'lower body' injury worry Fantasy players?

The Fantasy football world was thrown an unexpected curveball Wednesday morning, as the Eagles announced running back Miles Sanders was "week to week" with a lower body injury. Sanders is a popular breakout pick and typically a first-round pick, so this certainly seems like something to be concerned about.

Except, maybe it isn't? John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia reported shortly after that the injury is "not too serious at all" and at this point is not expected to bother Sanders when the regular season starts in little over three weeks. So, a sigh of relief there. 

However, it's still worth getting into what the contingency plan would be here, because the Eagles figure to be one of the most productive teams in the league for running backs — that's why we're so high on Sanders in the first place! And, while the reports that he's expected to be OK for the start of the season are certainly promising, we know setbacks can happen, and that "week to week" designation sounds awfully ominous. 

We reacted to the Sanders scare and busts who can ruin your draft Wednesday on Fantasy Football Today Podcast. Follow all our podcasts and subscribe here.

On the latter point, this might just be the Eagles being purposefully vague on both the injury itself and the timetable. With practices closed to the public due to ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, NFL teams are being even more restrictive than normal about what the media is allowed to see and report. That means we may not have as many updates on Sanders' status over the next few weeks as we would like, but we should know when he is back on the field. If it's in time for practices for Week 1, that won't be much of a concern. 

However, if Sanders does have to miss time, there would obviously be a significant opportunity in this backfield. The Eagles have circled around a few veteran options without signing any, so Boston Scott is the primary backup to Sanders at this point, with Corey Clement looming as the third back. If Sanders was forced to miss time, the Eagles would probably add another back, but Scott and Clement would figure to see most of the work, with Scott looming as a potentially very valuable Fantasy asset in that case.

We saw last season the Eagles were more than willing to give Scott plenty of work in the passing game and in the red zone — in the four games where Scott played an extended role, he had seven touches inside of the 10-yard line and had 23 receptions total, as Ben Gretch has noted. Scott figures to have standalone value even if Sanders is healthy, but if Scott gets to be the lead back for any stretch, he could be a top-15 back. 

This is all to say, Scott has been one of the best values in Fantasy drafts long before Sanders was dealing with any injuries, with an ADP of 160.0 overall, the 50th running back off the board. Scott is one of the best late-round picks you can make at running back, and that's even more true now. 

Sanders should be fine for Week 1, of course, and this shouldn't move him too far down your draft boards. However, it does introduce some risk into his profile, and might be enough to push him out of the first round in all drafts. He still has huge upside thanks to his all-around skills, especially in the passing game, so if he does fall and this truly does turn out to be nothing, Sanders could be one of the best values in drafts in 2020. 

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