Fantasy Damage Updates: The newest information on D’Andre Swift, Julio Jones, AJ Brown, extra impacting the rankings

Week 1 is just around the corner and some players in the league are struggling with injuries that could affect their availability – and their status in fantasy drafts. D’Andre Swift is in great danger of missing out on time while AJ Brown and Julio Jones have been on the injury report throughout the preseason. Trey Lance was beaten up in the last 49ers preseason game, so he’s worth a mention. Stay up to date with the latest news and updates before you finalize your leaderboards, sleeper lists and cheat sheets for 2021.

Before you dive into these, take an updated look at Michael Thomas’s Fantasy Value here. Here’s whether you should be designing Deshaun Watson. We also have help for those wondering if they should call up Saquon Barkley on the first round (Click here). For position battle messages, Click here. Follow us on Twitter @SN_Fantasy for the latest fantasy news

DOMINATE YOUR DESIGN: Ultimate 2021 Cheat Sheet

2021 PPR FANTASY RANKING:
Quarterback | Run back | Wide-angle receiver | Narrow end | D / ST | Kicker | Highest 200

Does D’Andre Swift play week 1?

Concern continues to grow with Swift’s availability in Week 1. Right now the thought is that Swift is going to be on the wrong side of “questionable” in Detroit’s opener. In other words, he’s more likely to miss week 1 than play. This is a little worrying as he missed three games in his rookie season. However, there is an opportunity to take advantage of this as your ADP will see some sort of decline. In PPR leagues, he will be especially valuable if he is healthy. Detroit also tacitly has one of the league’s better offensive lines on paper. We still say take it if it falls too far in your designs. You will likely be able to grab it in a place that won’t paralyze you in week 1.

Jamaal Williams and Jamar Jefferson will benefit from his absence. Williams has shown in the past that he can be fantasy relevant, and with Swift’s preseason injuries, he’s one of the best RB handcuffs in the NFL.

Swift is our No. 17 RB in Standard Leagues and No. 16 RB in PPR, although it looks like he could get him for a better price than these leaderboards.

2021 STANDARD FANTASY RANKING:
Quarterback | Run back | Wide-angle receiver | Narrow end | D / ST | Kicker | Highest 200

AJ Brown / Julio Jones Injury Update

Brown and Jones were both at the Titans practice Monday, doing something that at least resembled playing football. They’ve both been running tracks and been active and that’s all we as fantasy owners need to hear. You’ve been in similar situations this off-season. Both of them would certainly play if a game came up, but the Titans were very careful with their superstar wide receiver duo. Brown is struggling with an unspecified knee injury but he would fit here again if there was a game today.

Jones’ injury was not disclosed, but the thought is that his absence is more of an extreme precautionary measure. In addition, Jones has rarely been in training for Atlanta in recent seasons. It’s just about not despising the 31-year-old future Hall of Famer they just traded for. He’s slowly being reintegrated into a full training environment, but don’t be surprised if he’s on the injury report during game week.

At this point there are no signs of missing week 1 either, and they’re too darn good to fade in fantasy drafts. If for any reason one or both of them suffer setbacks, Josh Reynolds, Marcus Johnson, and Dez Fitzpatrick are candidates who take on part of their responsibility.

Brown is our No. 9 WR in Standard and No. 11 WR in PPR. Jones is WR18 in Standard and WR20 in PPR.

2021 FANTASY SLEEPER:
Quarterback | Run back | Wide-angle receiver | Narrow end | D / ST | Every team

Trey Lance Injury Update

Lance is expected to miss a week of training with a broken bone in his finger. He contracted the injury during the last preseason game of the 49ers against the Raiders. Although it is a minor disease, it is worth keeping an eye on its status. Missing a week of training during a positional battle is obviously not ideal, and it remains to be seen whether that will affect your game. The news shouldn’t completely dissuade you from Lance, but it certainly doesn’t help his case playing early, which he may not have had before the injury anyway.

Lance is still a valuable bank supply with a league win later in the season. Pair it with a mid-tier QB and hope “Trey SZN” arrives soon.

FANTASY TIERS 2021 & STRATEGY DESIGN:
Quarterback | Run back | Wide-angle receiver | Narrow end | D / ST

Lance is currently our No. 23 QB. Its low ranking is mainly due to the uncertainty of its situation. If he starts games early in the season, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him producing QB1 numbers with his rapid upward trend and talented pass catchers of the 49ers.