Injury News - Frank Gore, Vernand Morency

by Skeller on Jul 31, 2007 6:44 AM EDT in Football

Frank Gore, RB, SF -- It sounds like bad news, but it may be good news for (smart) fantasy owners. San Francisco RB Frank Gore broke a bone in his hand during a non-contact drill in training camp and will miss most, if not all, of the preseason.

Normally this type of injury would cause you drop Gore down your draft lists, but in this case I'm not recommending that. He shouldn't miss any time during the season and Gore has played hurt before. He has the ability and opportunity to rush for 1800 yards this season and that's just too good to pass up. Hopefully other owners in your league will waver (talk up how injured he is during the draft) and Gore will slide down a few picks to you.

This also gives backup Michael Robinson additional reps in the preseason, which will only help his value. If you do draft Gore, you'll want to grab Robinson late as a handcuff.

Vernand Morency, RB, GB - More injured #1 running back news, this time out of Green Bay. Various sources are reporting that Morency will be out "a couple of weeks" with a knee injury. According to the Peoria Star-Journal:

Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Monday the knee injury projected starter Vernand Morency sustained was worse than the team's medical staff originally thought. McCarthy said he expects Morency to be out a couple of weeks.

The good news: McCarthy said Morency probably won't need arthroscopic surgery.

"I don't think so, no," McCarthy said. "(Team doctor) Pat McKenzie just thinks it's a little more serious than he initially thought. Just like I said, it's going to be maybe a couple weeks."

I'm sorry, what? It's "worse than the team's medical staff originally thought"? He "probably" won't need surgery? It's "maybe a couple of weeks"? Those types of statements don't fill me with confidence. That's the type of thing you hear right before they announce that they've just traded for another running back. This is bad news because the medical staff won't say, or doesn't know, how bad the injury is. It's bad news because it's Morency's knee. And it's bad news because the Packers RB situation was fluid anyway, which fantasy owners never like.

Unlike the Gore situation, I don't have any confidence in Morency's healing ability or ability to play with pain. And it's very difficult to replace Gore, it's not that difficult to replace Vernand Morency. I'm marking Morency down - way down - on my draft list and raising rookie Brandon Jackson above him as the #1 RB in Green Bay. I can't imagine relying on Morency as anything other than a #3 fantasy RB right now. And even that makes me uncomfortable. <shiver>

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BJax

In my mock draft a couple weeks ago, I had already taken the gamble that Brandon Jackson would be #1 in GB. With this news, I expect Morency to be selected in the same area as Falcons QB Michael Vick.

By September, Morency may not even be remembered by any fantasy player but the most ardent.

by faketeams on Jul 31, 2007 9:18 AM EDT reply actions