Injured Players To Buy In Dynasty Fantasy Football

Which injured players should managers buy in dynasty fantasy football leagues? John looks at seven players who ended the season with injuries that you should buy or trade for.

It's not always a player's fault when he can't perform. Despite this, Dynasty fantasy managers are often more willing to trade some of their assets when they're dealing with injuries, giving you an opportunity to get a better deal than you normally would.

And since value should be at the center of all your decisions regarding proposing and accepting trades, injuries can provide a unique opportunity for you to fill in some of your roster holes with studs. This holds true whether you're trading away players you no longer want or rookie draft picks you're not excited about.

Below we'll break down seven players who are dealing with ailments that you should be targeting.

• 2025 fantasy football rankings (redraft)
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• Wide receiver fantasy football rankings
• Tight end fantasy football rankings

WR Rasheed Shaheed

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed (knee) suffered a season-ending meniscus injury after his team's Week 6 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He should be fully healthy by the time the 2025 season starts. The Saints former offensive coordinator, Klint Kubiak, left for Seattle, and quarterback Derek Carr is only aging further.

Rashid Shaheed pic.twitter.com/nfSzJz61LC

— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) January 4, 2025

It's important to recognize that he was Carr's favorite target, even though he shared the field with fellow WR Chris Olave, who was seen as the sure-fire WR1 for the team heading into the season. And Shaheed developed impressively, improving his route-running and separation skills.

It's usually a good idea to try to invest in supremely talented athletes who develop in ways that make their explosiveness more effective. Shaheed's clear improvements in the finer details of his game were impressive, yet he's not being valued like the breakout star he should be considered as.

Make a move for him whenever you can. It could pay off in a big way.

WR Brandon Aiyuk

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (knee) tore his ACL and MCL during Week 7. He's likely to be able to return during Week 1 of 2025 -- if not, perhaps he will come back a bit later. And he might struggle to start the season. But at some point, something has to change with the 49ers offense.

streets are missing brandon aiyuk ball rn pic.twitter.com/XDiJL3BHgx

— rav (@AiyukFor6ix) December 3, 2024

Tight end George Kittle is 31 and will turn 32 in October. Fellow wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. is 29 and looked nothing like his old self in 2024. Running back Christian McCaffrey will be 29 when the 2025 season starts. While WR Jauan Jennings had a breakout season, it's not hard to imagine that Aiyuk could become the team's primary pass-catcher soon -- if not in 2025, then 2026.

And he'll be just 27 years old when next season rolls around, so he has at least a few more years of prime left. There are likely plenty of leagues that want to move off of him, as San Francisco's offense collapsed last season. And there are plenty of questions if it can rebound, which are fair.

But it's unlikely head coach Kyle Shanahan or quarterback Brock Purdy are going anywhere. And with a Purdy payday looming, the 49ers may have to let go of some of their higher-priced assets soon. We could see someone like Samuel move on before long, and that would boost Aiyuk's stock.

QB Trevor Lawrence

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence is another player you want to make a move for. It's not unheard of for offensive coaches to completely revive the career of their team's starting quarterback. We saw current Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales do it for Geno Smith, for example.

New head coach Liam Coen was probably hired specifically to help the offense be one of the league's elite units in 2025. Coen ran a masterful offense that revitalized the career of quarterback Baker Mayfield with the Buccaneers and likely set him up for a big payday down the road, once his current contract is up.

The Genius of Liam Coen offense 🎥

This is from 3 straight weeks.

•Knowing the defense have scouted this TE cheat motion.

•Makes it look identical, but runs 3 totally different unique plays to confuse the defense.

•3 Touchdowns.

Jax has missed this type of creativity ‼️ pic.twitter.com/jI7aVge8pg

— N F L (@DTWD904) January 30, 2025

After being mostly ignored as a good option in redraft fantasy leagues, Mayfield became one of the best scoring quarterbacks of the year. That was largely due to Coen's schemes, which creatively set up scoring opportunities for its players and dissected and destroyed many of the defenses they faced.

The creativity with which he drew up new plays should elevate Lawrence's production and make him a great target to buy. He will be fully healthy and ready to go when the 2025 season starts, so there's no concern there.

TE Evan Engram

After a miserable season cut short by multiple injuries, Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Evan Engram (shoulder) has seen his Dynasty fantasy football value plummet. But that doesn't mean it should be so low. Engram was quarterback Trevor Lawrence's favorite target just two seasons ago, and there are rumors the team could move on from him.

Evan Engram jumps over everyone for that TD pic.twitter.com/wrHNlhXlwl

— Fitz (@LaurieFitzptrck) October 27, 2024

Even if he does stay a Jag, Lawrence likes him and will feed him passes even with wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. now a part of the team. While the Christian Kirk (collarbone) situation remains fluid, the addition of Coen, who led an elite offense in 2024 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, gives a boost to Engram's prospects in 2025.

It's easy to forget about players after just one injury-ridden season, but we don't think you should let Engram slip from your mind. He's an easy buy if you're in a league where his current manager is looking to move on.

QB J.J. McCarthy

Minnesota Vikings elite offensive schemes and excellent roster tricked the entire NFL community into thinking quarterback Sam Darnold was actually good and it was all the faults of the other teams that he was on that he was previously trash. He reminded us in the final week of the season and in the playoffs that he was, in fact, still bad at football.

“Place the white flag at the 33 yard line, now we’re starting to get killed” -Paul Allen

Al Quadin Mohammed and a host of other Lions sack Sam Darnold,

Called by Paul Allen and Pete Bercich for KFXN in Minneapolis pic.twitter.com/C2RKgKCpyX

— will: Riley Greene Truther (@wrhiv_72) January 6, 2025

Despite having wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, tight end T.J. Hockenson, one of the league's best offensive lines, and running back Aaron Jones to help him out, Darnold simply cannot deal with pressure. So when the Detroit Lions and subsequently the Los Angeles Rams dialed up blitz after blitz, Darnold repeatedly panicked in the pocket and ran around until the sacks came.

And they really did come. He's been re-solved. The Vikings would be foolish to extend him, as they have a better quarterback, J.J. McCarthy (knee), who should be healthy to start the 2025 season. To not give him a shot and waste a ton of money on Darnold after his failures would be a massive mistake.

It sucks that McCarthy lost his entire rookie season to his injury, but don't let that dissuade you from making a move for him. He should be the team's QB of the future, and head coach Kevin O'Connell, one of the best offensive minds in football, signed an extension after the season ended. He's here to stay.

RB MarShawn Lloyd

Green Bay Packers running back MarShawn Lloyd (hamstring) missed out on nearly all of his rookie season. But a look at how head coach Matt LaFleur prefers to utilize his running backs tells you that it's worth taking a shot on Lloyd. He should be extremely cheap, and LaFleur has preferred to run a committee back system when the backup isn't an undrafted free agent player.

Aaron Jones / AJ Dillon Carries per Week#NFL #FantasyFootball pic.twitter.com/NgNvKqgGxN

— Fantasy Football Stats (@NFL_Statistic) December 10, 2021

We wouldn't be surprised to see the ugly committee MLF ran in previous years return in 2025 if Lloyd can stay healthy. It seems that most of the community is infatuated with the idea that lead back Josh Jacobs gets nearly all the work because he's just so amazing, but Lloyd was a stud in college, and people seem to forget that he got seven touches on just 14 percent of snaps in his one healthy game (Week 2).

RB Tyjae Spears

Though injuries marred his 2024 campaign, Tennessee Titans running back Tyjae Spears (concussion) will be just 24 years old when the 2025 season starts. He's around four years younger than lead back Tony Pollard, and at some point, it's reasonable to think Spears could take the starting job over.

I've missed Tyjae Spears pic.twitter.com/dOtOUqxqDG

— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) December 16, 2024

Should that happen at any point, his prowess as a pass-catching back and his elusiveness make him a tantalizing Dynasty fantasy football asset. Of course, it may take some time for that to happen. It's worth checking to see if he's available in any of your leagues for a reasonable price.

Pollard is likely to be with the Titans for at least one more season after his solid performance this year. But father time comes for everyone, and Pollard dealt with a ton of injuries of his own in 2024. It may take some time to pay off, but if you know any fantasy managers who are willing to let go of Spears for cheap, now is a good time to pounce.

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