The final week to clinch the fantasy football playoffs is here! Injuries are once again shaking up the fantasy football landscape, and as we head into a pivotal week of the season, the margin for error is razor-thin. Several big-name players across every position are dealing with issues that could swing matchups. From Justin Herbert's hand fracture to Davante Adams' hamstring strain, fantasy managers must read the article below to gauge how these injuries will affect their lineups. Below is a clear, no-nonsense breakdown of who’s actually good to go, who carries hidden risk, and who could burn you in the fantasy playoffs.

Quarterbacks

Justin Herbert

Injury: Left hand fracture

Analysis: Herbert had plates and screws inserted into his hand to stabilize his metacarpal fracture in his left hand. The surgery will keep the bone stable, but post-surgery, he will experience a good deal of swelling and difficulty with manual dexterity, making it difficult to grip a ball. Additionally, if Herbert plays on Monday, he will be wearing either a cast, a bulky brace, or a heavy tape job that will make ball handling difficult. The upside is that throwing will be completely unaffected, and his fantasy stat line should be steady if he can play. Herbert plays Monday night, so if he is your starter, make sure you have Trey Lance on your roster just in case.

Jayden Daniels

Injury: Left elbow dislocation

Analysis: Daniels is expected to return and start this week after suffering a horrific elbow dislocation. How he did not need season-ending surgery, I have no idea, but with this being his left elbow, his throwing and running will be unaffected. Re-injury risk is not even that high, considering the direction of force needed to dislocate the elbow is extremely uncommon. Daniels can be a solid starter this week.

Lamar Jackson

Injury: Ankle injury

Analysis: Jackson is off the injury report and set to play as he continues to battle numerous mild injuries. This season Jackson has dealt with an ankle injury, toe injury, had his foot stepped on, and of course the more significant hamstring earlier this season. Jackson's full practice Friday makes it unlikely this injury will slow him down. Jackson has not retained his elite rushing upside following the hamstring injury earlier this season, but each week out from the hamstring injury should allow him to improve his rushing upside. Jackson is still a solid QB1.

Geno Smith

Injury: Foot injury

Analysis: Geno started the week with a foot injury but was able to get two full practices in. If this were a more significant injury, there would be concern for pocket mobility and power pushing off the foot to throw. This is clearly mild and should not affect him this week.

JJ McCarthy

Injury: Concussion

Analysis: McCarthy has cleared the NFL's concussion protocol and is set to return. No performance dip is expected, however, McCarthy is not a starting-caliber quarterback right now.

Running Backs

Alvin Kamara

Injury: MCL sprain

Analysis: Kamara will miss a second game with an MCL sprain. The MCL will eventually heal well as it receives a sound blood supply, but in the meantime, Kamara is likely still dealing with swelling, stiffness, and instability that make it extremely difficult to run and cut. Running backs average missing three games, but see a 15-20% dip in fantasy points for the three weeks following their return. Kamara had already been having the worst season of his career; he will be hard to rely on in the fantasy playoffs.

Omarion Hampton

Injury: Fibula fracture

Analysis: Hampton is expected to make his return this week after fracturing his fibula in week five. The fibula is not the main weight bearing bone in the lower leg, which is advantageous for his return, however a leg fracture requires a prolonged period of immobilization which leads to rapid strength loss.

Hampton's bone should be fully healed and I am not concerned about re-injury, but I would not expect Hampton to have fully regained strength and explosiveness yet and performance may take a dip for a period of time. Hampton is the type of back who can rack up fantasy points in many different ways, so his overall output may still give you low-end RB2 numbers, but I would expect it to take 2-3 more weeks before his explosive playing style fully returns.

Kyren Williams

Injury: Ankle injury

Analysis: Williams injured his ankle last week, missed a few plays, and returned and looked good. He has since been removed from the injury report and should be in line for a solid performance. Ankle injuries can impact lateral agility, and running backs average an 8% dip in fantasy points. This deficit is not enough to take the RB9 overall out of your lineups and he remains a solid RB1 play.

Aaron Jones

Injury: Left AC joint sprain

Analysis: Jones will play this week, a week after injuring his left shoulder and missing the remainder of the game. His acceleration, speed, and quickness will not be affected, but the willingness to seek contact with his left shoulder may be a problem. Running backs average a 19% dip in fantasy points after an AC joint injury, making Jones a fringe RB2/flex. If you have better options, consider them.

Kenneth Walker

Injury: Glute strain

Analysis: Walker has been limited in practice this week with a glute injury, one that he has been dealing with since week 12. The glutes are extremely strong and powerful muscles that play a massive role in sprinting, cutting, and power. If an injury to the glutes is severe enough to limit their ability to generate power, it can have a significant impact on performance. Fortunately, Walker's injury does not appear to this level, and he has performed decently over the past two games with this injury. It's unlikely this puts much of a damper on his fantasy outlook this week.

Trey Benson

Injury: Meniscus trim

Analysis: Benson is not ready to return after missing practice all week. Last week, Benson appeared on track to play until a potential setback mid-week left him out of practice and out of the game. Meniscus trims usually do not take more than six weeks to return to play. Benson is well beyond this timeline now, and it is becoming clearer that his post-op rehab is not going as planned. A common problem following meniscus trim is difficulty managing swelling, especially as the workload increases. We don't have clarity if that is the case for Benson, but that's what I would bet is going on. Hopefully he gets back for next week, if he is not activated to the 53-man roster next week, his season will be over.

Kyle Monangai

Injury: Ankle injury

Analysis: Monangai is cleared from the injury report and set to play through an ankle injury. One full practice is encouraging, and Monangai's downhill running style is less likely to be negatively impacted by an ankle injury compared to a shiftier back. Monangai should remain a solid flex play this week.

Emari Demercado

Injury: High ankle sprain

Analysis: Demercado will miss his third straight game with a high ankle sprain. Demercado clearly has not yet regained the stability needed to quickly and confidently plant and cut off his injured ankle. Running backs average missing 2.4 games, telling us Demercado's injury was more severe than average. We will check in on his status next week.

Dylan Sampson

Injury: Calf injury

Analysis: Sampson logged one limited practice on Friday as he rehabs from a calf injury. The calf muscle is critical for acceleration and sprinting, and when injured can really impact a runner's ability to be explosive and have a 15-20% recurrence rate.

Woody Marks

Injury: Left foot sprain

Analysis: Marks is full-go after a mid-foot sprain last week. The mid-foot is a critical junction in the foot; it must adapt and literally change shape when running and cutting, which requires intact stability and foot strength to do so. With his ability to return to the game and log full practices this week, we can be sure the structure of the foot is intact. He was able to return to the game and looked okay, but he should be able to plant and cut quickly after a week of rehab. Running backs average just a 6% dip in fantasy points after foot injuries. If you rely on Marks, this injury should not scare you off.

Wide Receivers

Davante Adams

Injury: Hamstring strain

Analysis: Adams was reportedly dealing with hamstring "soreness" versus a true strain. Soreness should flush out by Sunday, and after a solid pre-game warmup will be where he needs to be to play well. The hamstrings are essential muscles for sprinting, with studies showing the load on the hamstrings increasing dramatically at top speed. If this were a more significant injury, I would expect Adams to see a considerable decline in fantasy performance. However, with this being mild at worst Adams remains a set it and forget it WR1.

Drake London

Injury: PCL sprain

Analysis: London will miss his third straight game as he continues to rehab a PCL sprain. As I've been saying since his initial injury, PCLs take time. Even though surgery is not required, the PCL plays a major role in passive stability as well as sensory awareness of where the knee is, and it is challenging to regain the stability needed to explosively push off the affected knee to create space. When London went down, I mentioned it would be tough for fantasy managers to trust him down the stretch. Let's hope he can return next week, but I would anticipate a notable performance dip upon return.

Chris Olave

Injury: Back injury

Analysis: Similar to last week, Olave has been limited in practice all week but should be able to play through a back injury. Sure, back injuries hurt, but in the absence of a fracture or disc injury, often times acute low back pain responds well to rehab, warm-ups, and players can play well. Last week, Olave put up decent (though not electric) numbers while playing through a back injury. Assuming he can play, fantasy managers can expect him to retain his low-end WR1/high-end WR2 numbers.

Mike Evans

Injury: Clavicle fracture

Analysis: Evans returned to practice, but is not quite ready to play, about seven weeks after fracturing his clavicle. Whenever Evans does return, there is no reason this injury will negatively impact his stat line outside of rust. He is a decent sneaky play to help your roster in the fantasy playoffs.

Quentin Johnston

Injury: Shoulder injury

Analysis: Johnston has been fully removed from the injury report and will play Monday night. A mild shoulder injury is not going to slow down the speedster, and his ability to make spectacular catches has never been his forte anyway. If you were relying on QJ this week, his injury won't limit him.

Rome Odunze

Injury: Foot injury

Analysis: Odunze has a stress fracture in his foot and is considered "week-to-week". Fantasy managers need to understand that the ONLY way for a stress fracture to heal is with rest, and this usually means at least four weeks (preferably more). With Chicago in first place in the NFC, they have their eyes on a playoff run. Odunze does technically have time to allow his fracture to heal before the start of the NFL playoffs, and Chicago will likely sit him until their first playoff game, which obviously means Odunze is not reliable for the rest of the fantasy season.

Jayden Reed

Injury: Clavicle fracture & Jones fracture

Analysis: Reed's return is getting closer and closer, but as of this writing, it is unclear if he can play this week. By now, the clavicle repair should be fully functional and will not impact his fantasy production. The Jones fracture repair is the slower rehab, and it can take some time from full clearance to fully regain speed and quickness. By now, Reed is likely close to full speed, but if he does play this week, fantasy managers should practice caution and see how he looks before starting. I do believe he will be valuable in the fantasy playoffs.

Josh Downs

Injury: Hip and knee injury

Analysis: Downs started the week limited with hip and knee injuries but was upgraded to a full practice on Thursday. With Downs practicing in full for two straight days, his injuries are extremely unlikely to limit him. Receivers average no drop-off in fantasy points after a hip injury anyway.

Tee Higgins

Injury: Concussion

Analysis: Higgins will return this week from a concussion. No performance decline is expected, and Higgins will be a solid WR2 with Burrow back.

Marvin Harrison Jr.

Injury: Heel injury

Analysis: Harrison will miss week 14 with a heel injury. Heel injuries that occur during a game are typically a bruise, and usually they can get under control in 7-10 days, but in Harrison's case, he is not able to load through the heel adequately to sprint and create separation. These are typically not long absences.

Josh Palmer

Injury: High ankle sprain

Analysis: Palmer is unlikely to play with a knee and ankle injury. The specifics are scarce, but we do know he dealt with a significant high ankle sprain earlier this season. This may be related.

Dontayvian Wicks

Injury: Ankle injury

Analysis: Wicks is good-to-go after dealing with a mild ankle injury. Wicks is coming off the best game of his season, but is not firmly entrenched as a reliable fantasy asset yet. Receivers average a 10% dip in fantasy points after an ankle injury.

Tutu Atwell

Injury: Hamstring strain

Analysis: Atwell will not be elevated off the injured reserve this week and will miss another game.

Parker Washington

Injury: Hip injury

Analysis: Washington is truly questionable after not logging anything more than limited practices all week. Hip injuries can impact a receiver's ability to change direction and create space as well as run after the catch, but usually they won't return to action until they can move well enough. Receivers average no decline in fantasy points after a hip injury.

Matthew Golden

Injury: Wrist injury

Analysis: Golden remains questionable with a wrist injury that has kept him out for the past two games. If he gets to a place where his wrist is healthy enough to catch the ball, his fantasy production won't be affected. Golden, however, is not a reliable starter yet.

Greg Dortch

Injury: Chest injury

Analysis: Dortch is out this week with a chest injury. Receivers average missing under one game, meaning Dortch has a good shot to return next week.

Chimere Dike

Injury: Quad Strain

Analysis: Dike has cleared the injury report and will play through a mild quad injury. While the quad is an extremely strong and powerful muscle, critical for sprinting and cutting, receivers average no decline in fantasy points after injury.

Tight Ends

Dalton Kincaid

Injury: Hamstring strain

Analysis: Kincaid remains questionable with a hamstring injury, and now apparently a left knee injury. Kincaid has had four weeks to rehab his hamstring which should have him close to regaining full range of motion, and while strength is likely not back to its baseline it should be close enough to allow him to sprint and block well. Re-injury risk is certainly a concern, but if Kincaid plays he should be a solid TE1.

AJ Barner

Injury: Shoulder injury

Analysis: Barner is off the injury report and will play through a mild shoulder injury. A full practice Thursday is all the confidence we need to know that his injury is not going to limit the mobility needed to reach to make difficult catches. While tight ends usually average an 18% dip in fantasy points after a shoulder injury, I would not expect this to apply to Barner this week.