Wow.
What a weekend. Injuries, depth chart additions, players waived, players traded ... take your pick. It all happened, and here's your best attempt at a compehensive review from a fantasy perspective:
Keller injury a huge blow
Dustin Keller suffered a truly gruesome knee injury over the weekend. The hit was clean, yet the end result was about as aesthetically pleasing as something you'd have seen in the first 15 minutes of Saving Private Ryan. The video of the play is linked in the article, although I'd advise you not to watch it if you're squeamish (I'm already half wondering whether I'll see my lunch again after I eat it in a few hours). The end result was a torn ACL, torn MCL, torn PCL, dislocated kneecap and an offense that now finds itself in a lot more trouble than you might imagine.
Keller was going to be a critical component of Miami's offense, especially after Anthony Fasano left for Kansas City. The speed of Mike Wallace out wide would create some opportunities for Keller to use his athleticism over the middle. What is Miami left with at tight end? Well, Michael Egnew played in two games last year as a rookie and didn't catch a pass. Charles Clay is a fullback who plays tight end on occasion and only caught more than two passes in one game twice in 2012. And Dion Sims is an unproven fourth-round rookie from Michigan State.
If Lamar Miller doesn't deliver on his 1,500-yard, 15-TD goals (and he won't), then it will likely be a long year for Miami and their offense. There just aren't enough playmakers on this offense to sustain drives.
Feeling Lucky
If you happened to catch the Colts vs. Giants game last night, your primary takeaway may have been similar to mine: the Colts have an exceptional passing attack, but they can't really run the ball all that well. Despite facing a fair amount of pressue, Andrew Luck passed the ball with ruthless efficiency, connecting on nine of 13 passes for 107 yards and a pair of touchdowns in just over a quarter's worth of work. He also did a nice job of keeping drives alive by converting three third downs. It really amazes me that someone of his size is that mobile and also pinpoints his passes with scary accuracy. It wouldn't surprise me if he becomes the best quarterback in the league in short order.
The rushing game, on the other hand, was nothing to write home about. Donald Brown led the team with 21 yards on six carries, and most of the time, the running plays were stuffed at the line of scrimmage before they even had a chance to get going.
Yes, it's only one preseason game. No, I'm not overreacting. I am, however, moving Luck up my draft boards and avoiding drafting any of their running backs if I can help it. Indy's bread and butter on offense is going to be their passing game.
Quick hits
» Speaking of the Giants, they had the misfortune of picking up some key injuries to go along with their loss. WR Victor Cruz bruised his left heel on a play where he wasn't tackled or even targeted, starting center David Baas sprained his left knee on the very first drive of the game, and DE Justin Tuck strained a hamstring. Now is when we start getting into Week 1 danger zone territory where injuries could force players to miss regular season time if they are serious enough. Nothing has been announced yet by the Giants, but keep an eye on when they do.
» Ian Rapoport mentioned it's looking unlikely that Rob Gronkowski will play in Week 1, and the real question is whether the injuries from which he's recovering are severe enough to warrant putting Gronk onto the PUP list to begin the season. After his recent knee scare, Tom Brady has been throwing the ball around with ridiculous accuracy at practice. He'll need to keep doing just that to help ease in the rest of the Pats receivers who are going to try to pick up the Gronk slack.
» One quarterback battle result is officially in the books. Blaine Gabberthas been named Jacksonville's starting QB, and this is how I'd imagine Jaguar nation reacted. Gabbert's leash will be the size of a candle wick, and if you have a reason to support your desire to draft him in any scoring format besides one which rewards turnovers, I'd love to hear it.
John Juhasz is a fantasy editor at NFL.com. Follow him on Twitter: @JohnJuhasz
