Watching Tua’s injury tonight, it looked bad. Hopefully it turns out to be a minor concussion and nothing more.
At the risk of sounding callous, how do fantasy managers play this?
If you’re looking to replace Tua next week (or longer), or if you’re just looking to grab a half-decent starter in a good offense, Teddy Bridgewater is likely the answer in shallower leagues.
For deeper dynasty leagues, especially superflex, I’d recommend Skylar Thompson, Miami’s 3rd string QB, who’s a rookie 7th round pick. While I can’t guaranty he’ll be “great”, if he somehow ends up as qb for Miami, he would be getting the keys to the Ferrari offense. Even a bad qb can generate some stats with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.
Did you read what I wrote? Allow me to repeat for the reading comprehension-challenged:
In such leagues, qb’s are at a premium. We are always looking for somebody who can step in, even a potential qb. If you wait until they are starting, it’s too late, because somebody else will already have them.
In my SFLEX dynasty, Bridgewater isn’t available. Skylar Thompson is, as is New England’s Bailey Zappe. As a QB-needy team, I’d probably pick up both and hope for a miracle.
In my SFLEX tournament, that has much shallower rosters, Bridgewater is available. I’ll follow the news around Tua, before deciding if I will replace Trubisky (my current QB3) with him, and how much I will bid.
Sure, but they have to have a chance of seeing the field–like the typical backup QB might. The backup QBs to the backup QBs are usually not going to have the word “premium” attached to them.
I was just watching Skylar Thompson’s preseason highlights. That kid could be special. Good pocket presence. Throws a nice spiral. Good ball placement for his receivers. Very Kurt Warner-esque.
I’m a K-State alum. I’ve seen pretty much all of Thompson’s games. Unless he makes some kind of Brady-esque growth between college and the pros, he’s never going to be special. At best he will be a capable game manager and have a ten year career as a journeyman backup.
Tua’s medical examinations and the neck MRI came back all negative. From a physical POV, he’s good to go.
This may sound like good news. But it is not. Not at all.
Because this means he picked up a concussion in week 3 against the Bills, that went undetected (he returned to the game shortly after). And now he got concussed again just 4 days later.
What may sound harmless at first will have an impact on Tua’s long-term health, as well as his NFL career. To make it clear: we are talking about a potentially career-ending situation here.
The “neurotrauma consultant” who was unable to detect Tua’s concussion in week 3 despite his obvious symptoms has been fired by the NFL. The Dolphins will provide no timeline on his return, coach McDaniel was quoted saying “this is all about Tua the person now”.
He will very likely be rested well beyond 5. And once (if) he returns, any future concussion he picks up could end his career.
I remember how Steve Young’s career ended. He had so many concussions, that he reached a point where the doctors told him one more might leave him brain-dead.
I don’t know if Tua is at this point. If he is, he needs to retire. If not, then this is an over-reaction on the side of caution. Hopefully, the doctors give him better advice this time.
I spoke to a friend who is a chairman of neurosurgery. He said this will take more time to assess but initial reports are good. He told me football fans should continue to pretend to be coaches and leave the medical profession alone. lol
While I would normally agree on this, it was the entire medical profession that got COVID wrong. I’ve lost faith in that institution, to the point I call them the “medical industrial complex”, not unlike the “military industrial complex” used to be. Just a large group of people lobbying for more government money to be spent on them.
Doctors and coaches are just people, like the rest of us, human failings and all. They may know more about their profession, but that doesn’t mean they get it right all the time, or even most of the time in some cases… It also doesn’t mean they don’t allow themselves to be swayed by popular opinion.
