Triage Time: Buyer Beware
August 18th, 2008 by Will Carroll
Joe McKnight RB USC
The Trojans have been bitten by the injury bug a few times this fall but for the most part it’s been equal parts good and bad luck. It’s bad luck that the injuries happen at all, but they’ve dodged injuries that could affect their season. Despite their sick depth, the team still would be better with its best players on the field.
Joe McKnight broke the tip of his finger after one of his teammates accidentally shut a dorm-room door on him. We’ll assume it was an accident at least. McKnight shouldn’t be affected by this much for the opening game against Virginia and should be back to full health when Ohio State comes west a few weeks after.
Tony Moeaki TE IOWA
When you’re teeing it up against Maine in your opening game, you’re looking to put up big numbers and gain some confidence. Mostly the first, though coaches will try to sell you on the latter. Unfortunately, Tony Moeaki won’t be ready when the Hawkeyes kick off the season. The team announced that he’ll miss the first game of the season as he continues to recover from foot surgery. The mismatches he misses will hold his numbers down, but the bigger concern is that he’s not fully recovered yet, which could hold him back through the first few games, holding down his numbers. Moeaki might be one of the best red-zone TEs in college this year, but not from the bench.
Travis Beckum TE WISCONSIN
Lower body tightness? Apparently, the Badgers think they’re in the NHL rather than the Big 10. So do you need to understand the ice to understand what’s going on with Beckum? Well, it helps. Lower body tightness tends to indicate muscular problems in the NHL with the vast majority being hamstring and quad strains. The Badgers are always a bit reticent with injury info, so I wouldn’t read this as a smokescreen as much as setting the precedent for the future. Beckum should be ready when Wisconsin tees it up with few limitations.
William Cole WR OKLAHOMA STATE
The Cowboys of Pickens U are dealing with a lot of early season injuries that will test their depth. The latest was an ACL tear to speedy WR William Cole that will cost him all of the 2008 season. He’ll take his medical redshirt after surgery and should be back in time for the ’09 campaign, but this leaves the team a bit short of outside speed. Expect Dez Bryant to get more looks, though the Cowboys are likely to shift a bit more touches back to the running game this season.
Mike Davis RB SOUTH CAROLINA
It’s hard enough to be a running back under Steve Spurrier. Doing it with a bum shoulder and competition ready to run past you makes it worse. That’s what Mike Davis is facing after missing time and looking less impressive than Brian Maddox. Davis’ shoulder injury is a big deal since he’s a “lower the shoulders” runner who bulls more than he jukes, so anything that alters that style or pushes him to be more upright will cost him, especially on yards after contact. It’s enough risk that Davis shouldn’t be considered even at the end of a draft.
Morgan Green RB MARYLAND
If it’s possible to list someone as out with “lower body soreness”, is it possible to list someone as out with “everything?” Morgan Green is testing the theory and worse, he’s testing Ralph Friedgen’s patience. Green’s saying he can’t go in practice, but the Terps training staff has cleared him. With Da’Rel Scott and Davin Meggett (yes, Dave’s son, and yes, you should feel old) ahead of him, Green’s role is going from feature back to bench in a hurry. If he can get healthy, Green has a chance to work in the Terps RB rotation, but being on the wrong side of the coaches and trainers is a bad place to be.
Dwight Tardy RB WASHINGTON STATE
The Cougars need Dwight Tardy to be back, but the slow pace of his re-integration into the offense is making it look more and more like he’ll need to share time with Chris Ivory. Tardy’s workload is still down and even so, he’s been both sore and had some bruising in the repaired knee. That’s a bad sign, especially with Tardy not fully back. Sources say that his biggest issue right now is confidence in his ability to do what he did before, something that won’t come if he’s not able to get the reps. He has to be downgraded at this stage.
Arian Foster RB TENNESSEE
You wouldn’t think that an injured RB would head off for an MRI after missing the better part of a week and come back with a ticket to more carries. That’s the odd sequence of events for Arian Foster after discovering that his knee problem is just a bone bruise. Phil Fulmer wants to lean heavily on Foster but the problems in practice have kept him from doing that thus far. With a history of knee problems, Foster’s workload might just decide if he carries the Vols to another bowl game or if the team will struggle with a tough schedule with landmines strewn throughout the season.
Jason Harmon TE FLORIDA ATLANTIC
The Owls will be without Jason Harmon this season – he’ll spend time coaching, actually, which seems smart – but legend Howard Schnellenberger doesn’t have a ready replacement for Harmon. He’d turned into not only a big play TE, he’d turned into the Owls’ best weapon by the end of the season. The Schnellenberger offense is a bit of a gimmick-laden pro-style offense which uses the TE as a primary receiver, so the team shifted second string WR Darian Williams inside, hoping that his speed will create more mismatches than his lack of bulk will for rushers. Harmon should be back next season, but tendon injuries often come with a loss of speed.
Chris Gilbert WR HOUSTON
I’m putting this one at the bottom because maybe no one will notice my sleeper. Some people might not notice that Houston’s adopted the Texas Tech offense, bring the Tech O-coordinator in to work under new coach (and Indy native) Kevin Sumlin. They’ll be as wide open as you expect, and Gilbert is going to be the biggest beneficiary. He’s coming off a groin strain (which has occasionally been reported as a sports hernia), but the shifty, undersized receiver is ready to go and more importantly, he’s picking up the new offense quickly while building a great rapport with QB Case Keenum.
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