Welcome to the 2025 Injury Draft Guide by Dr. Jesse Morse. With years of experience, Dr. Morse offers expert insights on player injuries and their impact on performance. This guide provides concise, exclusive information, highlighting player risks and safe picks based on injury history. Constantly updated and refined, it’s a valuable resource for fantasy fans. Check out the site for the latest, accurate information.
In Draftguide, we cover
- Positional Ranking with Tiers
- Player Injury Summaries (QB, RB, WR, TE)
- Players to Avoid
- Players to Target
- Sleepers
- RB Deep Dive - Injury, RB1 potential
- 2025 Rookie Injuries Histories
- New Articles Weekly until Week 1
Player Injury Summaries
Other Articles
- Players to Avoid
- Draft Cheat Sheet
- Players to Target
- Sleepers
- RBs with Achilles injuries
- Players Returning from ACL injuries
- Return to Play Timelines
- 2025 Rookie Injuries Histories
RBs who suffered Achilles injuries (SINCE 2010)
| Name | Position | Level | Date of Injury | Date of Return | Best Pre-Injury PPR Rank | Best Post-Injury PPR Rank | Post-Year 1 PPR Rank | Post-Year 2 PPR Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LenDale White | RB | NFL | 2010 | - | RB13 | - | N/A | N/A | Out of league after injury |
| Andre Brown | RB | NFL | 2010 | 2012 | - | RB38 | RB38 | RB51 | Out of league after 2 seasons |
| Mikel Leshoure | RB | NFL | 2011 | 2012 | - | RB19 | RB19 | RB155 | Out of league after 2 seasons |
| Earnest Graham | RB | NFL | 2011 | - | RB11 | - | N/A | N/A | Out of league after injury |
| Kendall Hunter | RB | NFL | 2012 | 2013 | RB50+ | RB67 | RB67 | N/A | Out of league after 1 season |
| Beanie Wells | RB | NFL | 2013 | - | RB17 | - | N/A | N/A | Out of league after injury |
| Vick Ballard | RB | NFL | 2014 | - | RB26 | - | N/A | N/A | Out of league after injury |
| Joe McKnight | RB | NFL | 2014 | - | RB50+ | - | N/A | N/A | Out of league after injury |
| Arian Foster | RB | NFL | 2015 | 2016 | RB1 | RB102 | RB102 | N/A | Out of league in 2017 after 1 season |
| Branden Oliver | RB | NFL | 2016 | 2017 | RB29 | RB107 | RB107 | N/A | Out of league in 2018 after 1 season |
| D'Onta Foreman | RB | NFL | 2017 | 2018 | RB75 | RB38 | RB108 | RB108 | Took 4 years to be effective again |
| Isaiah Crowell | RB | NFL | 2019 | - | RB14 | - | N/A | N/A | Out of league after injury |
| Marlon Mack | RB | NFL | 2020 | 2021 | RB21 | RB83 | RB115 | RB83 | Tore Achilles again in 2023 |
| Cam Akers | RB | NFL | 2021 | 2021 | RB46 | RB35 | RB66 | TBD | Tore Left Achilles again in 2023, tore right in 2021 |
| Justice Hill | RB | NFL | 2021 | 2022 | RB75 | RB44 | RB81 | RB44 | Best season 2 years post-injury |
| James Robinson | RB | NFL | 2021 | 2022 | RB7 | RB50 | RB50 | RB133 | On 3rd team in 3 years post-injury |
| Caleb Huntley | RB | NFL | 2022 | - | RB76 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Out of league after injury |
| Tarik Cohen | RB | NFL | 2022 | 2024 | RB12 | TBD | TBD | TBD | Tore while rehabbing from ACL tear. |
| Marlon Mack | RB | NFL | 2023 | 2024? | RB20 | TBD | TBD | TBD | Tore Achilles again in 2023 |
| J.K. Dobbins | RB | NFL | 2023 | 2024? | RB22 | TBD | TBD | TBD | Tore Achilles after ACL. |
| Cam Akers | RB | NFL | 2023 | 2024? | RB35 | TBD | TBD | TBD | Tore Left Achilles again in 2023, tore right in 2021 |
College
| Name | Position | Level | Date of Injury | Date of Return | Best Pre-Injury PPR Rank | Best Post-Injury PPR Rank | Post-Year 1 PPR Rank | Post-Year 2 PPR Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kene Nwangwu | RB | College | 2017 | 2018 | - | RB103 | - | - | Rookie in 2021, special teams player |
| Mohamed Ibrahim | RB | College | 2021 | 2022 | - | - | - | - | Practice squad player, then hip injury, now FA |
| Best Fantasy Finish: | RB35 | (Cam Akers, 2021) |
| Average Fantasy Finish: | RB67 | row2 col 3 |
Summary by Dr. Morse:
- Achilles injuries are awful injuries, especially for RBs. If you go back to 2010, 19 RBs have suffered Achilles tears in the NFL, with 2 of the RBs tearing them twice (Marlon Mack and Cam Akers).
- As of 2024, 13 of the 19 RBs careers have ended (68%). The 6 that remain are J.K. Dobbins (LAC), D'Onta Foreman (CLE), Justice Hill (BAL), Cam Akers (FA), James Robinson (NO) and Tarik Cohen (NYJ).
- Foreman suffered his in 2017, but the other 4 suffered their injuries in the past 3 years. Marlon Mack contributed sparingly to the Broncos in 2022 and the future is uncertain for him.
- Out of the 13 RBs whose career has ended, 91% of the RBs who suffered Achilles tears from 2010 to 2016, all of their careers ended within 2 seasons of their injury.
- There has only been one player to finish as a top 20 fantasy season post-Achilles (Mike Leshoure, 2012).
- The remaining 80% finished at least RB50 or worse, and their careers ended shortly thereafter. All others finished RB35 or worse, with an average finish of RB67.
- D'Onta Foreman took a very interesting approach. He tore his Achilles in 2017, only played 1 game in 2018. Took 2019 off, then returned as Derrick Henry's back in 2020.
- He continued as Henry's back up in 2021, then played well while Henry was injured with his foot (Jones) fracture. In 2022 Foreman filled in for the then-traded CMC.
- In 2023 he signed with the Chicago Bears and now finds himself in Cleveland. Foreman's best finish post-injury is RB38, and he has averaged 8 fantasy points per game.
- Over the past 3 years we have seen Cam Akers, Justice Hill, and James Robinson all return to the field post-Achilles tear. Each of them have been very ineffective, either getting cut or traded.
- The only exception to that has been Justice Hill, who was used in a platoon last season in Baltimore and he only had 1 game where he scored more than 15 fantasy points, despite playing in 16 games.
- Both Marlon Mack and Cam Akers have suffered an additional Achilles tear. Akers' was to his opposite leg, and we don't have clarity on Mack's. Both are no longer fantasy-relevant in my opinion.
- The only player in this list that is fantasy-relevant is J.K. Dobbins, and he is coming off an ACL tear then an Achilles tear. It will be interesting to see how effective he will be, and maybe
- he can be the exception to the rule. Based on the above data, I expect him to struggle. The Achilles injury continues to be devestating for running backs.
