The countdown to the 2025 NFL draft grows smaller each day. All 32 teams have an opportunity to rebuild and fine-tune their rosters to compete in the 2025 season. Fantasy football players will be glued to the TV from Thursday, April 24th-Saturday, April 26th as they await the destination for the next crop of fantasy stars.
But talent and landing spots are not all that goes into fantasy football roster planning. Whether it’s dynasty, re-draft, best ball, or any other league format, the 2025 NFL draft class injury history needs to be considered during your pre-draft preparations. Let’s take a look at some of the more prominent fantasy-relevant players with checkered injury histories.
Quarterbacks
What draft list doesn’t start with the most important position? Experts are nearly unanimously labeling this one of the weaker QB draft classes in recent history, but every class produces guys who can compete at the next level. Some of the QBs in this class, like Cam Ward, have no notable injuries in their past; whereas, we saw Quinn Ewers miss a number of games in 2024.
Shedeur Sanders
Injury History
| Date | Injury | Time Missed |
| November 17, 2023 | Back fracture | 1 Game (end of season) |
| November 23, 2024 | Knee injury | 0 Games |
Injury Risk Rating
Shedeur enters the NFL at 23 years old, which is inherently not a risk factor for injury. If he does get injured, his youth will help him heal efficiently. Sanders has two injuries on his resume. The back fracture at the end of the 2023 season will not be an issue moving forward. Back fractures typically heal well, and we did not see this limit Shedeur at all in 2024. A minor knee injury in 2024 did not keep him out for any length of time and will also not profile to impact him going forward.
Sanders was the victim of a terrible offensive line at Colorado taking 52 sacks in 2023 and another 42 in 2024. Such a small injury resume despite this beating is a testament to his durability. Sanders is considered a very low risk for injury in 2025.
Quinn Ewers
| Date | Injury | Time Missed |
| September 14, 2024 | Oblique injury | 2 Games |
| November 23, 2024 | Right high ankle sprain | 0 Games |
Injury Risk Rating
Ewers dealt with two notable injuries during his three seasons as the Texas Longhorns starting quarterback, both of which occurred in his final season. An oblique injury will impact a quarterback’s ability to create rotational torque when throwing. The obliques receive good blood supply and heal well, and this should not be seen as an injury that will impact Ewers in the NFL. When it is moderate-severe, a high ankle sprain can be a problem that lingers. While Ewers did don a brace, he did not miss any time despite this being his push-off leg. This hints that his injury was not severe, and also not likely to affect him in the NFL.
Tyler Shough
| Date | Injury | Time Missed |
| September 25, 2021 | Left clavicle fracture | Season ending |
| September 3, 2022 | Left clavicle fracture (surgery) | Season ending |
| September 23, 2023 | Left fibula fracture | Season ending |
Injury Risk Rating
Shough has an injury past that will be challenging for many to look beyond. When you dive deep into these injuries, there is no pattern, meaning one injury is not going to lead him prone to the next.
Sure, his left clavicle broke twice. One could assume the integrity of that bone is weaker; however, it is now surgically repaired and has been stable for three years. It would take another tremendous hit to break again. Consider that he is a right-handed quarterback. Since his right arm is further from the defenders while in the pocket, most of the hits he will take will be left-to-right, resulting in his right shoulder hitting the ground, not the left previously injured shoulder.
His left fibula fracture is also simply an unfortunate injury that occurred from an illegal hip-drop tackle and is also surgically repaired. Limited data exists on re-injury rates following a surgically repaired fibula, but the data that does exist suggests only a 4% re-injury rate. We’ve already seen Shough play a whole season after these injuries, and since his left leg is his non-push-off leg, this won’t affect him.
We cannot ignore his history, but need to recognize that these injuries do not create a pattern we need to fear. Shough is also older for a rookie at age 25, so he is a little more at risk for injury than others, but not to the point of concern for fantasy managers.
Running Backs
We know running backs all get injured, and the incoming class is no exception. In one of the stronger running back classes in recent memory, should fantasy players be concerned about the injury past of players like TreVeyon Henderson or Kaleb Johnson?
Ashton Jeanty
| Date | Injury | Time Missed |
| October 28, 2023 | Calf strain | 2 Games |
| October 25, 2024 | Elbow injury | 0 Games |
| November 23, 2024 | Knee sprain | 0 Games |
Injury Risk Rating
The fantasy football golden child of 2025, Jeanty is one of the most impressive running back prospects of all time. Jeanty totaled 830 touches at Boise State and through all that work the 21-year-old, 216-pound back remained largely healthy.
The only injury that forced Jeanty to miss notable time was a calf strain in 2023 in which he missed 2 games. The calf is one of the more commonly injured lower body muscles and is one that can experience subsequent injuries with recurrence rates around 14-16%. These recurrences more commonly occur in the same season, which Jeanty avoided and did not have any issues in 2024.
Jeanty will enter the NFL at 21 years old, which is not a risk factor for injury, and while the one injury that forced him to miss time is notable, it is not enough to scare fantasy managers. He is the clear-cut number-one running back prospect.
Bhayshul Tuten
| Date | Injury | Time Missed |
| September 27, 2024 | Knee injury | 0 Games |
| October 26, 2024 | Ankle injury | 1 Game |
Injury Risk Rating
Tuten missed one game in 2024 with an ankle injury, and also had a minor knee injury earlier in the season, but did not miss any time due to that. A few minor nicks are to be expected for a primary ball carrier. These minor injuries will heal just fine in a 22-year-old and will not be considered a significant risk factor for injury going forward.
TreVeyon Henderson
| Date | Injury | Time Missed |
| September 17, 2022 | Foot fracture (surgery) | 5 Games |
| September 23, 2023 | Undisclosed | 3 Games |
Injury Risk Rating
TreVeyon Henderson is one of the top running back prospects in the 2025 NFL draft. The 22-year-old impressed in his time at Ohio State but did miss a total of 8 games with two different injuries.
The foot fracture will scare some folks, but this was not the Lisfranc injury that many fear. A Sesamoid bone is a tiny bone under the ball of the 1st toe that acts as a pulley for the tendons and fascia of the foot to create power when pushing off the ground. While important, it will heal just fine, and a fracture and surgery at this region are less likely to affect running mechanics going forward than would a Lisfranc fracture. Still, this is a significant lower-body injury on his resume.
An undisclosed injury in 2023 that forced him to miss 3 games is more mysterious, but we’ve seen him play very well since that injury.
It’s rare for a ball carrier to enter the NFL unscratched. Henderson has at least one significant injury on his resume, and while that does qualify as a risk factor for injury, one risk factor is not enough to scare off fantasy managers.
Kaleb Johnson
| Date | Injury | Time missed |
| September 9, 2023 | Ankle injury | 3 Games |
Injury Risk Rating
Johnson missed a chunk of 2023 with an ankle injury, but put up powerful numbers in 2024, propelling him up the draft boards and proving his ankle injury is in the past.
This injury can’t be fully ignored, as ankle injuries are one of the most common injuries to recur. Almost no running back in the NFL is without an ankle injury in their history; therefore, this is only a minor blip on Johnson’s resume.
Johnson will be 22 years old at the start of the season. His youth and only one notable injury make him a low risk for injury in 2025.
Wide Receivers
A less sexy class of receivers still has a number of guys who can make an impact at the next level. This group has some prospects with interesting injury pasts. Emeka Egbuka and Elic Ayomanor’s injuries are a few that need to be studied before selecting in upcoming fantasy drafts.
Emeka Egbuka
| Date | Injury | Time Missed |
| October 7, 2023 | Left high ankle sprain (surgery) | 3 Games |
Injury Risk Rating
Egbuka missed a chunk of his 2023 season due to a high ankle sprain requiring tightrope surgery. The need for surgery indicates this was a severe injury, but the tightrope procedure is highly effective with a recent study showing that 100% (164/164) of elite athletes (college and professional) undergoing the tightrope procedure returned to sport at their prior level of function.
We’ve seen this professionally with players like Cooper Kupp most recently. For more confidence in Egbuka, we saw him go for 1,000 yards and 10 TDs in his final college season.
The biggest risk factors for injury are age and prior injury. Egbuka is only 22, so age is not a problem, and while he is fully over his 2023 high ankle sprain, it will add to his injury risk.
Isaiah Bond
| Date | Injury | Time Missed |
| October 12, 2024 | Left ankle injury | 1 Game |
| December 7, 2024 | Right High ankle sprain | 1 Game |
Injury Risk Rating
A pair of ankle sprains, one high ankle sprain, and one lateral sprain caused Bond to miss a total of two games in 2024. We saw him struggle in the College Football Playoffs Semi-Finals, but with a few months to rehab, Bond was able to show off his athleticism at the NFL combine, indicating he is over the sprains.
Both injuries were minor, evidenced by short absences. The high ankle sprain would have the potential to lead to a longer-lasting impact if it was more serious, but it was not.
Bond is 21 years old and has two minor injuries on his resume. Fantasy managers should not be overly concerned about his injury risk level.
Elic Ayomanor
| Date | Injury | Time Missed |
| 2021 | ACL, MCL, Meniscus | 2021 Season |
| 2022 | Knee injury | 2022 Season |
| 2024 | Abdominal injury | Senior bowl |
Injury Risk Rating
The Stanford product from Canada suffered the unhappy triad: an ACL, MCL, and meniscus injury in high school. He missed all of 2022 due to an undisclosed knee injury. We know that prior injury is one of the main risk factors for injury, and two season-ending injuries on his resume add concern for his durability. Ayomanor has proven that he can stay healthy as he stayed on the field in both 2023 and 2024 outside of missing the senior bowl due to an abdominal injury. Fantasy managers can draft Ayomanor, but understand that he already has at least one significant injury on his resume.
Tre Harris
| Date | Injury | Time Missed |
| October 12, 2024 | Groin injury | 3 Games |
| November 23, 2024 | Groin injury | 2 Games |
Injury Risk Rating
Harris missed a handful of games in his final college season with a groin injury that he later re-injured. Groin injuries can be tricky in-season, but when given enough time (like an off-season), it will usually not be a problem in the future. Harris recovered enough to participate in the NFL combine.
With one injury on Harris’s resume, fantasy managers do not need to be concerned with his injury risk.
Tory Horton
| Date | Injury | Time missed |
| September 7, 2024 | Knee injury | 2 Games |
| October 14, 2024 | Knee injury | 5 Games |
Injury Risk Rating
Horton’s 2024 season was characterized by a knee injury. Initially injured in September, he ultimately was forced to end his season in October and undergo an unspecified surgery. While we do not have details on what tissue was injured and what the surgery was, we know that he has a lower body surgery on his resume.
The 22-year-old was able to return for the NFL combine and post impressive numbers. Four months from surgery to performing at the combine tells us his surgery was NOT a major knee ligament or a meniscus repair. Still, it remains a mystery.
Age 22 is not a risk factor, but one lower body surgery is. Outside this one injury, his resume is largely clean which makes him low risk for injury as he enters the NFL.
Tight Ends
This years tight end group is excellent, and one of the top prospects is currently rehabbing a major shoulder surgery. Will this impact him in the NFL?
Colston Loveland
| Date | Injury | Time Missed |
| September 14, 2024 | AC joint injury | 0 Games |
| January 29, 2025 | AC joint and labrum repair | 0 Games (off-season) |
Injury Risk Rating
By now, you have heard that Loveland underwent shoulder surgery on January 29th, 2025, to repair a grade V AC joint separation as well as a labrum repair. This is a major surgery, and the rehab process runs 5-6 months, which means Loveland will miss a good chunk of his teams OTAs. 6 months from the end of January is the end of July, so it is very possible Loveland is full-go at worst by a few weeks into training camp, but it is possible he can be ready to go for the start of camp.
A grade V AC joint injury indicates complete tearing of the Acromioclavicular and Coracoclavicular ligaments, the two primary ligaments holding the AC joint together. It also indicates there is a significant space between the end of the collar bone and where it is supposed to connect to the acromion. We know from Lovelands surgeon’s memo that he also had his labrum repaired. Fortunately, these two injuries can be repaired and rehabbed in concert with each other without much alteration in the rehab timeline.
Failure rates for this type of surgery are relatively low (16-25%). With Loveland being 21 years old, an elite athlete, and having access to daily high-level medical care and rehab, there is no reason to expect Loveland to have any long-lasting complications. Shoulder injuries do not profile to negatively affect tight end fantasy outlook, making Loveland an excellent prospect.
Elijah Arroyo
| Date | Injury | Time Missed |
| 2022 | ACL tear | 7 Games |
| 2023 | ACL tear (from prev season) | 6 Games |
| February 1, 2025 | Knee bruise | 0 Games |
Injury Risk Rating
Arroyo tore his ACL in 2022 and suffered a setback during rehab that caused him to miss half of the 2023 season. After overcoming a major knee injury, Arroyo went on to catch 35 passes for 590 yards and 7 TDs in 2024, showing that he has true NFL talent. Arroyo bruised his knee in the senior bowl causing him to sit out the combine, but will be ready for off-season work.
A major knee injury can be overcome, especially when college age but does add one major risk factor to his resume. He can still be very productive in the NFL.