How Jayden Daniels Injured His Hamstring
Jayden Daniels hamstring injury was not a typical mechanism, but video review shows how his injury occurred. Coach Quinn stated that on the prior play Daniels began to feel some tightness in his hamstring, but it was the play he got hit on that took him out. In the play (shown below) we can see Daniels being dragged backwards by a defender and we see his right foot plant into the ground. At this point his hip in in roughly 90° of flexion but quickly moves into 120-130° of flexion. The hamstring is a hip extensor, meaning it contracts to stop the hip from flexing in what is called an eccentric contraction (muscle creates power while lengthening). Eccentric overload, such as the case with Daniels hamstring this play is a common way for muscle strains to occur. If Daniels hamstring was already slightly aggravated from the play before it would have had less strength to counter the defenders force leading it more vulnerable to injury.
Return to Play and Re-Injury Risk
Daniels underwent an MRI today which did not reveal any serve muscle damage. This is great news, though Daniels status for week 8 is still iffy. Quarterbacks average missing 1.7 games and it sounds like Daniels will be close to the mean.
The hamstring is notorious for re-injury, with research showing 20-30% recurrence rates. With Daniels being a running quarterback, and this being his right hamstring re-injury is going to be a concern. The good news is Daniels has no prior hamstring injury history and is just 24 years old meaning healing will be efficient.
Fantasy Impact
This is Daniels right hamstring and as a right handed passer he pushes extremely hard off the right leg for throwing power. As such, when Daniels returns his throw power may be affected for a few weeks. Daniels is an elite running quarterback as well and his rushing upside will be curbed for several weeks. Quarterbacks average a modest 16% dip in fantasy points when they return from a hamstring injury. Fantasy managers may need to consider other options for a few weeks, but Daniels should return to his elite form by mid-November.