Injury Expert: Jamaal Charles, Dickson, Allen, Bell, Harris

As Week 1 of the NFL Preseason comes and goes, the injuries continue to pile up which has many fantasy owners nervous heading into draft day. There are a lot of question marks with some prominent names involved that can change the landscape of a draft. Here are updates on some key fantasy injuries to keep an eye on as draft day approaches. The themes of this week's column are uncertainty and vagueness, a bad combination when attempting to assess injury risk.

Reports were that Charles had to be helped back to the locker room after hurting his foot in practice yesterday. Since then Charles has seen two doctors and they say it's just a minor strain.

Bottom Line - Confirmation from two orthopedic surgeons as just a minor strain to his foot allows everyone to exhale for a little while. He'll be held out of practice for the next few days to see how he responds to treatment and I wouldn't be surprised if the Chiefs are very slow to return him back to any high level activity. They need to control his pain first and foremost to make sure he's painfree before retuning to any football activity. He might've escaped the worst but he's not in the clear just yet. I don't think should affect his draft position, but any setbacks before the regular season could change that notion.

(Note: The image above is from the 2011 season)

Ed Dickson

Hamstring Strain - The hamstring is the main muscle in the back of the thigh which is responsible for bending the knee and extending the hip. When it relates to sports, it's a very important muscle to help accelerate/decelerate the lower body to allow proper running and cutting.

Just when Dickson has an opportunity to step in and be the primary tight end, he gets hurt. Reports are that he has only a grade 1 strain which means he just has some mild discomfort, mainly with activity, but the risk of it getting worse is high if he attempts to rush back. 2-3 weeks is the timetable for a grade 1 strain, but hamstrings are never really straight forward.

Bottom Line: Whenever your team signs a slot receiver (Brandon Stokley) and a tight end (Dallas Clark) you know you're in trouble. Dickson has the talent to be a very good tight end but the problem is consistency. With Dallas Clark and Vicanthe Shiancoe in the fold, if Dickson can't get healthy he could be looking at reduced playing time. There's also the possibility he tries to rush back so he doesn't lose his job and could suffer a setback. Keep an eye on his situation and also the TE battle that Baltimore now has on its hands.

Dwayne Allen

Le'Veon Bell

Sprained Knee - A sprain refers to the ligaments in the knee being overstretched which causes pain. There were no specific reports as to what ligament Bell sprained.

Bell returned to practice yesterday and looks to be OK after being held out of the first pre-season game this past week.

Bottom Line - A lot is being made about the Steelers looking for Bell to be a three-down back. He has a lot of upside as a rookie with a team looking to re-establish their run game and take pressure off of injury-prone Big Ben. Look to see if Bell plays in the next pre-season game without any restrictions to give you confidence in drafting him without reservation.

DuJuan Harris

Sprained Knee - There were no specifics released with regards to Harris' knee injury

Harris was just activated off the PUP and is participating in practice after being out the last 2 weeks.

Bottom Line - Eddie Lacy was the clear favorite to run away with the starting job, but Coach McCarthy came out and said Harris would be their starting RB when he was activated off the PUP. It's not exactly what fantasy owners want to hear, but Lacy would still be the back to pick up in drafts. Keep an eye on if Harris is wearing a knee brace as that may show whether or not he's fully recovered, or if it may be an issue moving forward. Harris is also recovering from a procedure to remove a cyst on his lung, so his conditioning could still be lagging.