Early Injury Updates

Steve Smith, Antonio Bryant ailing early.
Two Top-10 receivers from last fantasy season have suffered injuries early in Training Camp. Both injuries aren't considered serious, and both are projecting to be ready to go Opening weekend, but should these injuries have any effect on your draft strategy?

Antonio Bryant
Bryant set career highs last year, with 83 catches, 1248 yards, and 7 touchdowns last season. In most fantasy formats, that set him easily inside the Top 10 for WR production. However, Bryant has always been a picture of inconsistency and now couple that with a torn MCL and a new quarterback. Jeff Garcia is out, it appears rookie Josh Freeman is in. Not only does the injury raise red flags, he loses valuable time to build chemistry with Freeman. Even without the injury, I wouldn't advise Bryant being rated in your top 15. The injury doesn't concern me as much as his constant inconsistency and off-field behavior; with all the red flags, Bryant should be around the 30th receiver taken in your fantasy draft.

Steve Smith
Unlike Bryant, nobody can question Smith's toughness and consistency. If he's on the field, you'll be hard pressed to find a fantasy receiver that's scarier to play against. The specific nature to Smith's injury isn't exactly known, other than he's in more pain than he's accustomed to and it's his shoulder he's had a history of problems with. Unless the injury news gets worse, I wouldn't be too concerned. He still should be around the 5th receiver taken in your draft. Even if he misses week 1 or 2, don't make the mistake and let an opponent steal him a round later, and have to play against him weeks 14-16 in the playoffs. He's way too dynamic to worry about missing one week. Look at last season; suspended for the first two weeks of the season, and still put up elite fantasy numbers.