Isaiah Likely Expected to Miss Week 1 but Not Much More

2025 Fantasy Football Impact

Likely had surgery at the end of July to address a fracture in his left foot. The stated return timeline always had him in this range, and the fact that he avoided IR to open the season pointed to his recovery going well.

We can't expect Likely to hit full strength as soon as he returns, which looks like it'll be around six weeks after his initial injury. But this situation might have actually made him a better target in fantasy drafts.

Before the injury, Likely's ADP hovered around the Round 13-14 turn in 12-team drafts. That put him high in TE2 territory, even though he would have been difficult to start early in this season as the No. 2 TE on his own team.

But Likely's closing draft season going more than two rounds later:

That puts him at the bottom of TE2 range, often even outside of that.

Likely makes much more sense as a deep bench stash, because he'll almost certainly need a Mark Andrews injury to be playable in most fantasy leagues.

This latest update matches the general sense of positivity the team has put out around Likely's expected recovery. He's certainly no must-draft, especially at a position where you should often just roll with one guy.

But the handcuff upside remains, and it's easier to get that at a decent price than it would have been if Likely had stayed healthy.