It’s about that time in the season when players begin to succumb to various injuries. Some serious and some not so serious.
And while injuries to key players are often brought to the public’s attention, others often go unnoticed, creating a important edge for football handicappers that recognize that they are just as significant.
In the NFL. every team is required to report all of its injuries to the league and the media each week. Those reports are key for sports handicappers. But learning what to look for and how to interpret those reports can be daunting to many handicappers.
That’s way we have put together a few tips and things to look for, when searching for and edge while combing through the weekly NFL injury reports.
First, handicappers need to look beyond injuries to just the big name quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers. These are the ones the public is going to key in on. Instead, if handicappers can sniff out the injury impact of non-marquee positions, they can find the real value. Like an injury to a starting tackle, or a defensive end that has been a consistent factor to a team’s pass rush or run stopping front line. This can impact a team’s ability to win games more than the public might be aware of.
Injuries to second stringers can also help handicappers find value, as injuries to those players are not likely to catch the eye of the public. But for bettors that understand how a team uses its bench and the importance of an injury to a backup that regularly contributes to a team’s offense or defense, it can be a big advantage.
However, while injury reports can be a useful tool for football handicapping, those using them need to bear in mind that these reports are not perfect, and cannot be trusted as solitary tool for picking winners.
For starters theses reports are ridiculously subjective, with four levels of injuries open to interpretation by the teams.
While one team may list a player as out, another may classify the same injury as probable, as coaches try to trick or disguise a player’s health status, making them appear more or less injured than they really are.
Fact is that about 90 percent of payers listed as probable end up playing, while around three percent of players listed as doubtful play. So, if a player is listed as doubtful, handicappers can probably plan on the team playing without them on Sunday.
So, while injury reports can provide handicappers valuable game insight, they should only be used as a guide, along with practice reports, which can also help bettors determine if a player who misses two or three days of practice will be on the field come game day.
In the end, NFL bettors need not panic over injuries, making sure not to second guess there picks, based on injuries alone.
For more great info including hundreds of articles offering sports betting tips, strategy and advice, as well as game previews for all major sports, check out Lootmeister.com.
