Season-Ending NFL Preseason Injuries

If you've been paying attention to the NFL preseason at all, you have undoubtedly noticed the staggering amount of season-ending injuries that have been suffered by significant players throughout the league. Big names like Jeremy Maclin and Dennis Pitta went down early, and recently the same has happened to the likes of Dustin Keller, Kevin Kolb and DuJuan Harris. So that got us wondering, is this preseason injury epidemic really that much worse this year than previous seasons? The answer is yes, and rather convincingly.

In the above infographic, we have included all season-ending injuries that occurred in the NFL preseason since 2009 to players who were expected to make their team's 53-man roster. All injuries that happened during practice, team mini-camps or actual preseason games were included. All players who suffered injuries missed the entire upcoming season, with one exception: Austin Collie did play in one game in 2012 following preseason concussion issues, but had to leave after one catch due to the same complications. For 2013, we have included all players expected to miss the entire season, so that excludes guys like Michael Crabtree who may return.

As you can see, the 2013 NFL preseason has been incredibly harsh. Not only is the number of season-ending injuries more than double any other year, but the list of "big name" players affected is long and there is still one preseason game left. We are hoping the number 17 does not go up any higher, but judging by the way things have been going, we are not optimistic.