Typically the list of inactives in a given game is only useful to know which players could be injured or available before a game after spending a week on the team’s injury report. If someone has been listed as questionable or even doubtful, the final hammer falls on game day and reports are quickly passed in an era of fantasy football to make the necessary adjustments.
What is also important to understand, however, about a team’s inactives list is that there are often one or more players listed who are completely healthy. They are players who are often being hidden, so to speak, by the franchise—a promising player who is clearly not ready to contribute in the present yet offer some real potential for the future.