Fantasy Impact of Sammy Watkins Injury

By Vincent Frank on Saturday, October 1st 2016
Fantasy Impact of Sammy Watkins Injury

Often injured Buffalo Bills wide receiver Sammy Watkins was placed on injured reserve by the Buffalo Bills on Friday with a foot injury. 

Watkins had undergone off-season surgery on the foot, but it never healed to the point where he could do much on the field. With Watkins now out for at least the next eight weeks, the Bills are left in a less-than-stellar position moving forward. Is anyone capable of stepping up into the No. 1 receiver role? What does this mean for the fantasy production of both Tyrod Taylor and LeSean McCoy? Wel will answer this and more below. 

First off, one has to expect Taylor's fantasy production to come to a grinding halt. He ranks 19th in fantasy points through three games and has compiled just 527 passing yards during that span. This was with Watkins in the mix at wide receiver. 

The expectation here has to be that Buffalo will continue with its run-heavy rushing attack. That was apparent last week when the team ran the ball more than it passed in a surprising win over the Arizona Cardinals. 

It's in this that Buffalo's offense had the most success of the young season. LeSean McCoy went for 110 yards and two scores while Taylor himself put up 76 yards and a score on the ground. 

We should look for McCoy to continue getting the necessary touches to be considered a top-end fantasy option. He ranks ninth among running backs in fantasy points heading into Week 4 but is averaging just a hair over 16 attempts per game. This has him ranked fourth at the running back position in points per attempt. With Watkins out, there's no reason to believe McCoy won't see 20-plus attempts per game moving forward this season. 

Though, the biggest question mark now is what Buffalo is going to do at wide receiver. By default, Robert Woods takes over as the No. 1 receiver. He's caught 11-of-15 passes for just 81 yards in three games. The catch percentage is high, but dude is averaging just 5.4 yards per target. That's not good for anyone involved. 

Even with an expected uptick in targets, Woods simply doesn't present much upside in the fake football world. He might be a decent bottom-rung WR3 option in DFS contests depending on matchups, but that's pretty much it. 

 

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