The Minnesota Vikings are currently 1-4 on the season, and things are only starting to get worse. Wide receiver Justin Jefferson left the game against the Kansas City Chiefs with a hamstring injury and has now been placed on injured reserve.
With that in mind for fantasy football managers, are any Vikings targets worth considering from the waiver wire?
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Should K.J. Osborn Be a Fantasy Waiver Wire Add in Week 6?
In the game against the Chiefs, Jefferson had been shut down already, as he had only three catches for 28 yards. Quarterback Kirk Cousins still was able to have a solid day, as he threw for 284 yards and two touchdowns.
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Cousins did a solid job of distributing the ball, and he still has targets like Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson now that Jefferson will miss extended time. Addison was tied for the team lead with nine targets, and K.J. Osborn also showed he could see his role be expanded.
Osborn had five catches for 49 yards, and got the ball thrown his way a lot. He is a fast player who is able to win a lot of matchups in the slot. While Jefferson is out, Osborn could be forced to play more on the outside.
There is no denying that Osborn is tempting, but you have to be reasonable with your expectations for him.
He has had some big games as a member of the team. Last season, he had two games in the Vikings’ final four games where he had at least 117 yards. In the Vikings’ historic comeback against the Colts, Osborn had 10 catches for 157 yards and a touchdown.
Another thing to keep in mind is it feels like the Vikings will be in competitive games the entire season — think of all the one-score games from the 2022 season. Every game this season has been decided by eight points or less. Not only are they close games, but they are generally going to be high-scoring games.
In the four losses this season, the Vikings have given up 28.8 points. This means that Cousins is going to be throwing the ball frequently. He has thrown the ball 204 times, which leads the NFL. He has thrown for the second-most yards (1,498), trailing only Tua Tagovailoa (1,614).
Even with Jefferson out for a little while, the Vikings won’t change who they are as a team. They are still going to be in high-scoring games and be throwing the ball a lot. Osborn is a guy who should be a low-risk, medium-reward type. He isn’t necessarily the guy who is going to win you a championship, but his value over the next several weeks could be higher than normal.