Minnesota Vikings WR Justin Jefferson has cemented himself as part of the fantasy football elite, but will managers have him for this week? After Jefferson suffered a hamstring injury in Week 5, will he be playing in Week 7, or will managers be without him for a little while longer?
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Is Justin Jefferson Going To Play Week 7?
Unfortunately, we already know that Jefferson will not be playing in Week 7 because he was placed on injured reserve (IR) ahead of Week 6.
The Vikings initially took their time evaluating Jefferson’s injury before placing him on IR that Tuesday. That means Jefferson will miss at least four games, the second of which is in Week 7.
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Sean Walsh, physical therapist and performance coach, who worked for TB12 Sports Performance Center, told Pro Football Network:
“Justin Jefferson likely has a high-grade II or low-grade III hamstring strain. The hamstring is comprised of three muscles: the semimembranosus, semitendonosis, and the biceps femoris. Most commonly, the biceps femoris is injured in hamstring strains.
“With this specific injury, I would expect one of these three muscles to have damage of >50% of the muscle fibers. A timetable of four to six weeks should be expected with his return to play with this significant damage. Rehabilitation will be a large factor in determining the return to play timeline. The last thing speed athletes need to worry about is a recurrence of injury.
“The mechanism of slipping on the turf opens up the possibility of more damage to the muscle fibers than most traditional hamstring strains that occur with running. The slipping mechanism likely caused more force to be generated through the hamstring, ultimately leading to the failure of the muscle.
Turf has been a large talking point with many injuries, and a slipping mechanism of injury can certainly point towards the turf being a contributing factor. Travis Kelce also had a slipping-related injury at US Bank Stadium on Sunday.”
Based on that update, we could see Jefferson out for longer than just four games. If he misses as much as six weeks, that would see him out until Week 12 — when the Vikings host the Chicago Bears. Additionally, with the Vikings having a Week 13 bye, there could be a temptation for Minnesota to keep their star WR sidelined until Week 14.
A big determining factor on that could be their record and playoff chances. Entering Monday Night Football, the Vikings are 2-4. They will believe they can win at least two of their next three games to get to at least 4-5 entering Week 10.
At that point, Jefferson would be eligible to be activated from IR.
Potential Fantasy Options With Jefferson Out Include K.J. Osborn and Brandon Powell
The absence of Jefferson last week meant that T.J. Hockenson and Jordan Addison were required to step up as the top two pass catchers.
The results weren’t particularly surprising. Hockenson turned his eight targets into six receptions for 50 yards. Meanwhile, Addison caught three of his five targets for 28 yards and a touchdown.
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However, for the most part, those two options are already rostered in the majority of leagues. Therefore, we need to look for who else could be a fantasy contributor from Minnesota during this period. Both K.J. Osborn and Brandon Powell had a role last week, but one appears to be the slightly better option.
In terms of targets, the two saw a fairly even split — Osborn at five and Powell at four. Osborn turned his five into four receptions for 48 yards, while Powell found three catches for 20 yards. Additionally, Osborn played 93% of the offensive snaps to 60% for Powell. Osborn was on the field in most two-receiver sets, with Powell playing in three-WR sets.
Subsequently, if you’re still scrambling for a replacement for Jefferson in Weeks 7-9, Osborn appears to be the best option in terms of the Vikings’ offense. No other WR or TE from Minnesota’s offense played more than 50% of the snaps in Week 6, and newly acquired RB Cam Akers only played 16% of them.