Detroit Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown was added to the team’s injury report over the weekend due to an illness. The news was a potentially major blow for fantasy football managers, with it emerging after the majority of games had begun on Sunday.
Let’s take a look at the latest updates on whether St. Brown will be playing in Week 8 and what his status means for fantasy managers.
Is Amon-Ra St. Brown Going To Play in Monday Night Football?
Update: Earlier in the evening, ESPN Senior NFL Reporter Jeremy Fowler reported that St. Brown intendedto play tonight against the Raiders. He was not on the inactives list and will in fact play.
As of Monday morning, the news on whether St. Brown will be playing is very much up in the air. This week has been littered with illness issues, with St. Brown being the latest concern. In general, we have seen the majority of fantasy-relevant players able to suit up, which is a good sign for St. Brown.
However, the performances of those players have been mixed. The most notable was Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, who was added to the injury report with an illness on Sunday morning. Mahomes had the third-worst performance of his NFL career based on QB rating in a loss to the Denver Broncos.
Michael Thomas of the New Orleans Saints was the biggest-named WR dealing with illness this week. He had a solid four receptions for 68 yards on Sunday, which was pretty much in line with his season averages.
St. Brown’s fantasy managers would take the “season average” from the Detroit WR, as that would be 92.8 yards on 8.5 receptions and a 50% chance of finding the end zone.
What Are the Potential Fantasy Implications if St. Brown Misses The Game?
If St. Brown is active, fantasy managers are most likely going to start him. Unless you have a wealth of Las Vegas Raiders or Lions options on your roster, you may not even have another choice this late in the week.
St. Brown is talented enough to where you would hope he can perform to at least 75-80% capability while sick.
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If he’s out, then the most likely beneficiaries on Detroit’s depth chart in terms of targets are Josh Reynolds, Jameson Williams, and Kalif Raymond. Reynolds is third on the team in targets, posting three receptions and 54.9 yards per game. He would likely be the leading WR on the team if St. Brown was out.
In the only other game St. Brown missed this year, Reynolds led the team among WRs or TEs with five targets. Tight end Sam LaPorta was second with four targets. Raymond also saw a bump in targets compared to his season average of three. However, the main fantasy-relevant bumps are likely to be for LaPorta, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Reynolds.
The wild card here is Williams. The speedy second-year receiver was playing his first game of the season after his suspension and saw just three targets. Now more settled into the offense, Williams could see expanded playing time and targets if St. Brown is absent. The young receiver has the talent and playmaking opportunity to have a monster game if he can command as many as five targets this week.
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