The young WRs in Green Bay have been fun to watch this season. Sure, it has been frustrating for fantasy football managers to know who to start every week, but as a fan, seeing the young talent they have up in Green Bay has been exciting.
Jayden Reed has been one of those talented WRs. The rookie has had a mix of fantasy finishes this year, finishing as low as WR96 in Week 5 but as high as WR11 in Week 11 against the Chargers. No matter his weekly finish, it is clear that QB Jordan Love has a connection with him, as he is averaging 5.4 targets a game.
Reed is now dealing with a chest injury that has him questionable to play in Week 13. Will Reed be playing against the Chiefs on Sunday Night Football, and what are the fantasy implications if he does not?
Is Jayden Reed Going To Play Week 13?
Editor’s note: According to Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report, Reed is expected to suit up in Week 13.
Reed sustained the chest injury in Green Bay’s Week 11 win against the Chargers, but he has yet had it cause him to miss time. He played 69% of the snaps against the Chargers and topped that in the Thanksgiving game against Detroit (73%). It did not seem like something that was going to be a major issue entering Week 13. However, that was not the case.
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The chest injury seems to be lingering, and he has been listed as questionable for the game against the Kansas City Chiefs this week. Reed missed two practices this week but managed to log a limited practice session on Friday. Hopefully, missing practice was more a workload management situation than a major injury concern.
If this is a pain-management situation, I believe Reed will push through any lingering pain and should start on Sunday. He is the WR49 in PFN’s Consensus Rankings.
Potential Fantasy Options if Reed Is Out Include Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, and Dontayvion Wicks
I spoke about the plethora of talent in the Green Bay WR room, and several of them become fantasy options, especially if Reed cannot play. When you have four WRs seeing targets, one of them being out should benefit the other three.
The question is, which one sees the biggest bump? Christian Watson continues to have the big-play ability, which we saw in Week 12. Watson has a lower floor but also a high ceiling when it comes to fantasy production.
Romeo Doubs is another fantasy option to consider if Reed is sidelined. Make sure to have a pivot available if it is announced that Reed cannot go. Doubs has seen the most targets of any Packers’ WR this season, but his fantasy value has been far from consistently usable. He has seen a slight downturn in fortunes in recent weeks, becoming more and more touchdown-dependent to have significant value.
The intriguing option this week is Dontayvion Wick, who is also questionable with his own injury concerns. Wicks was looking like the breakout option in this pass-catching group before missing the Thanksgiving game with a concussion. If he plays and Reed does not, there should be more targets on offer for a player that could be a sneaky league-winner down the stretch.
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