Diontae Johnson has a well-documented history of being held out of practices entirely before ultimately suiting up. But this week feels different. After not practicing the first two days of this week, should fantasy football managers be concerned that the Carolina Panthers WR1’s ankle injury might prevent him from playing in Week 7?
Will Diontae Johnson Be Active in Week 7?
This is the third consecutive week that Johnson has been on the injury report. The weekly trend is a bit alarming.
Diontae Johnson practice status by week with the ankle injury (game designation)
Week 7 – DNP, DNP, TBD (TBD)
Week 6 – LP, LP, LP (Q)
Week 5 – DNP, LP, LP (None)Had he been limited today I think he’d be good, but the 2nd straight DNP has me thinking he’s not — trade incoming!? https://t.co/Q06MYEI8Ld
— Adam Koffler (@AdamKoffler) October 17, 2024
Ahead of Week 5, Johnson avoided a final injury designation entirely. Ahead of Week 6, he was questionable but never really in jeopardy of missing the game following three limited practices. This week, Johnson’s status has further downgraded.
The good news: Johnson returned to practice on Friday as a limited participant. The bad news: He now is dealing with rib and hamstring injuries in addition to his ankle issue.
Johnson officially is listed as questionable for Week 7, so there’s a chance he plays. However, a DNP-DNP-LP isn’t overly reassuring. A veteran like Johnson can definitely play with just a single limited practice, but he’s certainly not trending in the right direction.
Fantasy Options To Consider If Johnson Is Out This Week
This would be an unfortunate game for Johnson to miss in a potential shootout with the Washington Commanders. While the Commanders have been better defensively over the past couple of weeks, they are still allowing the fifth-most fantasy points per game to wide receivers.
Johnson is a borderline WR1 and an absolute must-start if he’s healthy and playing. If not, fantasy managers definitely want to try and get pieces of this game. What a time to be alive when we’re actively trying to start Commanders and Panthers.
If Johnson can’t go, Xavier Legette would stand to benefit the most. Ever since Adam Thielen went down, Legette has been a staple opposite Johnson in two-receiver sets.
Last week, Legette only caught three passes for 23 yards and a touchdown last week, but he ran 32 routes. With Andy Dalton continuing to make the Panthers’ offense look competent, Legette would be on the WR3 radar without Johnson.
Looking beyond the Panthers, some other players rostered in fewer than 50% of Yahoo leagues that you might want to look at are Ray-Ray McCloud, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Romeo Doubs, and Rashod Bateman.
McCloud remains the Atlanta Falcons’ primary slot receiver. The Seahawks are a pass-funnel defense — that game could be high scoring, putting him firmly in play.
Smith-Schuster has taken over the Rashee Rice role in the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense. He’s not going to be Rice, but he had a 100-yard game two weeks ago (the Chiefs were on bye last week).
Doubs returned after a one-game absence last week to catch two touchdowns. The volume won’t be there, but Jordan Love is an MVP candidate, and Doubs can spike any given Sunday.
Bateman has played quite well the past two weeks, hitting double-digit fantasy points in both. In a potential shootout against a Bucs pass-funnel defense, you could do worse than Bateman in a pinch.