Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen has delivered impressively for fantasy football managers so far this season. He has delivered a double-digit performance every week except for Week 7 so far this season, bye week excluded.
However, a quadricep injury sustained in Week 12 has left his status for today up in the air. He is currently listed as questionable for today’s game against the New England Patriots.
Will Allen play today against the Patriots, what is the latest news regarding his injury, and, if he does play, what is his fantasy outlook? Let’s take a closer look and find out.
Is Keenan Allen Going To Play Week 12?
Allen is currently listed as questionable to play today against the Patriots with a quadriceps injury. This injury, which he sustained in Week 12, caused him to miss practice on Wednesday and Thursday this week. However, he did return to practice on Friday, albeit in a limited capacity.
However, Adam Schefter of ESPN did provide an update this morning. He posted on X, “Chargers’ WR Keenan Allen, listed as questionable for Sunday due to a quad injury, is expected to play vs. the Patriots, per source.”
Therefore, it appears that Allen is likely to play today against the Patriots. However, what does this mean for his fantasy outlook? Let’s take a closer look at his matchup this week.
What Is Allen’s Potential Fantasy Outlook for Today?
Allen comes into today’s game against the Patriots as the WR2 overall in fantasy football behind Tyreek Hill. He has been outstanding this season under Kellen Moore’s play-calling.
Today’s opponents, the Patriots, have been uncharacteristically below average in the passing game this season. They are currently allowing the 10th-most fantasy points to wide receivers per game (30.2).
MORE: Fantasy News Tracker
And with Allen being quarterback Justin Herbert’s favorite target, this looks like a great matchup for Allen to exploit. In his last three games, Allen has seen 46 targets, catching 35 of those for 397 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
This week, he is likely to receive some favorable matchups against J.C. Jackson. Jackson is the second-worst cornerback playing in Week 13 in terms of fantasy points per route run allowed against (0.44), according to FantasyPoints Data. Only Marco Wilson of the Arizona Cardinals is allowing more.
What’s more, Jackson is being targeted on 23.3% of the routes run against him. No cornerback playing this week is even close to this amount. This shows that offensive coordinators are targeting Jackson when they are looking to make big plays down the field.
Even when he was playing hurt, he was still playing through the pain and delivering WR1, WR5, and WR15 performances as a result. Fantasy managers should not be concerned about the injury affecting Allen’s performance today if he does subsequently get the start.
Our PFN Consensus Rankings, at the time of writing, have Allen ranked as the WR5 overall for Week 13. Therefore, Allen should be started with confidence by all fantasy managers this week in all formats.
Looking to make a trade in your fantasy league? Having trouble deciding who to start and who to sit? Setting DFS lineups? Check out PFN’s Free Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer, Start/Sit Optimizer, and DFS Lineup Optimizer to help you make the right decision!
