Injuries are the worst part of fantasy football. In-game injuries are bad enough. This year, though, the mid-week injury bug seems to have infected the entire NFL. We had no fewer than five fantasy-relevant players pop up on Thursday injury reports after being perfectly fine on Wednesday. The latest is Las Vegas Raiders WR Davante Adams. What information do we have, and will he be sidelined in Week 4?
What Is the Latest Injury Update for Davante Adams?
I’ve been playing fantasy football for 22 years, and I have never experienced anything like what is going on in the 2024 season. It’s not just the sheer volume of players getting injured — it’s when.
So far, we’ve already seen A.J. Brown, George Kittle, Bijan Robinson, Diontae Johnson, and Nico Collins pop up with injuries sustained at practice. We saw Evan Engram get hurt in pre-game warmups. Now, add Adams to the list.
Much like the Houston Texans WR, Adams hurt his hamstring at Thursday’s practice, and he was ruled out for Week 4 by head coach Antonio Pierce on Friday.
#Raiders WR Davante Adams (hamstring) and DE Maxx Crosby (ankle) and TE Michael Mayer will all be OUT, says coach Antonio Pierce:
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) September 27, 2024
It could just be something as harmless as general soreness, which wouldn’t keep him sidelined for too long. But as we saw with Brown, who is set to miss his third straight game, and Kittle, who sat out last week’s contest, mid-week hamstring strains are generally problematic and could lead to an extended absence.
Who Will Step Up in Adams’ Absence?
If Adams can’t go, Jakobi Meyers would step into the WR1 role. Expect increased usage for Brock Bowers, and possibly more two-TE sets. Tre Tucker would be on the deep-league radar, but I would not recommend starting him.
Meyers has caught 14 of 17 targets this season and just seems to make plays when given the opportunity. He doubled his career touchdown receptions count last season with eight, and while the ability to find the end zone is valuable, it’s not something we can count on in an offense with a low expected point total and two pass catchers pretty clearly ahead of him on the depth chart.
I like Meyers’ prospects more if this offense were to shift to Aiden O’Connell, but I’m not sure we’re there yet. However, given the volume he should receive this week, he’s an interesting option.
Meyers’ value could extend beyond this week as well. Next week, Amon-Ra St. Brown, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Calvin Ridley, and DeAndre Hopkins will all be on bye, and (if healthy) Adams will likely draw a Pat Surtain II shadow. We can address that bridge when we get to it, but for now, we’ll see if Meyers can take advantage of the additional targets.
If we do, in fact, get a change under center, it’s worth noting that Meyers averages 34.3% more PPR points per target from O’Connell than Adams since the start of last season.