Injuries continue to pile up around the NFL, and it got even worse on Monday night.
First, Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans re-aggravated a hamstring injury that had been hampering him all week in practice. He caught a pass for 25 yards in the first quarter that went for a touchdown, but he got hurt shortly after trying to make another touchdown catch on a different series.
The ESPN broadcast suggested he couldn’t even take off his cleats in the locker room without help, and my guess is that he’s going to miss next week’s game against the Falcons … and probably more.
Then, the night got worse.
In the fourth quarter, Chris Godwin caught a pass and lunged forward. His lower left leg was rolled up on by a Baltimore defender in the process, and his ankle was seen pointing backwards. He was carted off the field with an ankle dislocation, possibly playing in his last game of the season.
Heading into the game, Godwin was third among wideouts in fantasy points per game.
The losses of these two fantasy stars will be difficult to overcome, not only for fantasy fans but also Baker Mayfield. He’s been one of the best quarterbacks in fantasy land, but losing his top two options in the passing game is almost certain to hurt his stats moving forward.
While I hate talking about replacing Evans and Godwin in fantasy leagues after both were injured (more so the latter because his injury looked to be season ending), it’s part of the job.
Cade Otton, who had eight catches for 100 yards, will get a boost. If he’s on the waiver wire, add him. As far as their wide receivers are concerned, I don’t see Jalen McMillan, Trey Palmer or Sterling Shepard making a consistent fantasy impact. McMilan and Palmer will still be worth a waiver claim, however.
What I can see in the weeks to come, or at least until Evans returns, is for offensive coordinator Liam Coen to use his three running backs, Rachaad White, Bucky Irving and Sean Tucker, in more prominent roles. Being that White is the best pass catcher of the trio, he could see a nice uptick in targets and could be used more often as a receiver in the offense.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mike Evans, Chris Godwin Injured, Causing Concern In Fantasy Football.