Fantasy Football Impact of Ja'Marr Chase Injury | Will Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd and Joe Mixon Benefit? Can You Still Trust Joe Burrow?
The Cincinnati Bengals are starting to look like the team we expected them to be coming into the season. The offense has found life, and it’s helped the team to four straight wins.
Cincy is coming off a big win over the Buffalo Bills, but saw star receiver Ja’Marr Chase get banged up in that contest. He’s dealing with a back injury.
It’s still very early in the practice week, so there’s a chance that Chase recovers quickly and is a full go for the team’s week 10 game against the Houston Texans. If I had to guess, Chase might be questionable going into the contest. Instead of waiting until the last minute to address the situation, let’s get things out in the open now so you can have a backup plan in place. It’ll make for a lot less stressful Sunday.
Explore the best in-season tool to manage lineup/start decisions including predictive waiver analytics to help prioritize waiver pickups, projections, auction values, trade suggestions, trade value charts, rest of season rankings, power rankings, and tons more with Fantasy Assistant. Use our fantasy football trade analyzer to break down trade scenarios.
Ja’Marr Chase Fantasy Value
I don’t throw the words “star receiver” around lightly. Chase is in that tier and has been one of the top fantasy wideouts this season, even after a slow start to the season.
Chase is the Bengals’ leader in just about every pass-catching statistic imaginable. He’s caught 64 passes for 697 yards and four touchdowns. He’s been targeted 93 times in total, including 15 times in the red zone, with 10 grabs on those looks. He’s played 481 offensive snaps.
He’s only posted under 70 receiving yards three times - the first two games of the season and then week 9. He’s got three games with 100 or more yards.
After not scoring in the first four games, Chase has four touchdowns since - although three came against the Arizona Cardinals in one contest. Even with some of his low-yardage games, he’s caught at least four passes each week and been targeted eight or more times.
He is a vital part of the offense, and they need him healthy if they hope to win the Super Bowl. The organization is going to probably play things safe with this injury, either not playing him or limiting his snaps and touches so that the issue is resolved in short order instead of being a multi-week problem.
Wide Receiver Fantasy Outlook
The two players that would likely benefit most from Chase not playing or being limited are Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd, the team’s No. 2 and 3 options, respectively.
Higgins has dealt with his own injury this season, but is coming off one of his better games of the year. He caught 8-of-9 targets for 110 yards against the Bills.
It was the first time he topped 100 receiving yards this season. He’s only had over 50 yards three times now, and in the other four games, Higgins didn’t reach 25 yards. Both of his touchdowns this season came in one contest.
Even though this season has mostly been a struggle for Higgins, he’s been involved. Higgins has been targeted at least four times in every game and has over five targets in all but two contests.
Higgins looks to finally be settling in, as he produced 69 yards on five catches and six targets in week 8. He’s creeping back up into the top tiers of fantasy wideouts again, which is where he started the season.
Boyd hasn’t produced any monster games, but he’s been consistent pretty much all season. He’s topped 50 yards only twice, but only has under 25 yards in one game.
Boyd has been targeted at least three times and made two catches every week. He’s caught two touchdowns, with those coming in the team’s final two October games.
It hasn’t been flashy with Boyd, but you really can’t ask for much else out of a No. 3 option. He’s been a solid option in deeper leagues and is a borderline flex option in PPR formats.
No other receivers outside the trio of Chase, Higgins and Boyd really play all that much for the Bengals. Trenton Irwin has played 162 offensive snaps, but only has 13 targets for the full season. Andrew Iosivas has played 74 snaps and been targeted just five times.
Running Back Fantasy Outlook
With Chase out or limited, it would make sense for Cincy to try to run the ball a bit more. Joe Mixon has been the only real fantasy threat at the position. Mixon has played 381 snaps, which is nearly 300 more than the next back, Trayveon Williams (91).
Mixon has rushed 126 times for 490 yards and three touchdowns. He’s added 158 receiving yards on 24 grabs and 30 targets. He hasn’t been the fantasy player many owners hoped for, but at least he’s not losing a ton of work to anyone.
Williams has been a touch more involved of late, with half of his 14 touches coming over the past three weeks. He’s only rushed for 39 yards on 10 carries, while catching four passes for 7 yards. Williams will get some work every week - and maybe a touch more if Chase is out - but he’s not in the fantasy picture in any format yet.
Tight End Fantasy Outlook
Cincy has played Irv Smith, Drew Sample, Mitchell Wilcox and Tanner Hudson a decent amount this season, which helps make up for the lack of running backs and wide receivers.
Last week, Hudson got five targets, catching four for 45 yards. Sample and Smith both scored touchdowns across their four targets, with Sample tallying three grabs for 30 yards and Smith going for 26 yards on three grabs. Meanwhile, Wilcox only played 10 offensive snaps.
If Chase were to miss the week 10 contest, one of the Cincy tight ends could be a sneaky good fantasy option. The problem is that it’s hard to pick which guy it might be after three produced solid outings last week.
Joe BurrowFantasy Outlook
Burrow has overcome a slow start and injury and is looking like one of the top quarterbacks in the league, and in fantasy, again.
He’s reached 275 or more passing yards in three of the past four games, and has at least two touchdowns passes in each contest. He’s thrown two interceptions in that span.
Burrow looks more comfortable on the field and is completing passes at a much better clip than he was in the first four contests.
How to Approach Week 10
The matchup against the Texans is a pretty favorable one for most positions. Quarterbacks and running backs have average matchups, while wideouts have a difficult test and tight ends have the best matchup.
Let’s start this off by addressing Chase. Even in a limited state, Chase should be confidently started in week 10, even against the tougher Texans’ defense. He’s simply targeted too many times and has the best chance to score when on the field, so even with just a few catches, he could be the best fantasy option.
If Chase plays, I would only consider Higgins and Boyd starters in deeper leagues. I’d still feel confident enough to start Burrow and Mixon in any format. The tight end position is one I’d like to take advantage of, but only would feel good starting any of three that produced last week in deeper leagues.
If Chase doesn’t play in week 10, then I think you really will have some decisions on your hands. Higgins is the best fantasy option at receiver, but against a tougher matchup, he’s not a must start in any format. Chase’s workload could be split between several guys, so I’d only feel confident in starting Higgins in deeper leagues. I'd lean toward starting him in standard leagues, but would need to see all your options before making that decision.
I’d put Boyd in a similar category. A few more targets and catches could lead to more yardage and maybe a score, but I wouldn’t feel super confident in that coming true.
Burrow would likely not put up as good a score without Chase, but he’s still a must start for me in all formats. I think Mixon has the best chance to excel without Chase, so if the wideout can’t play, Mixon could possibly be the top fantasy back this week.
I’d feel better starting any of the three tight ends without Chase playing, but would still not be able to confidently play them in standard leagues. I think they’d all be pretty solid options in deeper leagues though. In any format, I'd take Smith first, then Sample and finally Hudson.
