Week 2 has been a wild one for fantasy managers. Everyday brings more and more injuries and murky situations. In the last two days alone, Jamison Crowder, AJ Brown, Chris Godwin, George Kittle all are in the dreaded questionable status for their games on Sunday. Add this to the miserable situation Michael Thomas and Kenny Golladay teams are already facing, and the receiver position has turned into a mash unit.
Not only are managers faced with potential last minute replacements, but the questionable tag does not even allow managers to attack the waiver wire or use IR positions. Players essentially sit in limbo. Sunday morning at 11 AM teams may have to scramble in order to set lineups.
Week 2 is hardly the time to panic. Have a clear and concise plan and be ready to use some very low percentage rostered players who may be thrown into a much higher volume than they are used to.
Here are a few players who could be emergency fill-ins. All players are rostered in less than 10 percent of Yahoo! leagues.
TE Jordan Reed 49ers (2%)
The often concussed and talented Reed continually was a frustration to fantasy managers during his days in Washington. He would produce like an elite talent and then get injured for long periods of time. This summer San Francisco signed him with little fanfare to backup George Kittle. Now with Kittle nursing a knee injury, Reed could step into the perfect situation. Already depleted at WR, if Kittle misses, Reed could see his fair share of targets. Not only that, but the 49ers are sizable favorites against a Jets team that got demolished at Buffalo last week. (UPDATE: KITTLE IS OUT)
WR Adam Humphries Titans (1%)
Lost in the Corey Davis MNF explosion was the productive usage for WR Adam Humphries. Two years ago, Humphries was a Jameis Winston favorite and caught 72 passes in Tampa Bay. He then signed a big free agent deal with Tennessee. Last year he did not crack 40 catches and was a disappointment. This past week in a close game, Humphries was targeted 7 times and caught 6 of them. He was on the field for 54% of snaps. If AJ Brown misses, he will be on the field for two WR sets vs a beatable Jacksonville secondary. He is not going to explode and win you the week, but double digit points in PPR is a very realistic expectation.
WR Tre’Quan Smith Saints (8%)
Smith was on the field for 65 percent of snaps- Manny Sanders was only on the field for 49 percent of snaps. Sanders was obviously the more productive and targeted Saint (five targets to one), but Smith will see a few deep shots at the very least. Last week, The Panthers WRs shredded the Raiders secondary for 250 yards. With Michael Thomas facing a multiple gamee absence, fantasy managers should take a shot on rostering Smith- needy teams may even have to use him this week. Two years ago Smith had one of his best games as a pro on MNF vs Washington with 2 TDs on 111 yards receiving- could it happen again?
WR Quintez Cephus Lions (1%)
The Lions head into Green Bay as underdogs. There is also a good chance that The Packers put elite CB Ja’ire Alexander on Marvin Jones in shadow coverage. Last year Alexander and The Packers completely shut down Jones and with Kenny Golladay out, look for more of the same. That leaves TE TJ Hockenson, veteran WR Danny Amendola, and 5th round draft pick Quintez Cephus. Last week Cephus led all rookie WRs with 10 targets. If he receives the same volume, look for Cephus to be a useful player this week and one that could find the end zone.
If you have the room consider adding one of these players before Sunday.