New York Giants tight end Darren Waller was added to the injury report on Friday with a hamstring injury and is listed as questionable for Sunday night’s game vs. the Dallas Cowboys. It would appear that he tweaked his hamstring in practice Friday since he was a full go throughout the week.
Fantasy football implications for Week 1
Waller was set to be the No. 1 target for QB Daniel Jones by many projections, so this could be a big blow to the offense. Hopefully this is the team being extremely cautious with a player with hamstring injury problems in the past.
If Waller can’t go, Daniel Bellinger would take over as the lead tight end and have some fantasy value. But Jones would lose some of his fantasy upside. Jones will also be without Wan’dale Robinson, who is doubtful to play. That would leave Isaiah Hodgins, Darius Slayton, and Parris Campbell as the main wide receiver targets, but Sterling Shepard and Jalin Hyatt will also likely see work. It won’t be great for fantasy.
That could mean the Giants lean heavily on the run game with Saquon Barkley and even more designed runs for Jones. If you’re looking for a TE to replace Waller and don’t already have one on your roster, Packers TE Luke Musgrave isn’t a bad option in shallow formats. He could see more targets as a result of WR Christian Watson being out against the Bears on Sunday.