The Carolina Panthers listed No. 1 WR Diontae Johnson ($6,100; ankle) as questionable for their Week 6 matchup against the Falcons. Johnson played through the injury last week against the Bears and had his normal snaps. He only finished with three catches for 23 yards, though. If he is sidelined or limited again this week, there would be more work for Xavier Legette and Jonathan Mingo. Would either option be worth a look in fantasy football? Let’s take a look.
Johnson had a slow start to the year with Bryce Young ($4,700) at QB, but took off with two big weeks after Andy Dalton ($5,200) was promoted to the starting job. Dalton helped Diontae score 29.2 fantasy points in Week 3 and 21.3 fantasy points in Week 4 before struggling to only 5.9 fantasy points in Week 5.
With Adam Thielen (hamstring) still on IR, Xavier Legette ($4,900) has been the second receiving option. He had six catches for 19.6 fantasy points in Week 4, but was forced to leave Week 5 with a shoulder injury of his own. However, as you can see above, he’s not on this week’s injury report, and should be a full go against the Falcons. If Johnson is out, Legette would be a strong option to take over as the top receiver.
Jonathan Mingo ($3,700) has also been more involved since the Thielen injury with multiple catches and over 5.0 fantasy points in each of the last three weeks. He would be a desperation flex play if Johnson is out.
The Panthers will likely have to throw the ball a lot while playing from behind since they are six-point home underdogs. The Falcons defense has allowed six receiver touchdowns in five games and an average of 132.2 yards to the position. Only Rashee Rice had 100-plus yards against them, but they have given up six-plus catches to two different receivers in each of the last two weeks.
If Johnson is out, Legette would be a great play at +260 to score a touchdown. Even if Johnson plays, but is limited like last week, Legette is a decent option to consider since last week’s dud was mostly due to injury.
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