Life comes can come at you fast in the NFL. Just over a week ago the Jacksonville Jaguars’ top four healthy wide receivers were Brian Thomas Jr., Travis Hunter, Parker Washington and Dyami Brown. Since then, Hunter, Thomas and Brown all went down with injuries and the team traded for Jakobi Meyers from the Raiders. In Week 10, they face a tough matchup with the Texans defense, so what can we expect from the new group of receivers?
Let’s take a look from a fantasy football perspective. In Coach Liam Coen’s offense, there’s upside available, but there is some question marks and uncertainty around roles and availability moving forward.
Brian Thomas Jr. and Dyami Brown Injury Updates
Travis Hunter is on IR for at least three more weeks, and potentially longer, after suffering a non-contact knee injury at practice last week, but Thomas and Brown are still active. Thomas has been ruled out for Sunday after sustaining a low-grade high ankle sprain in Week 9’s game against the Raiders.
In better news for the Jaguars passing attack, it looks like Dyami Brown is on track to be available in Week 10 after being upgraded from limited to full in practice this week. He left Week 9’s game with a concussion but seems to be progressing quickly through the protocol.
Parker Washington Fantasy Outlook
Washington stepped up last week after Thomas and Brown departed, serving as the team’s top receiver and finishing with eight catches on his team-high nine targets for 90 yards.
Washington has flashed dynamic upside and big-play ability in his three years with the Jaguars.
In the last two games, he’s turned his 18 targets into 12 catches for 142 yards, while working mostly out of the slot. He should remain in that role against the Texans, which will help him avoid shutdown corner Derek Stingley Jr. on Sunday.
Washington should get plenty of PPR work in the coming weeks, and his playmaking ability gives him a very high ceiling. While many people canceled or re-adjusted their waiver claims on Washington after the Meyers addition, I still think Washington will be the top target in the short term for Trevor Lawrence, and most likely, Meyers will be more of a replacement for Brown once BTJ is back. Long-term, the Meyers addition only impacts Washington’s role a little bit since he’s already such a favorite for Lawrence and Coen.
Jakobi Meyers Fantasy Outlook
According to Coen, Jakobi Meyers will play on the outside, as it is the easiest thing to get up to speed on. That means either he or Dyami Brown will have to deal with Stingley. Meyers has shown a high ceiling, but he only had 33 catches for 352 scoreless yards without much competition for wide receiver work in Las Vegas.
Moving from Geno Smith to Lawrence and changing systems is a long-term upgrade for Meyers, but coming in mid-week and ramping up before facing an elite secondary is a huge ask even for a veteran like Meyers.
He’s an extremely high-risk play this week. From the outside, his targets will likely be deeper than Washington’s over the middle, but they’ll also result in more boom-or-bust production.
The Bottom Line
Washington is a strong FLEX play in season-long leagues with WR2 upside this week, especially in PPR leagues. Now that Brown and Meyers will be on the perimeter, he should be able to thrive out of the slot. He can be started in almost all formats and has a very high ceiling. Meyers is more of a dart throw, but he has an interesting ceiling, as well; and don’t forget about Brown, who has multiple catches in every game this season and did find the end zone in Week 2, giving him one more touchdown than Meyers this year. That’s on top of his familiarity with the Jaguars’ offense since he’s been playing here all season.
For one-week contests on DraftKings like the NFL $2.75M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st], Washington is an elite value play at $4,700. I like both his ceiling and his floor for an option under $5,000, and his expected role in the slot makes him a safer start. Meyers is $4,800 and seems very highly priced for the risk factors involved. As long as he gets clearance, as expected, Brown should be a good value play at only $3,700. If Stingley focuses on Meyers, Brown could draw lots of targets on the outside. Of the group, though, Washington is still the top option, though, by a significant margin.
