Some notable pass catchers will be on the shelf this week. The Rams have ruled out Puka Nacua, and the Jets will go without Garrett Wilson.
Additionally, the Bucs won’t have Emeka Eguka for their big Monday night tilt in Detroit.
There are 13 players in the league who’ve accounted for over 30 percent of their team’s receiving yards. Three are out with injuries. (Four, if we’re also counting Zay Flowers, with a bye.)
| PERCENTAGE OF OWN TEAM'S RECEIVING YARDS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | G | No | Yards | TD | Pct of tm |
| Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Sea. | 6 | 42 | 696 | 3 | 44.7% |
| Ja'Marr Chase, Cin. | 7 | 58 | 629 | 5 | 41.7% |
| Justin Jefferson, Min. | 5 | 29 | 449 | 1 | 40.1% |
| Garrett Wilson, NYJ | 6 | 36 | 395 | 4 | 37.5% |
| Puka Nacua, LAR | 6 | 54 | 616 | 2 | 36.6% |
| Drake London, Atl. | 5 | 34 | 427 | 2 | 35.7% |
| Zay Flowers, Balt. | 6 | 34 | 423 | 1 | 34.1% |
| Amon-Ra St. Brown, Det. | 6 | 44 | 452 | 6 | 32.4% |
| DK Metcalf, Pitt. | 6 | 22 | 406 | 4 | 31.7% |
| George Pickens, Dall. | 6 | 32 | 525 | 6 | 31.7% |
| Tetairoa McMillan, Car. | 6 | 27 | 380 | 2 | 31.5% |
| Jaylen Waddle, Mia. | 6 | 29 | 390 | 3 | 31.1% |
| Emeka Egbuka, T.B. | 6 | 27 | 469 | 5 | 30.5% |
| Courtland Sutton, Den. | 6 | 27 | 382 | 3 | 29.9% |
| Nico Collins, Hou. | 5 | 22 | 312 | 3 | 28.4% |
| Bijan Robinson, Atl. | 5 | 24 | 338 | 1 | 28.2% |
| Chris Olave, N.O. | 6 | 39 | 342 | 1 | 27.7% |
| DeVonta Smith, Phil. | 6 | 29 | 321 | 1 | 27.4% |
| Rome Odunze, Chi. | 5 | 22 | 328 | 5 | 27.2% |
| Wan'Dale Robinson, NYG | 6 | 29 | 351 | 2 | 27.1% |
| Trey McBride, Ari. | 6 | 37 | 347 | 2 | 27.1% |
| Tre Tucker, L.V. | 6 | 24 | 356 | 4 | 26.4% |
| Marvin Harrison, Ari. | 6 | 22 | 338 | 2 | 26.4% |
| Calvin Ridley, Ten. | 6 | 16 | 290 | 0 | 26.3% |
| Rashid Shaheed, N.O. | 6 | 26 | 316 | 2 | 25.6% |
| Deebo Samuel, Was. | 6 | 34 | 315 | 3 | 25.4% |
| Stefon Diggs, N.E. | 6 | 32 | 387 | 0 | 25.4% |
| Brian Thomas, Jac. | 6 | 24 | 334 | 1 | 25.2% |
It’s a downer, of course, for those teams. But it also creates some waiver opportunities. Other players will need to play more, and they’ll see passes they wouldn’t have otherwise.
For the Rams, I have some interest in Jordan Whittington as a low-level fill-in. There have been times that I have wondered whether he might be kind of a poor man’s Nacua. In a 12-team PPR league, Whittington seems like a starter kind of guy to me. (I like him more than Tutu Atwell, who tends to be more of a smaller, vertical threat). They’ve still got Davante Adams, of course, and he’ll presumably see more passes than usual.
For the Jets, they don’t have anybody who’s going to step up and do Wilson-type things. They don’t have another wide receiver who’s caught more than 8 passes. Josh Reynolds, Allen Lazard, Tyler Johnson. Reynolds is supposed to be their next-best guy, but he’s working through a hip injury himself.
For the Bucs, they have a capable hot quarterback, but I think they’ll be missing their top 4 wide receivers. Mike Evans was a limited participant in practice on Thursday, but we’ll see. They may be relying on some combination of Sterling Shepard, Tez Johnson, Kameron Johnson and Ryan Miller. I would be more inclined to roll the dice on Whittington, rather than taking a stab at one of those guys.
—Ian Allan