Fantasy Football Fallout: Hunter Henry out 4-6 weeks

Los Angeles Chargers tight end Hunter Henry is slated to miss 4-6 weeks with a left knee injury. What is the fantasy football fallout?

Another year, another injury for Hunter Henry. On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Chargers announced their fourth-year tight end has suffered a tibial plateau fracture in his left knee during their Week 1 game against the Indianapolis Colts. ESPN’s Adam Schefter has reported Henry is expected to miss 4-6 weeks.

Via Jeff Miller of the Los Angeles Times, the Chargers have announced Henry will continue to be evaluated and the timeframe for his return has not yet been determined. Head coach Anthony Lynn said Henry will not be placed on IR. That said, his injury is the same one that ended J.J. Watt‘s 2017 season after Week 5.

Henry missed all of last regular season with a torn right ACL, before returning to play some in the Chargers’ Divisional Round playoff loss to the New England Patriots. He had four receptions for 60 yards against the Colts, and now he’ll be out for at least a month.

Henry being sidelined has immediately fueled thoughts Antonio Gates could come back again. The Chargers also recently worked out free agent tight end Luke Willson. As of right now Virgil Green would become the team’s No. 1 tight end, but he’s well off the fantasy radar.

So from a fantasy football perspective, which Chargers will benefit most from Henry’s absence?

In 2017, Hunter Henry accounted for a 10.9 percent target share himself as he and Gates combined for a 20 percent target share. With Henry gone in 2018, Chargers tight ends (Gates and Green primarily) accounted for a 14.4 percent target share.

Where did those targets go, you say?

In 2017, Chargers running backs had a 23.2 percent target share. Last year, that went up to 27.9 percent. Keenan Allen‘s target share actually dropped a little from 2017 (27.9 percent) to 2018 (26.9 percent).

But he’s a target hog by any measure, and with Tyrell Williams gone in free agency and Mike Williams (knee) a little banged up right now Allen should get a few more looks a game while Henry is out.

The Chargers brought back Dontrelle Inman heading into the season, so he may be worth a speculative add in very deep leagues with Henry out and Mike Williams’ status unclear.

Melvin Gordon is holding out, and may not come back until at least Week 6. So Austin Ekeler operated as the Chargers lead back in Week 1, and he had a big game (154 total yards and three total touchdowns) that included six receptions (on seven targets) for 96 yards and two touchdowns.

Ekeler is in line to benefit the most from Henry being out, and No. 2 back Justin Jackson should also benefit some too. It’s possible Ekeler’s touches shift a little more toward pass targets while Henry is sidelined, without impacting his overall workload but giving a boost to his stock in PPR formats.

If you have Henry in anything but the shallowest of fantasy leagues, he has to be stashed on the bench or in an IR spot if at all possible right now.