Fantasy Football Week 15: Tyron Johnson lined up as top Chargers WR vs. Raiders

With Keenan Allen and Mike Williams possibly out Thursday night, Tyron Johnson is lined up to be a fine fantasy plug-and-play against the Raiders.

Injury reports on a short week have to taken with a grain of salt, as teams estimate practices and give players rest. The Los Angeles Chargers have done the same this week, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter has reported the status of wide receivers Keenan Allen (hamstring) and Mike Williams (back) is in doubt for Thursday night against the Las Vegas Raiders.

More specifically, Williams is being deemed unlikely to play and the Chargers are concerned they won’t have Allen. If Allen does play, his snaps are likely to be limited.

It’s next man up for the Chargers, and fantasy managers

Allen is second in the NFL in receptions entering Week 15, with 99, and he leads the league in targets (144). For fantasy, he’s WR5 in full-point PPR right now (WR8 in standard scoring). So there’s really no replacing him in a fantasy lineup, and he’s now a very risky start for Week 15 if he does play.

Williams has been up-and-down this season (WR44 in standard scoring). He has only missed one full game, but he has missed big chunks of two others. He exited Week 14 against the Atlanta Falcons early, which fostered immediate questions about his availability on a short week.

With Allen and Williams out of the mix, or limited in Allen’s case, running back Austin Ekeler and tight end Hunter Henry are lined up for more work against the Raiders. Ekeler showed up on the injury report this week, but all indications are he’ll play. The Chargers’ wide receiver depth chart will be filled out by Tyron Johnson, Jalen Guyton and Joe Reed. But one of that wide receiver trio has bright fantasy prospects.

After Williams’ left last week’s game against the Falcons, Johnson set a clear season-high in snap share (74 percent) on his way to six catches for 55 yards and a touchdown. A boom-or-bust proposition in limited action, with six catches for 221 yards on the season before Week 14, Johnson produced in a greater opportunity.

The Raiders enter the week allowing the 12th-most fantasy points to wide receivers (Yahoo!, 0.5-point PPR). A good matchup gets better with a look at the injury report for Thursday night. Las Vegas will be without safety Johnathan Abram (concussion/knee) and cornerback Damon Arnette (concussion/neck). Cornerback Nevin Lawson (illness) is questionable

For fantasy owners who are facing being without Allen and Williams on short notice, Johnson is a fine plug-and-play pivot as a WR3 in 12 or 14-team leagues with a fine Week 15 matchup. He’s practically available in every league too–0.2 percent owned in ESPN leagues and 4 percent owned in Yahoo! leagues. It almost goes without saying Johnson is also a solid play in DFS lineups for Thursday night.