Michael Pittman fantasy breakout is all the way on with injury to T.Y. Hilton

With T.Y. Hilton out into the regular season, the fantasy football breakout train for Michael Pittman is full speed ahead. 

The Indianapolis Colts’ wide receiver depth has taken a hit, with T.Y. Hilton set to miss multiple weeks with a neck injury. But all is not lost, with Hilton passed his days as a certified No. 1 wideout. Enter Michael Pittman.

The Colts took Pittman in the second round of the 2020 draft out of USC. Beyond an atypical rookie season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, his debut season was set off course by a significant calf injury early, as he missed three games after surgery to fix compartment leg syndrome.

From Week 9-14 (six games), Pittman had 23 receptions (on 37 targets) for 339 yards and a touchdown. He ended the season on a high note, with five catches for 90 yards on 10 targets in the Colts playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills–the latter two numbers were team-highs.

The fantasy breakout train for Michael Pittman is full-speed ahead now

As outlined by James Fragoza of Pro Football Network a few months ago, Pittman (6-foot-4, 223 pounds) physically profiles closely to Carson Wentz’s favorite targets when he was the Eagles’ quarterback. Pittman also led all rookie wide receivers, and was second among all wide receivers with an average of 7.1 yards after catch per reception (according to Sports Information Solutions).

"-Carson Wentz loves big-bodied receivers. Since Wentz joined the Eagles in 2016, the team’s leading receiver has been 6-foot-2 or over and 215+ pounds.By year, Philadelphia’s No. 1 wideout in terms of yardage was Jordan Matthews in 2016 (804), Alshon Jeffery from 2017-2019 (789, 843, and 490), and Travis Fulgham in 2020 (539). Who is the biggest receiver currently on the Colts?"

The answer to that question is of course Pittman. Wentz is on a good track to play Week 1 as he works his way back from a foot injury. But if he isn’t ready to go then, Week 2 feels like a lock.

Pittman has remained a nice draft value (WR45 in 12-team full PPR, per Fantasy Football Calculator). A finish as a WR2 was an easy breakout bar to set for this year. Now, with Hilton and his target share not available for a chunk of games, any brakes on the Pittman breakout train aren’t functioning too well.