Fantasy Football Implications of J.J. McCarthy, Jayden Daniels Injuries

Injury news came down Monday that two second-year quarterbacks will miss time or are at risk of missing games after Week 2 injuries. Minnesota's J.J. McCarthy has been verified as missing 2-4 weeks with a high ankle sprain, while Washington's Jayden Daniels has a knee injury that is putting his Week 3 status in doubt.

Let's look at what the injuries mean for the teams in the short run and the fantasy football impact of both quarterbacks potentially missing time. We'll start where we have a little more clarity on the situation.

Use FantasySP's injury news update list to keep up with all players dealing with maladies in the run up to each week's games.

McCarthy Out 2-4 Weeks

McCarthy suffered the ankle injury during Sunday night's game against the Falcons but finished the game. He will now have to sit out up to a month based on initial reports, though the team says they don't intend to put him on IR.

McCarthy has been OK in two games, going through plenty of strings of ineffectiveness but mixing in enough positive to average 7.3 yards per attempt, right around league average. McCarthy has only thrown 20 and 21 passes in the two games, though, and completed 58.5%, showing struggles at a low volume.

For a team that was higher than average in terms of pass attempts per game in every season since Kevin O'Connell showed up in 2022, Minnesota has only averaged 20.5 pass attempts per game, last in the league. It appears that O'Connell is protecting McCarthy, meaning maybe he's not ready to lead at a high level.

The receivers have felt the effects. Only Justin Jefferson is above four catches or 59 yards among all pass catchers. That has caused frustration both on the Minnesota sideline and among owners of Viking fantasy players. Could the QB change benefit those guys?

Carson Wentz will take over with McCarthy out, a veteran player who played at a high level for a while but has below-average numbers overall (62.7% completion, 6.7 yards per attempt). Even if he is below average, Wentz might present a little more stability in terms of getting the ball to the pass catchers.

Jefferson is a must-start player no matter who is at QB, and it remains to be seen if he will benefit from Wentz taking over, but even a slower start has still seen Jefferson total 125 yards and a touchdown; he'll be fine.

T.J. Hockenson is the only other pass catcher on the fantasy radar. He is thought of as a weekly starter, but it has been a slow first two weeks, with Hockenson putting together just four catches for 27 yards. This is where Wentz might make a difference.

If O'Connell feels better about letting Wentz throw more, or if the veteran is just able to put together a more consistent passing game, then Hockenson's volume and production are likely to increase. I'm cautiously optimistic about the tight ends chances of improving over the next few weeks, starting with a good matchup against the Bengals in Week 3.

Advice: Jefferson remains a must-start player. Hockenson probably should be started in Week 3 with the matchup in his favor, but no other pass catcher is a fantasy option. Wentz is even a deep-league streaming option with a decent matchup against the Bengals, though I don't want to count on him.

Daniels Questionable for Week 3

This one is concerning, but it might end up being nothing if the young quarterback can play. He could be limited running the ball a little bit, but fantasy owners aren't benching Daniels if he's on the field. I also must assume his skill players are going to produce if he is under center.

The questions arise if Daniels is out. Backup quarterback Marcus Mariota is a fine pro, but he's not going to bring the ceiling that Daniels does for his skill players. The running backs lose a little bit of value because Daniels isn't there to pull the defense away, but Mariota can run also, so that isn't as big of a concern.

Instead, I'm looking at the pass catchers who would be affected by Daniels' potential absence. Terry McLaurin, the assumed top receiver, has been OK in two weeks, catching seven passes for 75 yards. The top man has instead been Deebo Samuel Sr., who has caught 14 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown.

McLaurin is likely to make a bigger impact moving forward, but Samuel gets the ball in different scenarios, including on screens and handoffs. With Mariota in the game, those little pet plays could become more important while the downfield passing game suffers a little from losing Daniels. That would seem to benefit Samuel more than McLaurin.

Tight end Zach Ertz is the other piece of the puzzle. He has combined for nine catches, 90 yards, and two touchdowns in the first two weeks, getting decent volume and great fantasy production. Ertz might lose just a little from Daniels being out, but Mariota can keep hitting those short shots, meaning the tight end only takes a small step down.

Some teams would be completely lost without their starting quarterback. Washington has a veteran in place in Mariota who could help at least keep the ship afloat for a few weeks if Daniels can make it back quickly. Each pass catcher could stay at close to the same fantasy level, maybe just losing a little value due to the lack of Daniels' explosive plays.

Advice: If Daniels misses a game or two, Samuel and McLaurin can be seen at close to the same fantasy level but maybe just a step down. They have lower ceilings without the starting QB but close to the same floors. While Ertz has been good so far, he's just a streaming tight end who should only be played in the right matchups. Mariota is off the fantasy radar.