Among Detroit Lions who have been banged up this season, wide receiver Josh Reynolds falls by the wayside a little bit because he has not missed a game. He was on the injury report with a groin injury a few weeks ago, but during the bye week Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reported the full extent of what he has been dealing with.
Detroit Lions' Josh Reynolds ranks 3rd in the NFL in yards per catch and has not missed a game despite tearing an adductor muscle off the bone."
Reynolds went into the week off with just one catch against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 8, but in terms of his snap share (83 percent) nothing seemed amiss.
Reynolds has not been listed on practice reports for a few weeks, and heading into Week 10 against the Los Angeles Chargers he has not been on the injury report. The week off can only have helped him, so he's good to go for Sunday.
Fantasy Football: Josh Reynolds is an upside pivot in Week 10 vs. Chargers
Sunday's game against the Chargers is basically a "start everyone" kind of game for fantasy football owners. On the Lions side, Amon-Ra. St. Brown (obviously), David Montgomery, Jahmyr Gibbs and Sam LaPorta are lineup locks, and Jared Goff is a must-start for those who don't have a "start him and forget it" option this week.
For many (If not all) fantasy owners, Week 10 is a tough bye week. The Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins and Los Angeles Rams are off, leaving lineup options thinned. At wide receiver, A.J. Brown, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Cooper Kupp, DeVonta Smith, Puka Nucua and Rashee Rice are idle.
Ian Hartitz of Fantasy Life had a bold prediction for Reynolds this week.
Josh Reynolds booms with 100-plus yards and a TD against the Chargers.
"Still very much a near-every-down receiver even with Jameson Williams back from suspension, Reynolds seems fully healthy following the team’s Week 9 bye and probably shouldn’t lose much – if any – work to recently acquired Donovan Peoples-Jones. No offense is set up better than the Lions this week when it comes to combined pass yards per dropback."
It's hard to get all the way to the "boom" Hartitz boldly predicted. But 50-80 yards and a score? Sign me up for that.
Via Upper Hand Fantasy, here are a couple data points regarding Reynolds and his matchup against the Chargers.
-Reynolds runs his routes from the right perimeter and the slot 80 percent of the time, where the Chargers are allowing the seventh and 10th-most fantasy points from respectively over the last four weeks
-The Chargers have allowed 40-plus receiving plays at the second-highest rate in the league, and 20-plus yard receiving plays at fourth-highest rate in the league.
Reynolds is of course widely available as of Sunday morning (12.7 rostered in ESPN leagues; 26 percent rostered in Yahoo! leagues). As a WR3 or flex option with nice upside in leagues with 12 or more teams, he's a worthy late pivot for fantasy managers who have a need in Week 10.