The Dynasty Fantasy Football Impact of Tim Patrick’s Latest Injury
Training camp typically brings us a significant injury or two. Last year it included Broncos wide receiver Tim Patrick. This year it includes, well, Broncos wide receiver Tim Patrick. Unfortunately for Patrick (and for the Broncos), he went down again in training camp, this time with what can only be described as devastating injury – a torn Achilles. To make matters worse, fellow Denver wide receiver KJ Hamler has been diagnosed with a heart condition and his future is cloudy at best. Let’s take a quick look at the dynasty impact of all this bad news in the Mile High City and re-evaluate the dynasty value found on the roster.
Tim Patrick, WR DEN
By all accounts, Patrick was having a great training camp after missing the entire 2022 season with a torn ACL. With excitement running high and Sean Payton at the helm of what should be an improved offense, he was quickly gaining steam as a solid sleeper in fantasy leagues. Unfortunately, this injury will wipe out his entire season yet again and put his NFL future in serious jeopardy. Patrick has always been productive when on the field. While he’s only recorded just over 2,000 career receiving yards over his 55 game played, he’s scored 12 times and has had a knack for making big plays, even in limited playing time. With what will now be two years lost to injury, it’s fair to wonder if we’ll see him back in the league again. It’s clearly possible but Patrick will be 30 years old at this time next season and it’s hard to see him making any type of an impact any time soon. At this point, he is best served on the waiver wire as you can use your roster spot on a younger player with some upside. The NFL is a brutal sport and unfortunately, Patrick is a prime example of how injuries can shape a career.
KJ Hamler, WR FA
As if losing Patrick wasn’t tough enough today, the Broncos are also waiving former second round pick KJ Hamler with a non-camp injury that was later revealed to be a heart issue. While the plan for Denver is to reportedly bring him back and it seems this will sideline him for weeks instead of months as he gets treatment, this is the latest setback in a career filled with disappointment after disappointment. After all, Hamler has only been able to post 42 career catches for 620 receiving yards and three total touchdowns in parts of three seasons, including a 7/165/0 line in seven games last year. Hamler has never been able to put together a stretch of health and productivity and this latest setback is likely going to be the final straw for dynasty owners as they look elsewhere for young sleeper wide receivers.
Jerry Jeudy, WR DEN
This is a huge season for Jeudy, who started to find his stride at the end of last year. The loss of Patrick specifically takes away one other potential target sponge in Denver and Jeudy needs to make a fourth-year leap and finally make good on his potential. The addition of Sean Payton should help but Jeudy and Russell Wilson are clearly in the crosshairs as dynasty owners start to lose some patience.
Courtland Sutton, WR DEN
Sutton’s flailing ADP should be helped by Patrick going down. Still, the constant off-season dynasty darling has just never really put it all together, posting 239 catches, 3,487 yards, and 14 touchdowns in parts of five total seasons. Soon to be 28, Sutton is clearly not in the category of “young receiver who just needs time” any longer. Still, the loss of Patrick does the same thing for Sutton as it does for Jeudy (and likely Greg Dulcich as well) – it adds more targets.
Marvin Mims, WR DEN
If there’s a winner here other than Sutton and Jeudy, it’s Mims, who is now poised to be a starter in this offense. He’s been consistently taken at the top of round two in rookie drafts as of late but he could easily start creeping up into the late first at this point. The Broncos are running low on receivers and may be forced to give him serious playing time early in his career. If you’ve already drafted Mims, you probably did so at a discount as his value has clearly crept up in the past 24 hours.
Other Broncos Wide Receivers
The rest of the depth chart consists of the likes of Marquez Callaway, Kendall Hinton, Lil’Jordan Humphrey and a wide variety of other late round rookies, free agents or former Saints players. Of this group, Callaway is likely the most intriguing given his familiarity with the offense and history with Payton. However, he’s disappointed us before and is no sure bet to even make the roster. Still, this group needs to be monitored even more closely and we’ll do just that.
Russell Wilson, QB DEN
It’s a make or break season for Wilson and Patrick’s injury doesn’t change any of that, nor does it give him any real tangible excuse to not perform again. Wilson is one of the riskier picks in dynasty leagues at the moment but it’s really hard to see things going worse than they did last year. Stay tuned.
Ken is on Twitter at DLF_KenK
