David Johnson expected to miss significant time with wrist injury

This is why we can’t have nice things.

The NFL season isn’t even a week old and we could already see a heck-of-a-lot less of David Johnson than fantasy owners—and general football fans—would like. Johnson injured his wrist during the Cardinals’ loss to the Lions Sunday and according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, the back could miss “half the season or more”.

That’s literally the last thing you want to read on a Monday morning, just ahead of the email from your boss with the subject line, “Soooooo, this might be awkward...”

We all know what Johnson did last year from a fantasy perspective and everyone was drooling at the thought as to what he could do this year, especially when Bruce Arians said he wanted to give his superstar 30 touches a game. Just imagine the fantasy points. But it seems those dreams will have to be put on hold.

The football and fantasy world will collectively hold their breaths to see how bad this injury could be. FIngers crossed it’s not major.

But while we wait, it’s always safe to have a backup plan, so, what can you do as a David Johnson owner to help fill the void if he does miss significant time?

Cry.

Weep.

Sob.

Cry some more.

There’s sadly no one fantasy option out there that’s going to come even close to Johnson’s production. You could trade your entire roster for Le’Veon Bell or Antonio Brown, but then you wouldn’t have a roster.

The Cardinals have constructed their offense around David Johnson so without him, there will be a TON of touches to be redistributed around the team. I would start buying Carson Palmer in every league where he’s available. I know he had a rough Week 1 but without Johnson, the Cardinals are going to have to rely on the arm of Palmer to move this offense. Pat yourself on the back if you drafted Larry Fitzgerald. I’d also see if John Brown is available in your league as he could not only be in for a bounce back year, but a focus in the offense. On the ground, the Cardinals backed up Johnson with Kerwynn Williams who had five carries for 10 yards and a touchdown Sunday but this backfield could quickly turn into a committee with Andre Ellington also on the roster.

If you wanted to call upon the waiver wire to help, Tarik Cohen looked amazing Sunday for Chicago and he’s only owned in 28% of Yahoo leagues. However, he’s handcuffed to Jordan Howard so he does have a ceiling. Chris Carson got the most carries in Seattle and did pretty well, so maybe we’ll have some clarity there?

Ultimately, if you’re an owner of David Johnson or just a fan of football, the best thing you can do is to go to hope with all your heart that the injury won’t be as bad as people are expecting.

DAVID JOHNSON UPDATE: