Fantasy fallout: Greg Olsen suffers foot injury, set to miss 6 weeks

Greg Olsen, Panthers’ starting tight end and Mr. Consistent in fantasy, suffered a foot injury against the Bills Sunday and did not return.

This is of course awful news both for the Panthers and for fantasy owners. Olsen hasn’t missed a game since 2007 and has always finished among the top 5 tight ends in terms of fantasy points. He’s one of the most reliable tight ends in the game and missing significant time will be crushing to both the Panthers and those fantasy teams he starts for.

The positive news, if you can call it that, is that it seems Olsen won’t be headed to the IR. As Jourdan Rodrigue of the Charlotte Observer reported, the injury is expected to keep Olsen out somewhere in the six-to-eight-week range. The Panthers could add him to IR with designation to return, but at the very least it looks like we’ll see Olsen again this season.

So what does this mean for fantasy?

For starters, tight end Ed Dickson has some fantasy value as he’s set to slot into the starting role. This will of course create an uptick in targets for Kelvin Benjamin and Christian McCaffrey, but unless you already have those guys, that’s not very helpful. Devin Funchess is a name I’d keep eyes on. He was quite Week 1 but had a decent game this past week, putting up 68 yards on four catches. He is someone who’s sure to see more targets with Olsen missing time. Funchess is only owned in 13% of Yahoo leagues so he’s certainly available to get if you’re looking for help.

If you want to get a tight end of waivers, I’d recommend you work quickly as it wasn’t a great week for tight ends staying healthy. Rob Gronkowski, Jimmy Graham and Jordan Reed are all questionable with injuries. Best hope you’ve got a good waiver number.

Most importantly, let’s hope Olsen is alright and everything with his foot works out. Fantasy is fun but real life is more important so, here’s to you Greg. Feel better!