Looking At The Ramifications Of The Recent Injuries To Jordy Nelson, Danario Alexander & Joe Morgan

There have been quite a few injuries to wide receivers over the past few days. Let’s take a look at the fallout from each of them:

Joe Morgan – New Orlans Saints
According to Larry Holder (via Twitter):

“Morgan has torn meniscus and partially torn ACL.”

The injury has ended Morgan’s season, when he was widely viewed as the team’s #3 wide receiver (taking Devery Henderson’s role) and a breakout candidate. He didn’t make many plays last season, but he turned his 10 receptions into 379 yards and 3 TD.  In his place the Saints have the newly signed Steve Breaston, as well as Nick Toon and fifth round draft pick Kenny Stills.

Toon may be the best player to stash for those in deeper formats. After missing his rookie season due to foot surgery all reports have been positive in training camp. According to Mike Triplett of the New Orleans Times-Picayune (click here for the article):

“Toon (6 feet 4, 218 pounds) has stood out to me more than any young receiver in Saints camp this summer. He passes the eyeball test as a big, physical target in the mold of Marques Colston and Jimmy Graham. He has great hands and run smooth routes.”

He’s going to be buried on the depth chart, of course, with Colston, Graham, Darren Sproles and others ahead of him. That said, especially in dynasty formats, he could be a nice find given this opportunity and long-term potential.

Jordy Nelson – Green Bay Packers
According to Tom Slverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (click here for the article):

“Jordy Nelson was recovering from a surgical procedure on his knee and has been declared out for the rest of training camp.”

While there is hope that Nelson will be ready for Week 1, that is far from a guarantee. You also have to think, having missed training camp, it could take him a few weeks to work into regular season form.

The Packers have numerous options in Randall Cobb, JerMichael Finley and James Jones, as well as an improved running game thanks to the additions of Eddie Lacey and Jonathan Franklin.

His stock had already dropped, thanks to missing 4 games last season, as he was our #19 ranked wide receiver in our latest update. Given the injury and the numerous other weapons, there now is extreme risk surrounding him. Ideally I would target him as a WR4, though others probably won’t wait that long to draft him.

Danario Akexander – San Diego Chargers
According to the team’s Twitter feed:

“Wide receiver Danario Alexander tears ACL during today’s practice.”

The injury prone receiver has been lost for the season. It is a terrible blow for the Chargers, who were viewing him as their top receiver, as well as for Alexander. Given his history you have to wonder how he comes back from this.

As for how the Chargers move forward, that remains to be seen. Their offense was awful in the first half last season, with Alexander on the sidelines. The have a stable of receivers in Vincent Brown, Malcolm Floyd, Eddie Royal, Robert Meachem and Keenan Allen, though none of them are going to excite you much.

Brown could be the real wild card, having missed all of 2012 as well as the start of training camp. As a late round flier Allen could also emerge, though rookie wide receivers are impossible to trust. That said, many feel he possessed first round talent prior to the draft and could quickly surprise.

Make sure to check out all of our 2013 preseason rankings:

• Quarterbacks (as of July 23, 2013)
• Running Backs (as of July 30, 2013)
• Wide Receivers (as of August 5, 2013)
• Tight Ends (as of July 1, 2013)
• Defenses (as of July 19, 2013)
• Kickers (as of July 26, 2013)