The Indianapolis Colts won the much-anticipated matchup with Peyton Manning on Sunday night football in Week 7, but the team may have lost one of its most consistent and productive playmakers in the process, as Reggie Wayne may be lost for the season after dealing with a knee injury that could be a torn ACL.
According to ESPN.com, Wayne was injured in the win on Sunday night in Week 7 and sources that spoke to the website said that it could be a season-ended injury and that and MRI and doctors will take another look at it on Monday to make sure. Wayne was injured after trying to make a catch on a ball thrown by quarterback Andrew Luck and it happened in the fourth quarter of the 39-33 win and the loss of Wayne could be a huge blow to the Colts and to fantasy owners. Wayne had made five catches in the game for 50 yards and now the Colts have a bye week and if the injury is not serious, that could give him time to heal, but now it appears that it not the case.
Wayne had 38 catches for over 500 yards this season with two touchdowns and he has been one of the most consistent players for the Colts over the past few seasons, helping Luck get acclimated with the offense and being a very valuable target. He was looked at eight times in the game and had 16 targets over the past two weeks and he just went on a stretch of four games where he was targeted eight times and now TY Hilton and Darrius Heyward-Bey could get a big boost for fantasy owners and any Wayne owners should be looking to pick up those players.
Heyward-Bey came into the season as a sleeper option with Hilton and if Wayne is out for an extended period, he could get plenty more targets and he finished with four catches for 44 yards and a TD on Sunday night. Heyward-Bey had just one catch the week before, but with Wayne out, he could add to his totals of 34 catches for 190 yards. Over the past couple weeks he has had just nine targets, but he will be elevated to one of the top positions if Wayne can't go any longer this season.
Hilton is the best playmaker the Colts have on offense and while he had on two catches for 27 yards in the win over the Broncos, he was targeted 11 times and that makes 19 over the past two weeks. He already has 54 this season and he has made a nice connection with Andrew Luck in the passing game, as he has averaged over 15 yards per catch and already has nearly 30 catches and over 400 yards this season. Hilton only has two touchdowns, but if Wayne is out for the season, he could get a much higher percentage of targets and that could be a big for fantasy owners.
