The Detroit Lions are dealing with an injury to Calvin Johnson for Week 7 and he could be out through the bye week for the team and fantasy football owners should look at Golden Tate, Jeremy Ross, Eric Ebron and Corey Fuller as solid options to start for Matthew Stafford with the WR out of the lineup, as there will be more targets to go around without Megatron playing.
The Lions and fantasy owners could be without Johnson for a few weeks and that is a big blow for teams that took Johnson high. According to the Detroit Free Press, there is a good chance that Johnson doesn't play until after the bye week for the Lions and that is coming in Week 9. The team feels that Johnson can get back if he has time to heal up, but playing only will hamper his injury. Johnson is dealing with a high ankle sprain and those can be serious and lingering and that is why the team is playing things cautiously with their superstar player.
The Lions have Golden Tate as the best backup option for fantasy football owners with Johnson out and he has been very good so far this season, leading the team in receptions and yards. Most leagues will have Tate off the market and that makes Ross and Fuller solid pickups, while Ebron is a strong start option with Johnson out. Matthew Stafford will have to spread the ball around and Ebron could get some increased targets along with the other players with Johnson not on the field. Johnson being out is a huge blow and while he has been hobbled this season, he still put up solid numbers with 22 catches for 348 yards in five games.
Tate has been the biggest beneficiary of Johnson being out and the Lions look very smart for signing him this offseason, even though they had no idea how much they would need him. Tate is one of the league leaders with 38 catches for 495 yards and he has been getting targeted quite a bit, including 12 from Matthew Stafford last weekend. Tate has been very productive and his speed has been perfect for the Detroit offense, including last week when he had seven catches for 44 yards after back to back 100 yard games.
Tate is on his way to having a career season after coming in with 64 catches for 898 yards last year for the Seahawks. Tate has increased his receptions, yards and game averages over each of the last four years and now he has the chance to put up his best numbers. Tate has a solid matchup this weekend and if Johnson is out, he will be the number one. Jeremy Ross, Ryan Broyles and Corey Fuller are options in deeper leagues and Ross is likely the best pick.
Ross has had one catch in each of the last two games, but before that he had five catches for 85 yards and a TD in the previous two games and he could step up and play well this week. The Lions will be looking for Johnson to get healthy, as they would rather have him for the back stretch of the season than to re aggravate and miss the rest of the year.
