You never want to make light of an injury, but there is a sense of opportunity looming in the Jaguars' locker room.
Jacksonville took a big hit this week when wide receiver Marqise Lee was carted off the field with an apparent knee injury. While the Jaguars have not given a timetable for his return nor a diagnosis of what exactly happened, you can assume he'll be out for a long time. Anytime the cart is broken out, good news rarely follows.
This could be a huge blow to the Jags, but a big chance for players like Dede Westbrook and Keelan Cole to break out.
Jaguars' WR Marqise Lee was carted of the field after inuring his knee during Saturday's game vs. Atlanta: https://t.co/TrvL0ww8yi pic.twitter.com/7OlMvyHE7c
— Sporting News (@sportingnews) August 26, 2018
There was already potential, but now the ceiling is extremely high for both of these second-year wideouts.
Lee isn't viewed as a fantasy juggernaut, but he was still a bigtime option for Blake Bortles over the years. Over the past two seasons, he's had 105 targets. That's a lot of looks now open to the floor. Donte Moncrief would normally be the first option here, but he's more of a deep threat than a possession receiver.
Westbrook and Cole both had spurts of greatness last year and could explode onto the scene with increased targets.
11.If WR Marqise Lee (knee) is out for extended period, Jaguars top four wide receivers: Donte Moncrief, Keelan Cole, Dede Westbrook, D.J. Chark Jr. Westbrook: “We have to rally together as a unit, and stick beside each other.” …
— John Oehser (@JohnOehser) August 26, 2018
Westbrook is the hot commodity across the board. He burst onto the scene in the seven appearances, with 27 catches and a touchdown, and was already expected to have a bigger role before the injury. Having said that, you have to believe Cole is the one who will truly take the bigger leap.
He already had a bigger role than Cole last season with 42 catches and three touchdowns with only six starts. As the second wideout for the entire season, he will undoubtedly get triple-digit targets in an offense that will have to throw the ball.
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Dan O'Shea is not a FanDuel employee. Although Dan O'Shea is providing DFS gameplay advice, Dan O'Shea does not play on FanDuel and does not have a FanDuel username. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.