Chris Herndon Injury Update Destroys Fantasy Outlook for Remainder of Season

Chris Herndon's sophomore season started with a major set-back, as he was suspended for four games for violating the league's substance abuse policy. He then didn't return when he was first eligible because of a hamstring injury, and after barely seeing the field in his Week 10 debut, his season now looks like it could be over.

Chris Herndon is out an extended amount of time with a fractured rib, per Adam Gase.
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) November 11, 2019

Herndon showed plenty of promise as a rookie in 2018, catching 39 of 56 targets for 502 yards and four touchdowns. That created plenty of room for optimism about his fantasy football value for 2019 with both he and Sam Darnold heading into their second NFL seasons.

Darnold has stumbled, with his adjusted yards per pass attempt falling from 6.1 as a rookie to 5.1 this season, and Herndon didn't even get a chance to show us whether or not he could offer much value, playing just 18 snaps.

#Jets tight end breakdown from yesterday:

Ryan Griffin- 42 snaps, 12 routes, 1 target

vs.

Chris Herndon- 18 snaps, 13 routes, 2 targets

SO pumped we waited all season for Herndon
— Frank Stampfl (@Roto_Frank) November 11, 2019

The silver lining is that there is no need to track Herndon's status any more, even in deep leagues. If you've been stashing him on your bench you're more than safe to drop him at this point.

This injury also locks in Ryan Griffin as a viable but unexciting low-floor TE option in deeper leagues. His volume fell with Herndon back in Week 10, but the two games before that saw Griffin turn in 116 yards and two TDs on 12 targets. Even with Herndon on the shelf, though, Griffin doesn't crack the top-12 among tight ends in our Week 11 PPR fantasy football rankings.

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Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.