JuJu Smith-Schuster Injury Update Could Boost Chase Claypool & Diontae Johnson Fantasy Outlook

Updated (Monday, 10/11, 1:30 p.m. EST): JuJu Smith-Schuster is set to have shoulder surgery, likely knocking him out for the rest of the season. Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool and even Najee Harris should see a nice uptick in value the rest of the way. Moving forward, Diontae profiles as a low-end WR1, Claypool a low-end WR2 and Najee should be a mid-tier RB1.

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster went down after taking a big hit in the first half of Week 5. He was taken back to the locker room and looked to be in a good amount of pain.

He has officially been ruled for the remainder of Sunday's game. Any extended absence for the wideout would give a boost to both Chase Claypool and Diontae Johnson in fantasy.

Diontae Johnson Fantasy Outlook

The Steelers' passing attack had been terrible entering Week 5, but you can't put any of that blame on Diontae Johnson. Despite dealing with duck after duck from Ben Roethlisberger, Johnson has put up at least 14.6 PPR points in every game this season.

On a per-game basis, he's currently the WR8 in PPR formats. Most of that is due to volume, as Johnson has seen at least 10 targets in every game this season, averaging 11.7 per game. If JuJu sits, that number could start climbing even higher.

Chase Claypool Fantasy Outlook

Johnson is already seeing so much volume that he might not have much room to grow. Claypool's workload has not been nearly as consistent. In his three appearances this season (Claypool missed Week 4), the Notre Dame wideout has finished with 5, 9 and 15 targets, respectively.

Any absence for JuJu would mean Claypool is likely looking at a much more consistent workload, which is great for his fantasy value. In the two games that he's seen more than 5 targets, Claypool is averaging 83.0 receiving yards per game.

If JuJu is forced to miss Week 6 against the Seattle Seahawks, Johnson would be a no-doubt WR1 while Claypool would be in the WR2 conversation.

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Max Staley is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Max Staley also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mstaley1212. 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.