Julio Jones Injury Update Points to Potential Return and Strong Fantasy Outlook in Week 14 Against Panthers

Julio Jones missed the Atlanta Falcons' Thanksgiving Day game against the New Orleans Saints, but it looks like he's on track to play in Week 14 against the Carolina Panthers.

While he's still not a lock to suit up, he seems to be trending in the right direction. That's got to be music to his fantasy owners' ears, as Jones has absolutely shredded the Panthers over the last few seasons.

In his last seven games against Carolina, Jones is averaging 105.9 receiving yards per contest (though much of that is buoyed by a 300-yard performance in 2016). Still, Jones lit up Carolina for six catches and 91 receiving yards in his lone game against the Panthers this season.

In the unlikely event that Jones doesn't suit up, Calvin Ridley's fantasy outlook would get a boost. Ridley turned 10 targets into eight catches for 91 yards with Jones sidelined on Thanksgiving, and he's actually been fantasy's WR5 over the last five weeks, with 75.1 PPR points during that span.

Carolina is the league's eight-best pass defense, per Football Outsiders' DVOA rankings, but don't let that deter you. If he's healthy, Jones should be his usual dominant self on Sunday, and Ridley is safe to fire up as a WR2 regardless.

Jones is the top-ranked WR in our Week 14 fantasy football PPR rankings, while Ridley checks in at WR25.

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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.