Matt Ryan Injury Could Destroy Fantasy Value in Falcons' Offense Ahead of Week 8

Week 7 was a disaster all around for the Atlanta Falcons. In addition to getting blown out in their matchup with the Los Angeles Rams, franchise QB Matt Ryan went down with an ankle injury in the second half, which forced him to miss the conclusion of the game and had him in a walking boot afterwards.

It was not a good day for Ryan even before the injury, completing 16 of his 27 passes for 159 yards with no touchdowns and one interception.

While the Falcons have struggled, Ryan actually had some pretty solid numbers coming into this game. He led the league in both touchdowns (15) and passing yards per game (335.2), and while some of that was thanks to his league-leading 258 pass attempts, his 7.7 adjusted yards per pass attempt were still sitting above his career average of 7.5.

There's still no word on how serious the injury is, and the team may have just been taking an incredibly cautious approach with Ryan's health in a blowout. If this does cause him to miss any games though, journeyman Matt Schaub will start in Ryan's place, which would be a downgrade for the fantasy value of the entire offense.

The Falcons' Week 8 matchup won't do them any favors either, taking on another solid defensive team in the Seattle Seahawks. While a true star like Julio Jones will remain in play with Schaub at the helm, the rest of the group could be worth keeping on your bench unless Atlanta has their starting QB playing.

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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.