Terry McLaurin Ruled Out is a Boost for Paul Richardson Fantasy Outlook

It's been hard to nail down Terry McLaurin's injury status all week. He's banged up with a hamstring injury, and it didn't look good early in the week. Then as the weekend approached, reports were that he was expected to play, which lasted all the way through Sunday morning. Then it changed quickly, and McLaurin is now not expected to suit up against the New York Giants.

The rookie has had an outstanding first three weeks to the season, catching 16 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns. He ranks 16th in the NFL in receiving yards, and he was 12th among WRs in that stat heading into Week 4.

He's also been the Washington Redskins' most-targeted player, with 24 through three games. The next-highest target share for a Washington WR is Trey Quinn with 20, then Paul Richardson with 19. Look for Quinn and Richardson to pick up plenty of slack this week.

Richardson in particular gets a boost with McLaurin out, thanks to the role he can play. Quinn is predominantly a slot WR, and his 5.2-yard average depth of target reflects that. Richardson's 8.7-yard mark doesn't come close to McLaurin's 15.3, but we also saw Richardson post a 12.7-yard mark with Washington in 2018.

Ultimately, McLaurin being inactive may have saved fantasy owners a headache. While he had a ton of upside, this situation is better than if he had played and made an early exit with the injury. At least now you can replace him in your starting lineup.

If you're hurting for WR depth and need a waiver wire add to fill in for McLaurin, Paul Richardson now carries some of that upside that McLaurin had offered.

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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.