It took one day of Cincinnati Bengals training camp for wideout A.J. Green — who has played full seasons in just two of the last five years — to go down with an injury.
Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the star receiver tore ligaments in his left ankle, which will leave him out anywhere from six to eight and he’s “not expected to be ready” to play in Week 1.
If you’re a fantasy football owner preparing for your upcoming draft, you’ve got to figure out what that means for drafting Green. That’s what we’re here for (we did the same thing with Melvin Gordon as the running back continues to hold out):
Where should I draft Green?
I was already nervous about Green’s ADP — 34th overall per Fantasy Pros — heading into this season. He’ll turn 31 later this week and with a recent history of injuries and the depth at WR (Tyreek Hill, Stefon Diggs and Brandin Cooks are being drafted lower than Green), I was worried he’d live up to that.
Now? Let’s assume he misses more than just the opener and needs some time to acclimate when he returns. He’s still the Bengals’ top wide receiver, so I’d take a chance on him in that 5th to 6th round range, maybe ahead of Chargers touchdown machine Mike Williams, who’s going around 61st overall. It’s more likely, however, that because of Green’s name and statistical history that some owner will take him before he lasts that long.
What does this do for Tyler Boyd?
His ADP pre-Green injury is 67th, and that should climb a bit after he broke out in 2018 with 76 catches, 1,028 yards and seven touchdowns. If he’s getting WR1 volume for a few weeks even while facing stiffer competition from opposing secondaries, that would theoretically bode well … except there are lots of experts pointing out that Boyd didn’t fare as well with Green out last year:
I still think he’s got WR2 upside if he’s getting more looks, but there’s obviously risk that comes along with that.
