With Keenan Allen officially out for Thursday’s tilt with the Kansas City Chiefs, should fantasy players turn to Josh Palmer to pick up the slack?
One of the best indicators of future production is past production. So let’s wind the clocks back to last year.
WEEK 2 FANTASY OUTLOOK
In week 14 of last year, Allen didn’t play and Palmer saw a major bump in usage.
Palmer played on 62 of 66 offensive snaps and ran a route on 33 of Justin Herbert’s 35 dropbacks. The result? Fantasy goodness.
Palmer didn’t break the bank, but he didn’t need to. What he did do was lead the team with seven targets and catch five passes for 66 yards and one touchdown. For a guy that’s just sitting roughly 75% of waivers, 17.6 fantasy points is a nice surprise.
In fact, in the three games where one of the primary pass catchers missed a game in 2021, Palmer averaged seven targets a game and scored just south of 16 fantasy points per game.
As for Week 1, Palmer played on 75% of snaps, which was second on the team behind only Mike Williams.
If the past is any indication then Palmer should be started in Week 2. Especially when the Chiefs are lined up on the other side of the field in what projects to be a shootout.
Palmer sits at WR42 (+9 vs ECR) on The Wolf’s Week 2 Fantasy Rankings. Although he is above the consensus, it feels like he could be higher on the Chargers’ wideout.
