Despite some optimism that he would be able to suit up Saturday, Mike Williams has officially been ruled out for the Los Angeles Chargers in their AFC Wild Card playoff game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. And the news only gets worse from there: Williams would be out up to three weeks with a small fracture in his back.
Mike Williams Injury Update
Williams was injured in Week 18 against the Denver Broncos, a game that had little to no bearing on the Chargers’ playoff positioning. And because Williams dealt with injuries much of this season, one has to wonder why coach Brandon Staley opted to play the starters for as much of that game as he did. He, of course, defended his decision.
“I stand behind what we did in that football game,” Staley said, per the L.A. Times. “All my players are really important to me. There were a lot of players that were playing in that game that were in harm’s way. That’s just the nature of football.”
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But now Williams, who averaged 7.1 targets and 68.8 yards receiving per game this season, would be done for the season unless the Chargers can make a run to the Super Bowl.
The impact for Saturday’s game is obvious, particularly from a fantasy perspective. Williams vacates quite a few targets and yards, and now Joshua Palmer and DeAndre Carter are seeing major upticks in their projected stats. Stokastic is now pegging Palmer for 4.61 catches on 7.0 targets for 52.8 yards, while Carter projects for 37.8 yards on 4.7 targets. Keenan Allen is still pushing 10 targets and 80 yards receiving, though those are numbers he could have easily reached even if Williams played.
The line for the matchup with the Jaguars have not changed, however. The Chargers are still 2.5-point favorites on the road at most books, with Caesars dropping the line to Chargers -1.5. You can check out all the updated lines and shop the best odds at OddsShopper.
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As far as Chargers Super Bowl odds, it is not totally clear what impact Williams’ injury will have. OddsShopper is currently showing all sportsbooks listing Los Angeles at +2500, which is seventh of the 14 playoff teams and well behind the top five of the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles and Cincinnati Bengals. The Chargers were never going to touch those teams’ odds even if Williams were healthy.
All told, Williams’ injury is mostly presenting a fantasy impact, but long term it could tremendously sway some Super Bowl odds if the Chargers can escape Jacksonville with a win. Make sure to keep tabs on OddsShopper to see how their Super Bowl odds change throughout the postseason.
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