Bengals WR Chad Johnson Reportedly Has Torn Labrum

Cincinnati Bengals WR Chad Johnson reportedly has a torn labrum in his shoulder, but he plans to avoid surgery and play through the injury.

Johnson suffered the injury in week 2 of the preseason.

Fantasy Impact: This makes Chad Johnson a very risky pick. He's being selected among the top 12 WRs, so owners are expecting him to be a WR1. I really liked him as being undervalued before the preseason started, but this obviously changes my opinion on him. There's a chance that he can make it through the season, posting his usual WR1 numbers, and then undergo surgery next offseason, but at what probability after he starts getting hit? Personally, I wouldn't draft him in the top 20 WRs anymore. You're not doing your fantasy team any good by making risky selections early on in the draft, so it's best to take surer things.

This also dims my optimism on Carson Palmer, who just seems to be cursed at this point. Palmer is a great NFL QB, but he's in a rough situation here. Palmer is certainly still QB1 material, but represents less upside with only Housh looking 100% for week 1. CJ will be a question mark, but he will get Chris Henry back after the first 4 weeks. I'd still draft Palmer in rounds 5-6, but I wouldn't reach for him in the 4th anymore. Housh will benefit from CJ across the field from him, and he'll also get more targets if CJ goes down. Chris Henry's return would help ease the defensive attention as well, so Housh is a solid late WR1 if you can get him as such.