Tyreek Hill (knee) is out for the season after getting hurt Monday night against the Jets in Week 4. It’s an unfortunate injury, and he might not even be able to play in 2026, according to the NFL Network. At 31, Hill’s NFL career is now in jeopardy.
The Dolphins and Fantasy managers have the difficult task to replace Hill, which won’t be easy. Jaylen Waddle and De’Von Achane should see more work, giving them a boost in value, but only Waddle’s Fantasy outlook will be altered slightly. Achane is already considered a No. 1 Fantasy running back in all leagues.
For Waddle, he’s been an up-and-down Fantasy receiver through the first four games of the season with two outings of at least 14.9 PPR points and two with 7.8 PPR points or less. He has yet to top six targets, five catches or 70 receiving yards in a game, but he’s scored two touchdowns.
The hope is Waddle will see eight-plus targets a game for the rest of the season with Hill out. In his career, Waddle has 26 games with at least eight targets, and he averaged 18.9 PPR points over that span. Prior to Week 4, Hill was averaging 7.7 targets per game.
Biggest Fantasy impact of Tyreek Hill injury
Waddle won’t be the only player to get targets with Hill out, and two weapons for the Dolphins will now see more opportunities in Darren Waller and Malik Washington. For Waller, he could be a top-10 Fantasy tight end for the rest of the season.
Waller made his Dolphins debut in Week 4 against the Jets, and he made a splash with three catches for 27 yards and two touchdowns on four targets. Waller has the chance to be this year’s version of Jonnu Smith in Miami.
Last year, the Dolphins got tremendous production from Smith, who averaged 13.1 PPR points per game. With Hill out, Waller can now be a prominent weapon for Tua Tagovailoa, and Waller (14 percent rostered on CBS Sports) should be added in all leagues for at least 15 percent of your remaining FAB.
Washington should also be headed for a bigger role with Hill out, and Washington is worth adding in deeper leagues for 1 percent of your remaining FAB. He should remain behind Waddle, Achane and Waller in the pecking order for targets, but Washington has speed and playmaking ability that could be fun in this offense.
The second-year receiver hasn’t done much in the first 18 games of his career with 34 catches for 270 yards on 51 targets, along with 13 carries for 85 yards and a touchdown. But now is his time to shine, and he is worth adding off waivers to see what develops.
As for Tagovailoa, he remains a No. 2 Fantasy quarterback in all leagues for the season, although I like him as a low-end starter in Week 5 at Carolina even with Hill out. There are four teams on a bye (Atlanta, Chicago, Green Bay and Pittsburgh), and the Panthers just allowed Drake Maye to score 27 Fantasy points in Week 4, so Tagovailoa should be OK. And then we’ll re-evaluate his Fantasy outlook moving forward, especially once we see if Achane, Waddle, Waller and Washington can keep Tagovailoa playing at a high level.
Now, if you’re looking for other receivers aside from the Dolphins to help replace Hill, please check out my waiver wire column. My favorite receivers to add this week include Darius Slayton (who benefits with Malik Nabers out), Romeo Doubs and Jalen Coker, among others.
Here’s what we said about Slayton in the wake of the Nabers injury as our top option at receiver:
“Malik Nabers (ACL) is out for the season, and Slayton will likely be the No. 1 receiver for the Giants moving forward. Nabers missed two games in 2024, and Slayton had 22 targets for 14 catches, 179 yards and a touchdown over that span. Hopefully, Jaxson Dart will lean on Slayton, who finished Week 4 against the Chargers with three catches for 44 yards on four targets in the game when Nabers was injured. Slayton is worth adding in all leagues for at least 15 percent of your remaining FAB.”
You can find more waiver wire analysis, including FAB bid recommendations, in the full waiver wire article.
