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Darren Waller's injury has been a talking point over the past few days, even after the tight end climbed the ranks in fantasy football entering the 2023 season. A number of people saw tremendous value in him joining the New York Giants this offseason.
The tight end was acquired by New York via a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders in March. Waller was seen as an immediate upgrade at the position to help the Giants offense this season.
However, the Pro Bowler is dealing with a hamstring issue and the question is how will this impact his fantasy value in 2023.
Also read: Week 2 fantasy football TEs injury report: Updates on Travis Kelce, TJ Hockenson and more
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Darren Waller Injury Update
The tight end went back to Giants practice this week, but was limited with his hamstring injury. Based on this, the organization will do its best to be very careful with Waller.
Keeping him healthy is key to the New York Giants' success and will be doing their best to keep him healthy for the entire 2023 season.
Giants head coach Brian Daboll commented that Waller will have a break one day a week. Nevertheless, hamstring injuries can be easily made worse, further explaining the need for Darren Waller needing rest.
It’s the same muscle that led to Waller landing on injured reserve in 2022 with Las Vegas. He had 28 receptions for 388 yards and three touchdowns in nine games with the Raiders last season.
The Giants need all of the offensive help as they suffered a 40 - 0 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Fantasy owners are hoping the Waller can see the field more often than he did in 2022. In some cases, he could be your TE1 in your fantasy lineup.
Waller was blunt when talking to reporters on Wednesday:
"No, I'm playing."
Unless there are any setbacks, it is highly likely that Waller will play in Week 2. The worry is that he will see a lower volume of snaps.
Also read: Week 2 fantasy football RBs injury report: Updates on Austin Ekeler, Aaron Jones and more
What happened to Darren Waller?
Waller played through that hamstring issue in the loss to the Cowboys and recorded three catches for 36 yards on five targets.
Waller got his first catch around midway through the first half. His first two targets were knocked down and intercepted by Dallas cornerback Stephon Gilmore, respectively. The stat line showed that Waller was limited due to the concern over his hamstring.
Waller addressed the matter to the media:
“I was able to go out there and do all the snaps they asked me to do and not have it affect me. There were some running real deep down the field where it might nip a little bit, but as far as everything that was asked [of] me, I was fine.
“I still have people on working me, a team, and it wasn’t the same degree of strain as last year. It more so has to do with the nerve that was behind it. So it’s not really a muscular issue. It was more so a little bit something different, like nerve-wise.”
As mentioned earlier, the muscle was the same one that cost him time with the Raiders. This could be of concern to fantasy owners, as it could have long-term effects on his performance.
When will Darren Waller return?
The Giants' injury report lists the tight end's game status against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 2 as unspecified.
Per ESPN reporter Jordan Raanan, Waller is a go for Sunday afternoon, however, there hasn't been any confirmation from the team.
The Cardinals allowed 60 yards to tight ends in their Week 1 loss to the Washington Commanders. Arizona's defense isn't that great, and as quarterback Daniel Jones needs to bounce back, Waller is his best way to do so.
It's a matter of Waller being able to move around the field more and hoping the hamstring is close to 100 percent. Waller's backup is Daniel Bellinger, which doesn't give those in fantasy any optimism about the New York offense in Week 2.
It's simple: Darren Waller is one of the better fantasy tight ends and teams are banking on him to play this upcoming week. There simply aren't better options to replace him with at this point.
The hope is that Waller lives up to being the TE3 in all of fantasy with a favorable matchup versus Arizona. Waller could win your matchup in fantasy, if Jones gives him the needed targets.
