Getty New England Patriots WR Chris Hogan
The recent news surrounding New England Patriots wide receiver Josh Gordon is disappointing to hear for many reasons. While the 27-year-old wideout steps away from the game to address his personal health, the team has continually shown their support. They will now look to other players to step up and fill the void left by his absence for the final stretch of the NFL season.
And that may specifically fall on Chris Hogan, among others. It would make sense for Hogan to step in and take over Gordon’s increased role in the offense, as he was the one handling the bulk of the early-season work. With Julian Edelman missing the first four games of this season due to a suspension, the 30-year-old saw a large number of snaps.
Unfortunately, he was unable to produce to quite the level many fantasy football owners had expected. We’re going to take a look at Hogan’s fantasy outlook moving forward following the Gordon news.
Chris Hogan’s Expected Workload Without Gordon
Although Hogan has taken a backseat to Edelman and Gordon over the recent weeks, he saw his snaps jump up in Week 15. Hogan played 63 percent of the snaps in that game, up from 43 and 41 percent in Weeks 13 and 14, per Football Outsiders. When looking back even further, it’s apparent that his number could be called often in the Patriots’ final push for postseason position.
From Weeks 1 to 4, Hogan played 86 percent of the snaps or more. It’s worth noting that both Edelman and Gordon weren’t on the field in the first three of those games, though. The decline in Hogan’s snaps began around roughly Week 6 and he’s been hit-or-miss since that point. But now, he will likely share the workload previously held by Gordon with fellow receiver Cordarrelle Patterson.
Chris Hogan’s Fantasy Matchup and Production
The final two weeks of the 2018 NFL season feature very different matchups for Hogan and the Patriots pass-catchers. A Week 16 matchup with the Buffalo Bills is no walk in the park, as they’ve been solid against opposing wide receivers. On the season, they’ve allowed just 1,747 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Fortunately, the Patriots receive a more appealing Week 17 matchup with the Jets, who have allowed 2,744 yards and 15 touchdowns to wideouts. Hogan makes for an appealing Week 17 play, specifically if you play daily fantasy football, as this will allow you to see how Bill Belichick opts to roll out his receivers for one game.
The biggest concern with Hogan just comes down to the fact that he doesn’t have an incredibly high fantasy ceiling. Even in the early weeks of the season, Hogan caught just eight passes in four games when seeing an expanded workload. He did catch two touchdowns in one game during that stretch, but otherwise, didn’t top the 50-yard mark a single time over the four games.
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