Fantasy Injury News

Two starting-caliber wide receivers are now confirmed done for all of 2026, and both situations carry real fantasy weight as Week 1 draft boards and depth charts settle in Houston and San Francisco.

Wide Receivers

Texans wideout Jayden Higgins tore his ACL during a joint practice with the Ravens in mid-August and will miss the entire season. As a rookie in 2025, Higgins led Houston’s receivers in touchdowns and had emerged as a big-bodied complement to Nico Collins for quarterback C.J. Stroud. With him sidelined for the year, Xavier Hutchinson looks like the closest stylistic replacement and should see a bump in snaps, with third-round 2025 pick Jaylin Noel also in line for more work. The wild card is Tank Dell, who is still working back from the serious knee injury that cost him all of 2025 and currently isn’t expected back until around midseason. Collins remains Houston’s clear WR1 regardless, and tight end Dalton Schultz’s heavy target share from a year ago is a reminder of just how thin this receiver room could look early on if Dell isn’t ready for the opener.

In San Francisco, Ricky Pearsall is set for season-ending surgery on a PCL issue that lingered from a Week 4 injury last season. The 49ers initially held off on surgery once 2025 ended, but swelling that developed during training camp pushed the team’s medical staff to opt for the procedure now, with a recovery window reported at six to twelve months. Pearsall caught 36 passes for 528 yards last season, and losing him adds extra weight to San Francisco’s offseason decision to bring back Deebo Samuel. Expect that target share to spread across Samuel, Jauan Jennings and George Kittle — who is himself trending toward a Week 1 return from his Achilles injury — once the 49ers open the season against the Rams.

Neither outcome is a total surprise given how each situation had been trending, but both are now official, and it’s worth adjusting redraft and waiver-wire boards in both cities accordingly. We’ll keep tracking camp reps and practice reports as final roster and Week 1 inactive lists take shape.