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Denver Broncos wide receiver KJ Hamler has struggled to stay on the field in his career due to multiple injuries. He has played in 23 of 50 possible games since he entered the league in 2020. The Broncos selected him in the second round (46th overall) of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Penn State.
Hamler already got off to a rough start this offseason following a pectoral injury that caused him to miss the start of training camp. However, the news just got much worse for the 24-year-old wideout.
Is Hamler injured or healthy? Will he play this season? Let's dive in.
Is KJ Hamler Injured or Healthy?
Hamler was working his way back from a torn pectoral injury that he suffered in March. The wideout was placed on the non-football injury (NFI) list, but he hoped to be cleared for training camp soon.
Unfortunately, Hamler posted on his Instagram on Monday that he is being treated for a heart condition and will miss more time. The Broncos plan to waive the wideout following his diagnosis. With wide receiver Tim Patrick tearing his Achilles in practice, the team needed to open up a roster spot.
According to Broncos head coach Sean Payton, Hamler will miss "a month" from his recent diagnosis. The coach then went on to say that it will take the wideout a couple of weeks to build back up. Despite Denver waiving him, the team does want to bring him back.
KJ Hamler 2023 Fantasy Football Outlook
With Hamler missing a month and needing a couple more weeks to ramp up, we can possibly expect the 24-year-old wideout to return sometime during the first half of the regular season. Assuming he gets cleared before Week 1, he might be ready to play four to six weeks after that.
Remember that Hamler has been nursing his pectoral injury since March. When he returns, he will have been out for six months. So, he'll need to really ramp up his activity to get back on the playing field.
In most leagues, fantasy managers can pass on the wideout in the later rounds of their draft. If the Broncos do re-sign Hamler during the season, rookie Marvin Mims Jr. is likely going to be the WR3 behind Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton by then. The former 2020 second-round pick should see some work in the passing game here and there, but he won't have much fantasy relevance.
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