Santonio Holmes Injury: Potential Fantasy Replacements for Jets WR

Even though the New York Jets offense has been an absolute mess during the season's first month, Santonio Holmes had emerged as a reliable fantasy football wide receiver. He had scored 28 points over the first three weeks.

That's before he suffered a foot injury against the San Francisco 49ers. Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reports Holmes won't play in Week 5 and there's no expected comeback date yet. With that in mind, let's look at three replacement fantasy options.

Donnie Avery

The Indianapolis Colts are clearly letting Andrew Luck get the full NFL experience right away. He's averaging more than 40 passing attempts per game, which should help expedite his learning curve, and Avery has been one of the biggest beneficiaries.

Avery had 14 catches for 176 yards and one touchdown before Indianapolis' bye. The week off was important because it gave Luck a chance to sit back and digest everything he's learned during the first month of his NFL career.

The Colts defense is a subpar unit that's going to give up a lot of points. That means Luck will be forced to throw a lot and Avery will be on the receiving end of a good portion of those targets, leading to steady fantasy production.

Andre Roberts

Roberts will be a hot waiver-wire commodity after his monster game against the Miami Dolphins. He caught six passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns. But before that breakout game, he was having a solid season with 23 fantasy points in three games.

As you'd expect, defenses are game planning to stop Larry Fitzgerald, meaning Roberts has the advantage of getting to work against a lot of single coverage. And the suddenly resurgent Kevin Kolb has been able to exploit the matchup.

The Arizona Cardinals have been waiting quite awhile for another wideout to emerge opposite of Fitzgerald to take some pressure off one of the league's top WRs. It appears Roberts is finally ready to assume the role, making him a strong fantasy option.

Nate Burleson

Heading into the season Burleson was overshadowed by Detroit Lions teammate Titus Young. Burleson has outproduced him through the first four weeks, and in the high-powered Lions offense, being the No. 2 wide receiver is a good spot.

Just like with Roberts, Burleson benefits from having Calvin Johnson working on the opposite side of the field. It makes the Nevada product especially valuable in PPR leagues. He's made at least five catches in three of four games.

It's important to note the Lions are on bye in Week 5. While that means Burleson won't be able to make an instant impact for fantasy owners, it's better to pick him up now before next week when he'll be a far more popular free-agent target.