Mike Thomas: Lions WR Will Have No Fantasy Value This Season

Detroit Lions wide receiver Mike Thomas will receive a chance to prove his worth to his new team in the coming weeks, but he will not have any value during the brief time remaining in the fantasy football season.

With most leagues wrapping up in either Week 15 or 16, there are only two or three games left in which Thomas could be of any value, and it is highly unlikely that he will have a performance worthy of a spot in any owner’s starting lineup in this time frame. 

The Lions traded for Thomas in late October in order to improve their wide receiving corps’ depth. This proved to be a wise move.

Titus Young’s behavior has spun out of control recently and the team has taken disciplinary action against the second-year wide out, as noted by CBS Sports’ John Kreger. His future in Detroit remains in serious doubt.

Luckily, the team picked Ryan Broyles out of Oklahoma in the second round of this year’s draft and he has the ideal skill set to step in for Young. Unfortunately for Broyles and the Lions, the rookie wide receiver tore his ACL this past Sunday and will be out for the season, as noted by The Detroit Free Press’ Dave Birkett via Twitter.

"

Schwartz: Ryan Boyles tore right ACL, out for the year

— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) December 3, 2012"

The injury occurred early in the game and Thomas was unable to take advantage of his increased playing playing time. He had just one catch and finished with negative receiving yards.

Since the Lions acquired Thomas, he has just three catches for 16 yards and a touchdown.

If it were earlier in the season, picking up Thomas and stashing him on the bench would be an advisable move. Given the amount of playing time he will likely receive due to a thin Lions’ receiving corps, he would certainly be worth taking a chance on.

However, every Lions wide out other than Calvin Johnson has be far too inconsistent to be relied upon this season. Thomas, who is still learning the team’s offense and building chemistry with Matthew Stafford, will not break this trend.

There are far too many concerns surrounding Thomas’ ability to post decent statistics in any of the Lions' next few games, and fantasy owners would be taking an unnecessary risk by playing him at any point this season.