Danny Amendola Injury: Why You Must Add Greg Salas from Waiver Wire

With Danny Amendola out for a stretch with a dislocated elbow, his seven targets per game from Sam Bradford have to go somewhere.

While Brandon Gibson and Mike Sims-Walker will get plenty of looks, and have more experience, Greg Salas is a guy you should grab off of the waiver wire and make sure you have him on your bench.

A quick look at the stats might have you confused. "What the heck are you talking about, Andrew? Salas had three targets, one catch and a drop last week."

True enough, it wasn't his best game but keep in mind it was his first NFL game and it was against a pretty potent secondary in the Philadelphia Eagles.

Also, while Sims-Walker and Gibson have the experience, neither of them exactly blew up last week and in Sims-Walker's case he actually had less yards than Salas.

I'll be honest—I've never been a Sims-Walker fan and so far he hasn't shown me anything to change my mind in St Louis.

I'm a huge Brandon Gibson fan but even though that's the case, he's a limited receiver. He can be a reliable target but there's nothing special about him and while he will get his looks and be a solid point per reception tool for fantasy, he's not going to ever be the next big thing.

I think Greg Salas has that potential, even if it isn't clear at first.

Salas will start today off in the slot, a pretty good fit for the rookie. He isn't the biggest or fastest player, but he has fantastic hands and is fierce across the middle.  He runs a solid route and can be shifty once he has the ball in space. Salas has a talent for getting open underneath, which could get him a lot of opportunity when defensive lines—like the one they face today in the New York Giants—pressure quarterback Sam Bradford and he needs to get rid of the ball quickly.

A slot receiver can be a catch generating machine for fantasy, compiling lots of targets and catches which add up to solid yards. Salas is in a perfect position to get a lot of chances today and as long as Amendola is out.

Long term, Salas has the opportunity to lock down a starting spot. Sims-Walker is more of a vertical threat and as I said earlier, just isn't looking that good. Brandon Gibson is solid but unspectacular and doesn't have Salas' nose for the end zone.

There's every chance that even when Amendola returns from his dislocated elbow that Salas will continue to produce.

This weekend Salas is a sneaky play with some risk and I wouldn't use him as more than a third or fourth wide receiver in a point per reception league. He should be productive against a banged up Giants' secondary but the defensive line and linebackers might make it hard on the Rams' offense across the board.

So I'd play conservative this week unless I had lineup issues.

Stash him on your bench though and in a few weeks he could be trustworthy enough to be a regular starter in your leagues.

Andrew Garda is a staff writer at Footballguys.com – check out all their subscriber content – money back guarantee until Sept 30^th!