Arnold hurts knee

Jaguars TE Dan Arnold hurt his knee in the 1st half of Sunday's game vs. the Falcons. He's officially questionable to return. We'll pass along an update when we get one.

Update: Arnold has been ruled out.

The Jaguars on Monday placed TE Dan Arnold on the COVID list. He had been designated last week to return from IR. This likely will knock him out for Sunday's game in New England, even if his injured knee is ready. James O'Shaughnessy remains Jacksonville's #1 TE.

Jaguars TE Dan Arnold (knee) has been designated to return from IR. He was expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his right knee suffered in Week 12, so we'd be surprised if he was ready to play vs. the Jets on Sunday. But we'll keep an eye on the situation.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that Jaguars TE Dan Arnold suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his right knee Sunday against the Falcons and will miss 4-6 weeks. The timing -- with just 5 games remaining -- means it could end his season. Whether he makes it back or not, Arnold is certainly droppable in nearly all redraft formats. James O'Shaughnessy figures to be the next guy up at the position but likely falls short of Arnold's upside. O'Shaughnessy, after all, was already on the team when Jacksonville acquired Arnold from the Panthers earlier this season and vaulted him quickly to the top of the depth chart. Arnold's absence leaves behind a nearly 20% share of targets to be distributed. WR Laviska Shenault could be a prime beneficiary. Jamal Agnew's season-ending hip injury in Week 11 moved Shenault back into the primary slot role Sunday.

The Panthers are set to trade TE Dan Arnold and a 3rd-round pick to the Jaguars in exchange for CB C.J. Henderson, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Henderson was the 9th overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft but has obviously fallen out of favor in Jacksonville. It's a good pickup for the Panthers, who just lost rookie CB Jaycee Horn to a broken foot. Meanwhile, Arnold will have a good shot to emerge as the lead TE for a Jaguars team in desperate need of help at the position. Arnold will be worth monitoring -- but we'd only be adding him in deep fantasy leagues at this point. Carolina is left with Ian Thomas and rookie Tommy Tremble at TE.

Panthers OC Joe Brady indicated recently that we should expect a lot more from the team's TEs in his 2nd season there. "The tree that I grew up in, the tight ends are the most important position on the field, the matchups that they create, and everything," Brady said in early July, according to the team website. "It's been a point of emphasis this offseason, just trying to get those guys going in the passing game. And I think those guys have kind of taken and ran with it." Ian Thomas led Panthers TEs with just 20 receptions last year, and no team threw a smaller percentage of its targets to the position. Sounds like that should change significantly in 2021. But Carolina signed Dan Arnold in free agency and drafted Tommy Tremble in Round 3. HC Matt Rhule has also said Thomas is having a "tremendous offseason." There's too much going on that the position right now for us to target any Panthers TE in fantasy drafts. We'll see whether Thomas or Arnold can step ahead of the other as an upside option for August drafts.