What Isiah Pacheco leg injury means for Week 3 fantasy football waiver wire

The Kansas City Chiefs will be without their starting running back for the foreseeable future after Isiah Pacheco suffered a fractured fibula against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 2, per Ian Rapoport. He left the stadium on Sunday in a walking boot after rushing for 90 yards and catching five receptions for 21 yards.

One physical therapy doctor on Twitter noted that the recovery time for such an injury is approximately 12 weeks. Jaylen Waddle returned from a version of that injury in 11 weeks. If Pacheco has a 12-week return, that gets him back by early December. For fantasy football purposes, that would be at the start of most league’s playoffs.

If you have an available injured reserve spot in your league, you’ll move Pacheco there. If you don’t, keeping him depends on your roster depth and the league settings. He’s a player you’d hold onto in dynasty and most keeper leagues. In single-year re-draft leagues, it depends on how you feel about your chances. In smaller leagues, you can probably drop him. In bigger leagues, give it a week or two to see how your roster shakes out heading into bye weeks.

In the meantime, it’s time to consider running backs available on the waiver wire. The Chiefs backup running backs are Samaje Perine and Carson Steele and both are available in most leagues. Through the first two weeks, they’ve split up the backup work. Steele had two rushes for three yards in Week 1 on five offensive snaps and seven rushes for 24 yards in Week 2 on 14 offensive snaps. Perine had one 10-yard reception in Week 1 on eight offensive snaps and one three-yard reception in Week 2 on nine offensive snaps.

A popular waiver option this week could include Jets backup running back Braelon Allen, who had two touchdowns with seven rushes for 33 yards and two receptions for 23 yards in Week 2. Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard had ten rushes for 64 yards and four receptions for 12 yards behind Miles Sanders in Week 2.