Whelp. Just like every season before this one, the injuries are piling up at the running back position. Let’s go over which fantasy backs are banged up right now:
Fantasy Football waiver wire: 5 running backs to target for Week 3
If you somehow have avoided the injury bug in Week 2, you should probably play the lotto. If not, here are some backs to help your fantasy team get through some tougher times.
Doug Pensinger
Jamaal Charles has a high ankle sprain and could miss a month.
DeAngelo Williams missed Week 2 with a thigh injury and is questionable for Week 3.
Ben Tate suffered a knee injury in Week 1 and is expected to miss about one month.
Mark Ingram broke his hand on Sunday and is expected to miss four games, which is too bad after his terrific start.
Maurice Jones-Drew had a hand injury and needed a procedure last week.
Ryan Mathews suffered a knee sprain in Week 2 and could miss 4-5 games.
Marshawn Lynch had an ongoing back injury, but he should be fine for Week 3.
Doug Martin missed Week 2 due to a "minor" knee injury.
Dexter McCluster was in a walking boot for his ankle injury.
Roy Helu is out with a knee injury.
Yikes. That’s 10 backs who are probably owned in 14-team PPR leagues with more than half of them as must-own players in even 10-team leagues. Here are five guys you should look to grab and are available in at least 50 percent of Yahoo! leagues:
Side note: Lamar Miller is owned in 77 percent of leagues and could be out there.
Knile Davis, Kansas City Chiefs (owned in 19 percent of leagues)
If you drafted Jamaal Charles and didn't handcuff him to Knile Davis, it's your own fault. Davis may be the best handcuff back we've seen in the past few years and we found out why on Sunday. When Charles went down in the first half against the Denver Broncos, Davis stepped up and produced 105 yards from scrimmage, six catches and two scores.
This one is simple: Pick him up, use your No. 1 waiver position, or blow almost all of your FAAB budget on him.
Jeremy Hill, Cincinnati Bengals (owned in 49 percent of leagues)
The Bengals were expected to give Hill the ball more in Week 2 and they kept true to their word. After just four touches in Week 1, Hill saw 17 touches for 92 yards and one score during a huge win over the Atlanta Falcons.
The rookie is holding steady at 4.9 yards per carry on the season, which is hardly a surprise based on his 6.9 yards per carry he posted at LSU in 2013. The Bengals offense is starting to click, and their defense has kept the opposition’s offense off the field. Plus, they’re likely going to run the ball a lot in the second half of games to kill the clock with some of their leads. They’re one of six 2-0 football teams and are about as legit as it gets.
If Giovani Bernard were to go down, Hill would be looking at a top-10 ceiling. Even with Gio around, Hill is still a very solid flex play in most weeks.
Fantasy Advice
Donald Brown, San Diego Chargers (owned in 9 percent of leagues)
Ryan Mathews was able to avoid injury for much of last season, but the oft-injured back wasn’t able to do so in 2014. The Chargers are expected to miss him for the next month, which is a tough loss since coach Mike McCoy loves to slow down the tempo and control time of possession.
The handcuffing strategy has been en vogue in fantasy football, and the Chargers applied that logic in real life. With Mathews down, they have a player with a similar skill set in Donald Brown. The former Colt hasn’t been very effective this season, averaging just 2.1 yards per carry and only 3.3 yards per catch on his 12 touches on the season.
He's going to get the ball on the ground close to 15 times per game and it would appear the Chargers are capable of scoring. They just dropped 30 points on the league's best defense, and they also went against a solid Arizona Cardinals defense in Week 1.
He should serve as a low-end RB2 for the next month.
Khiry Robinson, New Orleans Saints (owned in 18 percent of leagues)
With Mark Ingram out, Robinson projects to be the primary ground guy for the Saints. Pierre Thomas will likely get most of the work on passing downs, so Robinson won’t be a featured back like Davis or anything. He is the only other back besides Ingram to have a rushing touchdown for the Saints and figures to get most of the goal-line work.
Their schedule is pretty awesome over the next two weeks, facing the Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys. Robinson projects as a solid RB2 in that span and shouldn't be sitting around on any waiver wires.
Bobby Rainey, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (owned in 22 percent of leagues)
Doug Martin owners can’t feel too comfortable these days. He averaged just 3.6 yards per carry last season and he’s sitting at just nine rushing yards on nine carries in Week 1. Obviously, the Bucs sitting him out in Week 2 probably took all the confidence his owners had in him, but if that wasn’t enough his backup Bobby Rainey exploded for 174 yards from scrimmage on 25 touches against the St. Louis Rams.
It seems clear that Martin won’t be featured upon his return, and Rainey would be a the workhorse sans Dougie. Fantasy owners can pick him up and take a wait-and-see approach.
