The NFL is experiencing an ongoing wave of player injuries. We will examine the latest injury updates and analyze how these developments affect fantasy football rosters. Don’t forget to read our coverage about the impact of Trey Benson’s injury situation.
Hubbard Likely Out
Chuba Hubbard’s calf injury has been a lingering issue over the past couple weeks, and after not practicing this week, he’s now expected to miss Sunday’s game against the Dolphins.
This season, Rico Dowdle has quietly been the Panthers’ No. 2 back with 97 snaps and 33 touches under his belt, having rushed 28 times for 83 yards and a score while catching five of six targets for 20 more yards. Meanwhile, Trevor Etienne, the No. 3 guy, has only played 17 snaps but gotten nine touches (with seven coming in week 4), rushing eight times for 37 yards and caught his only target for two yards.
With Hubbard out, I expect Dowdle to step up as the lead back in what’s actually a favorable matchup, and his own percentage has already jumped from 28% to 40% today as week 5 nears. In my experience covering running back emergencies, this is exactly when you want to add a sneaky good fantasy asset in standard leagues because Dowdle becomes an immediate starting option, while Etienne presents a solid deep-league option for deeper leagues where you add-and-stash potential.
There’s a real chance Etienne could be worth rostering if this becomes a multi-week issue for Hubbard, especially in the right matchups where both backs could be productive. How does this affect the rest of Carolina’s offense?
Trade Analyzer Fantasy Football
Quarterback Bryce Young might pass a bit more, giving him a slight fantasy boost, while Tetairoa McMillan becomes a safer starting spot as the only other Panther on the fantasy radar right now. Guys like Hunter Renfrow, Tommy Tremble, Brycen Tremayne, and Mitchell Evans could be more involved, though they haven’t done enough to trust outside the deepest fantasy leagues out there, so I’m not impacting my lineup decisions based on them until Hubbard returns.
McLaurin Ruled Out
Terry McLaurin is still dealing with his quad injury and has already been ruled out for week 5, while Noah Brown is also out with a quad injury, leaving the Commanders’ pass catchers in flux. Without McLaurin around last week, Deebo Samuel Sr. (who’s dealing with a heel injury) led the wideouts with 49 snaps played and delivered a nice fantasy showing, and he should get a significant boost if he’s cleared to play and Jayden Daniels also returns, which seems likely at this point.
Chris Moore, Zach Ertz, Ben Sinnott, Jaylin Lane, and Luke McCaffrey were the other receivers and tight ends with over 20 snaps played last week, though McCaffrey was the only other guy who had a decent fantasy outing, and that was mostly because he scored a touchdown.
In my experience navigating these injury situations, Samuel and Ertz are the only standard league fantasy options worth consider starting in week 5, especially with four teams on byes, and even though it’s a below-average matchup for wideouts and tight ends, I’d trust these two vets enough to start both guys without hesitation. McCaffrey is really the only other one I’d want to start, and that’s just in deeper leagues since he’s a very risky play with how few snaps he plays, but he’s the only one offering some fantasy upside right now.
What about Daniels’ outlook if he’s back on the field? You’re still starting him anyways because his dual-threat ability should give you enough confidence to start him just about every week, regardless of the matchup, though it’s an average matchup for him. Now, if Marcus Mariota starts over Daniels, I’d only consider him in deeper leagues, which means Samuel and Ertz get knocked down several pegs and become better deep-league options even though they’ll still start in a lot of standard leagues.
The Commanders’ backfield trio of Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Chris Rodriguez, and Jeremy McNichols face a very tough matchup, and because they’re splitting snaps and touches without a clear lead back, we need to see one emerge before moving any of these guys up to standard league starts, so I’d only want to start them all in deeper leagues for now.
Week 1 Fantasy Football Tight End Rankings
Irving Trending Downward
Bucky Irving still hasn’t practiced this week because of his foot and shoulder injuries, making him looking like a longshot to suit up in week 5, which means Rachaad White is now set to power the backfield against Seattle this weekend. White is owned in 86% of leagues now, and that should hit 100% eventually if Irving is ruled out, especially knowing how long this injury might linger.
This season, Irving has played 89 offensive snaps while getting 31 touches overall, including 23 rushes for 108 yards and a score, plus 34 receiving yards on eight catches and nine targets, which shows real fantasy relevance that White will absorb.
Sean Tucker would likely step in as the RB2 if Irving is out, and though Tucker has only played three snaps so far with once rushing for two yards on his only touch of the season, he’s had fantasy relevance in the past as a lead or No. 2 back, and his own percentage (16%) has been rising over the past couple days. It’s an average matchup for the Tampa Bay backs against Seattle, so White could be added and started in standard leagues and definitely needs to be starting in deeper leagues, while Tucker is more of a risky starting option but I don’t hate the idea of starting him if you’re in deeper leagues without better options.
Looks like Baker Mayfield is going to be good to play through his knee and right biceps injuries, and his fantasy outlook might improve ever so slightly if Irving is out, though it’s a tough matchup for him so I wouldn’t put a ton of confidence in Mayfield in week 5.
The Seahawks are tough on wideouts too, but the injury to Irving would boost the values of guys like Emeka Egbuka and Chris Godwin, where I only like starting Egbuka in standard leagues while Godwin is a better deep-league starting option in my experience with matchups like this. Seattle is terrible at slowing tight ends, so Cade Otton could be a sneaky good play this weekend since he leads the team in snaps even with only four targets on the season, making it not crazy to want to start him in deeper leagues or even in a pinch in a standard league.
Just like with the Hubbard injury situation where we’re reacting without knowing how long it might affect him, fantasy owners should be reacting the same way with Irving banged up, so at least add and stash White in standard leagues while doing the same for Tucker in deeper leagues because if this turns into a multi-week absence for Irving, then those two backs have a chance to contribute fantasy points in the meantime.
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