Fantasy Football owners were dealt a huge blow on Wednesday before Week 5 even kicked off. Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone told reporters that running back Leonard Fournette will miss Sunday’s battle against the Kansas City Chiefs with a hamstring injury.
In last week’s game against the New York Jets, Fournette aggravated his hamstring, after missing the previous two games because of it.
The second-year running back had 30 rushing yards on 11 carries versus New York, before exiting in the second quarter.
This season, Fournette has not been the fantasy football superstar that everybody pegged him to be due to this lingering injury. Through two games, the former first-round pick only has 71 rushing yards and zero touchdowns.
If you translate his 2018 production from a fantasy football standpoint, Fournette has produced 5.5 and 3.5 fantasy points, according to Pro Football Reference. Furthermore, when you compare his stats from this season to last season, the numbers are astronomically different.
In Jacksonville’s first four games in 2017, he had 285 rushing yards on 85 carries and three touchdowns. Fournette also had a receiving touchdown too over that span of games.
With those types of statistics, it was a no-brainer on why Fournette was a must-start through last season. To start off his rookie campaign, he scored 18.4, 12.1, 14.0, and 20.5 fantasy points.
But that was last year and this is a brand new season. Heading into Week 5, if you had Fournette in your lineup, you now have to make a decision on whom to start in his place.
Immediately on first thought, you might think about picking up either one of Fournette’s backups in T.Y. Yeldon or Corey Grant. Out of the two backs, Yeldon could be a solid addition off the waiver wire (if available) as he had a nice performance last Sunday.
Against New York, the former Alabama Crimson Tide running back had 100 total yards and two touchdowns ( 1 rushing, 1 receiving), which equaled out 20 fantasy points. That’s definitely something to take into consideration but should not be expected on a weekly basis.
However, the Jaguars are facing a Chiefs’ defense, which is giving up on average 30.2 fantasy points to running backs.
Despite being hobbled by an ankle injury, Yeldon might be a good option over Corey Grant just based on his ability to provide something in the running and passing games this week.
