Joshua Kelley, Los Angeles Chargers
Another running back who has sustained an injury on the year has been Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler. Ekeler suffered a hamstring injury in last week’s loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and it appears to be serious as the Chargers are expecting him to miss several weeks.
The Chargers drafted rookie out of UCLA Joshua Kelley, who is expected to be the lead back going forward. Although many fantasy owners are picking up Justin Jackson, Joshua Kelly is one of the breakout candidates of the week for me.
There is no denying he struggled in the defeat to the Bucs. He rushed under 10 yards and only had a select few catches out of the backfield. In his defense, he was going up against a Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense that ranks second amongst the run. This week, he finds himself going against the 6th ranked rushing defense, New Orleans Saints. But, the key difference in this game is going to be that Kelly will be the featured back right from the get go.
The Saints are a top 17 favorable matchup in fantasy against the run currently allowing 21.73 points per game to running backs. This is going to be a unique game as I believe the Chargers are going to get tricky on offense. Expect Herbert to use his legs and mobility more in this game. Kelley will play a big part in that as they will try to establish the run early on.
Worst case, if they cannot establish the run, then he will get going in the passing game as Chargers WR Mike Williams, is still injured. The Saints are averaging 5 receptions and about 55 yards to running backs and this week, the Chargers will look to exploit that matchup.
