Top 10 Fantasy football injuries with impact in Week 3
9. Arian Foster-RB-Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins entered the season with injury-prone and aging Arian Foster as their top running back, so it isn’t shocking that he isn’t going to make it through the season healthy. Miami didn’t have a lot of options after losing Lamar Miller to Foster’s former team in Houston, but the injury came sooner rather than later.
Foster left the Dolphins week 2 loss in New England after taking just three carries for nine yards. He was diagnosed with a strained groin and hasn’t returned to practice yet this week.
It’s not clear exactly how long Foster will be sidelined, but he had won the job outright and was working as a feature-back before the injury. His absence could result in a reduced role when he does return. I don’t think it’s time to drop Foster if you have room on your bench since it doesn’t sound like a long-term injury. However, these kind of injuries can linger with Foster, so hopefully you had a good backup plan in place.
Fantasy Fallout
In Foster’s absence, Jay Ajayi will probably be the first player to get a shot at leading the running-back-by-committee fantasy mess in the backfield. Ajayi hasn’t inspired much confidence in his limited work the last two years and was actually a healthy inactive Week 1 in Seattle. He played Week 2, but only had 14 yards on five carries and 31 yards on four catches while also losing a fumble.
Ajayi could lose work to Damien Williams, Isaiah Pead (if he’s healthy), and Kenyan Drake. Of the three, Drake has the most upside and is the only one of these options that I think has any long-term upside. Drake actually has more upside than even Ajayi, in my opinion, so if you need a flier at RB he could end up being a solid cheap DFS play.
Drake found the end zone last week while playing most of Miami’s final drive. He ran for 12 yards on two carries and added six yards on a pair of catches. The third-round rookie out of Alabama could emerge from the Miami backfield as a fantasy option, but he’s a very high-risk play this week even in a good matchup against the Browns.