Fantasy Football 2018 Week 5: Running Back Injury Report

As fantasy football owners prepare for Week 5, there are a lot of running backs listed on the injury report.

We are a quarter of the way into the 2018 fantasy football season. With few games afford to lose in such a short season, owners need to make the right decisions with their starters, who to add off the waiver wire and who to drop. Doing so required paying attention to the news wires.

As owners prepare for Week 5, the early week injury report is filled with a lot of names. There is a nice mix of running backs and wide receivers who are banged up. This piece will focus on running backs and which ones will be ready for Week 5 and which ones are on track to miss this week.

With very few running back replacements on the waiver wire, having an early advantage of who will fill in for the injured players will help you in your matchup this week and beyond.

Leonard Fournette has already been ruled out for Week 5 with a hamstring issue. T.J. Yeldon is set to start the game but has an injury he’s dealing with himself.

Yeldon was limited at practice on Wednesday with an ankle injury. Unless he suffers a setback, he will be on the field in Week 5.

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Yeldon is owned in 86 percent of ESPN leagues, so unless you’re in the 14 percent of leagues that don’t have him, the chances of picking him up are low.

With that out of the way, here are the other running backs dealing with injuries.

Marshawn Lynch, OAK

Lynch is the eighth-best running back in fantasy. He has a touchdown or 100 yards in every game so far this season. He didn’t practice Wednesday and it was later revealed to be a shoulder injury that kept him out.

The good news is that he was listed with the same injury last week before racking up a total of 157 yards. As long as he returns to practice on Thursday, Lynch owners have nothing to worry about.

Adrian Peterson, WSH

Peterson has looked good in two of the three games he’s played in this season. The Washington Redskins play Peterson’s former team, New Orleans Saints, on Monday night.

Peterson has been dealing with a sprained ankle since the Green Bay game. With the Redskins having a bye week in Week 4, this game Peterson an extra week to rehab the injury. He was held out of practice on Wednesday but expects to be ready for the Monday night game.

Because he is the last to play, all of your other options would have likely played by then. If you can, I would avoid using Peterson in favor of another running back this week.

Giovani Bernard and Joe Mixon, CIN

Bernard is filling in for the injured Joe Mixon. Bernard was held out of the end of the Week 4 game due to an unreported injury. He didn’t practice Wednesday because of a knee injury.

Mixon was able to practice but there’s no guarantee he will play in Week 5. If he is a full participant in Thursday’s practice, then he’s the top back in Cincinnati.

Not having Bernard on the field either will force the Bengals to use a combination of Mark Walton and Thomas Rawls in the backfield.

Other running back injuries worth mentioning are Dalvin Cook (hamstring), Matt Breida (shoulder), Devonta Freeman (knee), Tevin Coleman (shin), Alex Collins (knee), Lamar Miller (chest), Chris Carson (hip).

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The injury list seems to grow week after week. There are a couple of top running backs on the list that fantasy owners wish were healthy for Week 5. The available talent pool is shrinking by the week so unless you prepared for this by drafting five or six running backs or handcuffed your star, you may in trouble this week and beyond.

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