Christian McCaffrey injury: 5 RBs to replace him with in fantasy football

5. RB Joshua Kelley, LAC

The hype on Joshua Kelley is real, folks. The rookie running back out of UCLA has been getting a fair share of work in the Los Angeles Chargers backfield and that should continue moving forward this season. I know, Austin Ekeler is there and he’s rightfully the starter, but Kelley is pretty close to him in terms of carries.

On Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs, Kelley totaled 23 carries for an underwhelming 64 yards and even caught two passes for 49 yards. And while that number of 64 isn’t the best, game script and the opponent had a lot to do with that.

From the start, the Chargers were in a real pickle as they had to put Justin Herbert out there to start without ever expecting to as Tyrod Taylor suffered a chest injury in pregame, keeping him out. That allowed the Chiefs to focus on the run, forcing the rookie quarterback to beat them, which he cam very close to doing.

Either way, Kelley was worthy of paying attention to and should have everyone’s attention heading into waivers this week.

If you had Christian McCaffrey and need a replacement, the four guys before this are more ideal. However, his first two games of his career have proven that he is going to get a respectable amount of touches, and in doing so, should be at least a FLEX option every week. He’s no McCaffrey, but he will do.