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No one escapes the evil clutches of the injury bug. No player is immune to its bite, and no fantasy football manager has the antidote to its venom.
That doesn’t mean we cannot treat the wound to our roster. It just takes some time and some understanding of a player’s role in his offense. The Zero-RB truthers are lined up at the gates once again, as another running back casualty falls victim to the bug and lends credence to their drafting methods.
But you don’t care about that. You want to know who got bit and what you can do about it.
While much of the fantasy community continues to lament the loss of Christian McCaffrey and tout Jordan Mason as the 2024 season’s league-winner, many are also scrambling to recover from Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco’s early exit from Sunday.
Pacheco suffered a fractured fibula, left the stadium in a walking boot and is expected to land on injured reserve. He is out 6-8 weeks. Considering the investment on draft day, the need to replace him is critical.
This is a name that few people outside the Zero-RB faction care to utter, but Samaje Perine is your target to replace Pacheco. The well-traveled, 29-year-old has struggled to land regular work, but he now will be tasked to serve as the primary back in an Andy Reid offense.
That’s the good news. We’ve seen Reid turn many of his backs into fantasy football heroes. The bad news, however, is that he’s never held a backfield all to himself, and that won’t start now either.
Perine will certainly have value as a replacement back, but unlike Pacheco, Perine is expected to share more of the workload. He will be a fixture in the passing game, as that has long been his specialty, but you can expect rookie Carson Steele to handle more of the short-yardage and, potentially, goal-line carries. Perine still will see work between the tackles, but pass catching is where his true value shines.
Pacheco saw close to 50 targets last season, and Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who could factor in once he is eligible to come off injured reserve in Week 5, saw 22, so that is roughly 70 running back targets vacated. If we’ve learned anything from Reid and his offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, they do like the running back to be involved in the passing attack. It may not be a massive workload, but enough to help patch up your roster.
Continue to monitor the early week injury reports, as more value could open up for waivers this week. Rachaad White tweaked his groin, so Bucky Irving could get an increase in touches. Blake Corum looked good in the wake of the Rams loss, and Khalil Herbert is infringing on D’Andre Swift’s territory now.
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Your running back waiver wire is going to be paramount early in the season, so stay vigilant.
Howard Bender is the head of content at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on X @rotobuzzguy and catch him on the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to FantasyAlarm.com for all your fantasy football news and advice.