The injuries continue to pile up at the running back position, drastically affecting the fantasy football landscape on a weekly basis. Here are some of the most recent injury updates we have at the RB position heading into Week 5’s matchups.
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Injury Updates for Top Fantasy Football RBs
Saquon Barkley, New York Giants
After missing the last two games of the season due to an ankle injury, New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley was moving around pretty well at yesterday’s practice.
RB Saquon Barkley seems to have a realistic chance to play this week vs. the Dolphins based on the way he’s moving at Wednesday’s practice. pic.twitter.com/wmh4sqkeLp
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan)
Barkley’s participation in practice this early in the week bodes very well for his potential availability for Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.
This Giants offense really hasn’t looked right for the majority of the season, but they have looked like one of the worst offenses in the entire league without him on the field. Over the last two games, the Giants have a total of 15 points and have produced just one touchdown over the last two games.
Quarterback Daniel Jones has particularly struggled without Barkley in the backfield, throwing for just 240 yards with no scores, three interceptions, and being sacked 12 times.
Barkley is the engine to this New York offense. It simply doesn’t work without him on the field.
If Barkley is active in Week 5, he immediately returns to the top-five conversation at the running back position in a game that could be very high scoring.
Rhamondre Stevenson, New England Patriots
Speaking of disappointing offenses, the New England Patriots have failed to score 21 points in any game this season.
Lengthy injury report for the #Patriots, with Rhamondre Stevenson a new name popping on there with a thigh that limited him today. pic.twitter.com/qQk3eWZJb0
— Mike Giardi (@MikeGiardi)
One of the biggest victims of the Patriots’ early offensive struggles has been running back Rhamondre Stevenson. Stevenson has just 251 total yards and one score on 72 total touches through the first four games.
New England’s offense failing to be one of the highest-scoring units in the league is not a huge surprise, but Stevenson’s 12 receptions through four games has been a bit of a disappointment. Last year, he caught 69 passes. This season, he’s on pace to catch 51.
Then take into consideration his efficiency struggles as a ball carrier — averaging just 2.73 yards per carry in comparison to Ezekiel Elliott’s 4.06 ypc on 34 carries — while losing a lot of work to Zeke, and Stevenson feels like a TD-dependent fantasy option at the RB position.
Now, add a thigh injury into the mix for Stevenson — who was a limited participant for Wednesday’s practice — and there feels like there are several more reasons to be pessimistic than optimistic at the moment.
If Stevenson is able to go on Sunday, he’ll be outside of my top 25 running backs while the Pats’ offense continues to struggle.
Dameon Pierce, Houston Texans
The Houston Texans have been one of the biggest surprises of the 2023 NFL season. Unfortunately, that hasn’t exactly made running back Dameon Pierce a breakout fantasy player through the first four games.
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While Pierce’s 81 rushing yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 4 was easily his best rushing performance of the young season, he failed to top 40 yards on the ground the three prior games. He also wasn’t very efficient against Pittsburgh, taking 24 carries to get to the 81-yard mark.
Whether you see the glass half full or half empty with regard to Pierce’s Week 4 performance, it’s objectively a concern that he appeared on Wednesday’s injury report with a knee injury.
Dameon Pierce (knee) limited in Wednesday practice https://t.co/cHsUCZwvyE
— Rotoworld Football (@rotoworld_fb)
Pierce was a limited participant in practice, which means his status doesn’t feel like it’s in jeopardy for Sunday at the moment. However, we should certainly continue to monitor his involvement in practice as the week progresses.
Despite the slow start, Pierce has generated 11+ fantasy points in PPR formats for two straight weeks in a surprisingly productive offense. That has him just inside my top 24 at the running back position for Week 5.
