5 best Fantasy Football running backs to replace JK Dobbins

Baltimore running back JK Dobbins went down with a season-ending Achilles tear, so here are five potential replacements for him on your Fantasy Football team.

Only one week into the NFL season, teams are already suffering catastrophic injuries. In their game against the Houston Texans, the Baltimore Ravens lost starting running back JK Dobbins for the remainder of the season.

It is an unfortunate injury not only for the Ravens team but for Dobbins, who himself was just coming back after needing arthroscopic surgery for an ACL tear last year.

The injury is terrible for Dobbins who will lose yet another promising season, but Fantasy Football owners who drafted the back are also in mourning. But fret not, here are five players who are on the waiver wire for most leagues that you can snap up to replace Dobbins.

YouTube: Atlanta Falcons

Fantasy Football running backs to pick up for JK Dobbins

Gus Edwards (Baltimore Ravens)

As is often the case when a starter gets injured, the next logical choice for Fantasy Football owners is to pick up his backup. In this case, Gus Edwards and rookie Justice Hill would be solid choices, but we give the edge to Edwards.

Even though Hill was the one who managed to punch home two scores yesterday after Dobbins left, Edwards had the higher yards per carry (4.0 vs Hill’s 1.1). Edwards also has experience leading a backfield, so it’s likely the Ravens will go back to him. He’s also only rostered in 21.4% of leagues, according to ESPN.

Joshua Kelly (LA Chargers)

He’s going to be a popular waiver claim in a lot of leagues where he was not rostered (that’s 89.7% of leagues where he’s still on waivers).

Kelly was a top-10 running back in Week 1, putting up 91 yards rushing on 16 carries with one touchdown. Even though he’s in his fourth year with the Bolts and they have Austin Ekler, the fact that Kelly got so much usage makes him an intriguing replacement for Dobbins.

Tyler Allgeier (Atlanta Falcons)

Fantasy Football fans were befuddled to see the Falcons give the lion’s share of the running back touches to second-year back Allgeier rather than first-round pick Bijan Robinson.

Many Robinson owners weren’t happy to see Allgeier rumble to 15 carries for 75 yards (5.0 YPC) and two touchdowns. He’s rostered in less than half of leagues, so it might be a good call to stash him until Arthur Smith finally turns over the offense fully to Robinson.

Kyren Williams (LA Rams)

The other LA team also had a backup running back putting up some impressive numbers in Week 1. Williams got 15 carries for 52 yards (3.5 yards per carry) and capped it off with two touchdowns.

Even though that YPC isn’t exactly stellar, the fact that Williams got 15 touches is encouraging (especially since he’s behind the oft-injured Cam Akers). He’s available in 90% of Fantasy Football leagues, so he’d be a great option to snatch off the waiver wire.

Kenneth Gainwell (Philadelphia Eagles)

This one’s a bit more of a gamble, as Gainwell was slotted to be the #3 back in Philly behind D’Andre Swift and Rashaad Penny. But with Penny getting sat for the New England game, Gainwell established himself with 18 touches (14 rushes and 4 receptions) for 74 all-purpose yards.

If Penny remains out for an extended period of time, Gainwell could be a sneaky-good addition who could pay off dividends.

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