If you drafted Los Angeles Chargers RB Austin Ekeler in your fantasy football league in 2023, then everything looked like it was going well for the majority of last week. However, coming out of Week 1, it became evident that all was not as it had seemed at first, with Ekeler reportedly dealing with an ankle injury.
That has led to a nervous week for Ekeler’s fantasy managers, but what is the latest on his status for Week 2? Is he playing this week, or will fantasy managers be left looking elsewhere for help in their Week 2 matchup?
Looking to make a trade in your fantasy league? Having trouble deciding who to start and who to sit? Check out PFN’s Free Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer and Start/Sit Optimizer to help you make the right decision!
Is Austin Ekeler Going To Play Week 2?
The bad news is that Ekeler ended Friday’s practice under the cloud of a doubtful tag. Rarely does a player tagged as doubtful manage to suit up for Sunday. On the rare occasions they do, it’s usually for an emergency rather than to handle a normal workload.
From that moment on Friday, it was fairly evident Ekeler would not travel. That news was reinforced by The Athletic’s Daniel Popper reporting that Ekeler would not travel with the team on Saturday, ruling him out well in advance of the game. On Saturday, Tom Pelissero confirmed that Ekeler had been ruled out for Week 2.
#Chargers RB Austin Ekeler (ankle) has officially been downgraded to out for Sunday vs. the #Titans.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 16, 2023
The situation was not entirely clear throughout the week due to a personal matter on Wednesday. Ekeler was initially reported as absent from practice on Wednesday, but then it became apparent it was to attend the funeral of his agent. Unfortunately, when Ekeler rejoined the team, he was not able to get back on the practice field either Thursday or Friday.
Ekeler posted a tweet on Saturday that showed him in reasonably high spirits, despite the injury.
A positive is that the Chargers have not yet placed Ekeler on injured reserve (IR). That indicates that the team doesn’t view this as a long-term situation where he would be expected to miss four or more weeks.
Message of the day. 📈 pic.twitter.com/SplWcoLd31
— Austin Ekeler (@AustinEkeler) September 15, 2023
Potential Fantasy Options With Ekeler Out Includes Joshua Kelley
The obvious answer with Ekeler missing Week 2 is that Joshua Kelley would be expected to step up into the lead role. Kelley was the clear No. 2 last week, carrying the ball 16 times for 91 yards and a touchdown. He wasn’t as effective as Ekeler, who had 117 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, but it was a solid return.
MORE: NFL Bye Weeks Schedule 2023
The unknown with Kelley is how much of the receiving work he can shoulder. Last week, Ekeler had four receptions on five targets for 47 yards. Meanwhile, Kelley had just one target, with no receptions. For his career, he’s averaging just 1.45 targets per game and 1.11 receptions.
Kelley should still be the No. 2 option in the backfield, especially around the red zone and goal line. His ceiling is the highest of the backfield without Ekeler, but expecting him to be a direct replacement is not wise.
We saw last week that the Chargers were happy to use two backs. Even before Ekeler was hurt, Kelley was getting snaps and making plays. Therefore, it makes sense that they would do the same again this week.
The other two options on the Chargers’ depth chart are Elijah Dotson and Isaiah Spiller. They also added Jaret Patterson to the practice squad this week.
Dotson is a huge unknown as a rookie out of the University of Northern Colorado. In 2022, he had 48 receptions for 300 yards and two touchdowns.
If the Chargers feel he’s ready to handle the load in an NFL game, Dotson could be an intriguing deep-league PPR play as a pass catcher out of the backfield. He also rushed 208 times for 933 yards and six touchdowns, so he can be useful in the running game.
Spiller played just six games as a rookie, carrying the ball 18 times for 41 yards while adding three receptions for 13 yards. In three years at Texas A&M, he averaged 180 carries per season for 5.5 yards per carry and a total of 25 touchdowns. He also added 24.67 receptions per year for 195 receiving yards.
If Patterson is elevated, his track record is not much better than Spiller’s. Patterson has just 85 rushing attempts and 12 targets in two seasons. He was not a prodigious pass catcher in college either (20 receptions in three seasons).
It seems the main fantasy value if Kelley were to go down is Spiller as the backup. Kelley should be the main option, but Dotson is the deep-league wild card, especially in PPR scoring. He’s also someone you could consider adding ahead of this week in those deeper formats just in case he has a big game against the Titans and Ekeler misses significant time.