Fantasy Injury Update: James Conner, Dameon Pierce, and Pierre Strong Jr. Impacting RB Rankings

Reliable RB2 options in fantasy football are often underappreciated until you don’t have one for your weekly starting lineup. Well, players such as James Conner, Dameon Pierce, and Pierre Strong Jr. are all names in the RB2 conversation who are currently dealing with injuries heading into Week 10. Here’s a closer look at the most recent injury updates we have for these players and their potential fantasy fallout.

Latest News and Injury Updates Impacting Fantasy

James Conner, Arizona Cardinals

Fantasy managers have been forced to make do without Conner in their fantasy lineups for the past month due to a knee injury. Well, according to a recent report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Cardinals have officially designated Conner for return from the injured reserve (IR) list.

This move now opens a 21-day window for the team to add Conner to the active 53-man roster, which could make him available for their game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.

Conner wasn’t just having a good season prior to his injury, he was playing the most efficient football of his career as a pure ball carrier. His 5.35 yards per carry was among the league leaders and is highly impressive considering his high volume of work on the ground.

Arizona’s offense was better than most thought with Joshua Dobbs under center to start the season. However, the team is expected to get franchise QB Kyler Murray back into the starting lineup this week, which could have a profoundly positive impact on the offense as a whole. It’s also possible Murray will be a bit rusty, which could make the offense struggle in his 2023 season debut.

If Conner is active against the Falcons, he’s certainly a fringe top-20 play this week with Emari Demercado banged up and only Keaontay Ingram left to compete with for touches upon return to the starting lineup.

Editor’s note: Conner is now being listed as questionable going into Week 10.

This analysis was last updated at 3:10 p.m. on Nov. 10, 2023.

Pierre Strong Jr., RB, Cleveland Browns

According to a recent report from Jake Trotter, Strong was not practicing on Wednesday.

After Strong saw a season-high 10 carries against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 8, he was limited to just nine yards on three carries this past Sunday against the Cardinals after sustaining a hamstring injury.

MORE: Fantasy Injury Update — Khalil Herbert, Kyler Murray, and Justin Fields Impacting Week 10 Rankings

Strong finds himself in a three-way timeshare with Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt in Cleveland’s backfield. If Strong can’t go against the Baltimore Ravens, Ford and Hunt both get a small bump up in the fantasy rankings. However, if Strong is active for this contest, then he enters the RB3 conversation in Week 10.

This analysis was last updated at 3:20 p.m. on Nov. 8, 2023.

Dameon Pierce, RB, Houston Texans

According to a recent report from Aaron Wilson, Pierce did not participate in Wednesday’s practice due to an ankle injury. Yet, there is some good news and bad news for Pierce’s fantasy situation at the moment.

The bad news is while Pierce is missing games and practice reps while dealing with an ankle injury, this is opening the door for other running backs on Houston’s depth chart to make their case for the feature role in this backfield.

The good news is Devin Singletary averaged a putrid two yards per carry in a leading role against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when Pierce missed his first game of the 2023 season.

When you look at the production from the Texans’ running game in 2023, you quickly realize why Pierce has been such a fantasy disappointment this season.

His 327 yards on 109 carries with fewer than 10 receptions and just one score through the first seven games of the season has certainly opened the door for another player to steal significant work from him for the remainder of the 2023 campaign. Yet, no one has been able to separate themselves from the pack in this backfield through the first half of the season.

If Pierce is active against the Cincinnati Bengals, he’s in the RB3 conversation.

Editor’s note: Pierce missed practice on both Thursday and Friday and will be out on Sunday, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC2.

This analysis was last updated at 12:35 p.m. on Nov. 10, 2023.

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