For a second consecutive week, a superstar player appeared to suffer a catastrophic injury on Monday Night Football. Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb had to be carted off the field in the first half due to an apparent knee injury, which opened the door for Jerome Ford to see an expanded role in Week 2.
What does this mean for Ford’s fantasy football value moving forward? Let’s take a closer look.
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Fantasy Football Riser: Jerome Ford
The injury to Chubb is potentially a devastating blow to the Browns’ offense for the remainder of the 2023 season. Chubb has rushed for over 1,000 and eight rushing touchdowns for four consecutive seasons, leaving a huge workload completely up grabs.
While the Chubb injury is awful for shareholders and Browns fans alike, a running back did happen to make a strong RB1 case for the Browns moving forward.
JEROME FORD REVERSES FIELD FOR THE 69-YARD RUN 🔥
📺: #CLEvsPIT on ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/zWM8hlwLFw pic.twitter.com/vKk11EADHH— NFL (@NFL) September 19, 2023
Ford stepped into an expanded role and immediately produced with over 100 total yards from scrimmage to go with a receiving touchdown in relief work of Chubb.
The Browns could elect to bring in a veteran running back on the open market, but Ford certainly made a compelling case to be the guy moving forward.
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Another back that contributed with Chubb unavailable was Pierrre Strong Jr., who managed to score a rushing touchdown. But he saw considerably less work than Ford in the game. Ford is easily the top waiver wire target this week.
Is Tony Jones Jr. a One-Week Rental at the RB Position?
Ford wasn’t the only backup running back on Monday Night Football to make a case for the leading role in the backfield after the starting running back went down with an injury.
When Jamaal Williams left the game against the Carolina Panthers in the second quarter after sustaining an apparent leg injury, Jones Jr. managed to score a pair of rushing touchdowns to help the New Orleans Saints improve to 2-0 on the season.
It would be a disservice to Jones Jr. if I did not acknowledge the admirable job he did filling in for Williams in this contest. He managed to find the end zone on two different occasions in a game where points were at a premium.
However, Jones wasn’t efficient with his 12 carries — generating just 34 rushing yards — and could easily lose work to Taysom Hill or Kendre Miller this upcoming week.
Even if Jones Jr. manages to be used in a feature role for Week 3, the return of Alvin Kamara from suspension in Week 4 immediately caps any sort of long-term value Jones Jr. may have had in this backfield.
Feel free to throw a dart at Jones on the waiver wire if you like, but understand that there is a high likelihood that this will be a one-week rental at the RB position.