Injury Update: Rico Dowdle Fails To Practice Friday, Locking Jaylen Warren Into Fantasy Football Lineups

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rico Dowdle was once again unable to practice on Friday due to a toe injury. He is now trending in the wrong direction to play in Week 3 against the Cincinnati Bengals.

If Dowdle is unable to suit up this week, it should open up the door for Jaylen Warren to see a significant boost in snaps and opportunities in Week 3. This is a situation you should still be monitoring, but we would be surprised at this point if Dowdle is able to suit up on Sunday.

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Fantasy Impact

RB Rico Dowdle, Pittsburgh Steelers

It’s not looking good for Dowdle this week after injuring his toe in Week 2. If he is listed as inactive, we will then have to begin to look forward to Week 4 and hope this isn’t a multi-week injury. We are hoping to get more clarity on this situation sooner rather than later, but if you were planning to start Dowdle this week, you should come up with a backup plan.

RB Jaylen Warren, Pittsburgh Steelers

Warren had already been the better fantasy option of the two backs, but his value will skyrocket if Dowdle is ruled out. After playing on just 31% of the offensive snaps in Week 1, Warren saw his snaps climb to 71% in Week 2, with Dowdle injuring his toe. We would expect that number to climb even higher this week.

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Through two games, Warren has carried the ball 21 times for 89 yards at 4.2 yards per carry, and caught seven of nine targets for 61 yards. We would expect that he will see 15-plus carries this week and at least five targets.

He is going to see plenty of opportunities this week and should be locked into lineups as a fantasy RB2 this week. Even in a matchup against the Bengals, who have been tough against fantasy running backs this season.

RB Eli Heidenreich, Pittsburgh Steelers

There is a faction of the fantasy community that is very excited about Heidenreich, which makes him worth mentioning. He was very good with the Navy last season and fits well in the Pittsburgh system; however, he would probably be a better fit if it were Warren instead of Dowdle missing time.

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Nevertheless, he could be a factor in this backfield. There is also a chance that Travis Homer could be the next man up. In no world should you be starting Heidenreich this right, but he could be an intriguing option in some DFS tournaments.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/onsi/fantasy as Injury Update: Rico Dowdle Fails To Practice Friday, Locking Jaylen Warren Into Fantasy Football Lineups.