Granted a Chance

 It’s happened already.

Every year brings with it a significant injury to a running back that sends the fantasy football world spinning. This year’s victim is Ryan Grant of the Green Bay Packers.

Grant is expected to have surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right ankle and is expected to be done for the entire season. It’s a huge blow to the Packers and to fantasy owners across the land.

The waiver wire will be out of control this week with desperate owners looking to add Brandon Jackson to their rosters.

Loyal readers of DLF were already prepared after Jackson appeared in our “Waiting in the Wings” column in July and on our waiver pickup list LAST WEEK.  Hopefully many of you followed that advice and already have Jackson rostered. If not, he’s obviously a very attractive option at this point.

So, what do we expect from Jackson moving forward?

Now in his fourth season, Jackson has career totals of 689 yards on 175 attempts for an average of 3.9 yards per carry. He’s also a very good receiver out of the backfield, as indicated by his 514 yards on 69 receptions.

His career numbers at Nebraska weren’t incredible.  He had just 291 carries for 1,431 yards, and 14 touchdowns in his three year stint.  However, Jackson became a very attractive rookie pick in dynasty leagues a few years ago after he posted some incredible numbers at the NFL Scouting Combine. He’ll finally have a chance to prove he was worth the high draft choice the Packers used on him.

Jackson immediately becomes Green Bay’s featured running back for the season and fantasy owners should consider him a No. 2 running back option until further notice. Coach McCarthy has repeatedly said Jackson has the qualities and skills necessary to be a bellcow for a team. The Packers confidence in him was solidified when they let Kregg Lumpkin go at the end of camp.

The Packers may bring in some running backs to help out Jackson, but none will likely challenge him to start. In fact, they’ve already signed Dmitri Nance off the Falcons practice squad.

Ryan Grant owners in redraft leagues need to lick their wounds and move on. In dynasty leagues, his value has become very foggy. If Jackson emerges as a viable option, Grant will likely have to take a pay cut to remain with the team.

Either way, the fantasy world has been tipped on its head this morning. Owners need to pay attention to this injury news today and plan accordingly. Fantasy football is very fluid and one injury can tip the balance of a league or division – just ask owners of Ben Tate and Arian Foster.