Fantasy Football Injury Updates and Players to Add: Rico Dowdle, Rachaad White and More

Injuries continue to pile up around the NFL.

Let's take a look at the most recent injury news and then the fantasy football implications of everything. Also be sure to check out our story on the fallout from the Trey Benson injury.

Fantasy football injury news can be tracked all season on FantasySP.

Hubbard Likely Out

Chuba Hubbard has been dealing with a calf injury over the past couple weeks, and it's led to him not practicing so far this week. He's now expected to miss Sunday's game against the Dolphins.

Rico Dowdle has been serving as the team's No. 2 back, while Trevor Etienne has been the No. 3 guy.

Dowdle has played 97 snaps and gotten 33 touches so far this season. He's rushed 28 times for 83 yards and a score, while catching five of his six targets for 20 more yards.

Etienne has played just 17 snaps, but gotten nine touches (seven of those came in week 4). Etienne has rushed eight times for 37 yards and caught his only target for two yards.

If Hubbard is indeed out, I expect Dowdle to serve as the team's No. 1 back against the Dolphins, which is a pretty favorable fantasy matchup. 

Dowdle's own percentage has jumped from 28% to 40% today. I expect that to keep rising as week 5 nears. In the favorable matchup, it's not crazy to want to add and start Dowdle in standard leagues - he's at least a deep-league option.

Etienne could also be worth an add in deeper leagues. There's a chance he could get enough touches in week 5 to put up some points for deep-league owners.

I'd at least add-and-stash Dowdle in standard leagues and Etienne in deeper leagues in case this is a multi-week issue for Hubbard. Dowdle could be a sneaky good fantasy asset as the team's lead back, and in the right matchups, Etienne could be a deep-league starting option in favorable matchups.

As for how the Hubbard injury affects the rest of the Carolina offense, I don't see it impacting too many players.

Quarterback Bryce Young might be asked to pass a couple more times a game, so he gets a slight fantasy boost until the lead back returns. 

Tetairoa McMillan becomes a bit safer starting option with Hubbard out. He's the only other Panther who is on the fantasy radar right now.

Guys like Hunter Renfrow, Tommy Tremble, Brycen Tremayne and Mitchell Evans could be a bit more involved. They haven't done enough this season to trust with a starting spot outside the deepest fantasy leagues out there.

McLaurin Ruled Out

Terry McLaurin is still dealing with his quad injury and has already been ruled out for week 5. Noah Brown is also out with a quad injury.

Without McLaurin around last week, Deebo Samuel Sr. (who is dealing with a heel injury) led the pass catchers with 49 snaps played. He had a nice fantasy showing, and will get a boost if he's cleared to play and Jayden Daniels also returns, which seems likely at this point.

Chris Moore, Zach Ertz, Ben Sinnott, Jaylin Lane and Luke McCaffrey were the other wideouts and tight ends with over 20 snaps played last week. McCaffrey was the only other guy who had a decent fantasy outing, and that was mostly because he scored a touchdown.

Samuel and Ertz are the only standard league fantasy options to consider starting in week 5. With McLaurin and Brown out, I'd be a fan of starting both guys. It's a below-average matchup for wideouts and tight ends, but I'd trust the two vets enough to start, especially because there's four teams on byes.

McCaffrey is really the only other one I'd want to start, and that's just in deeper leagues. He's a very risky play with how few snaps he plays, but he's the only one who offers some fantasy upside, in my eyes.

Daniels won't have a very great outlook if he's back on the field, but you are still starting him anyways. It's an average matchup for him, but his dual-threat ability should give you enough confidence to start him just about every week, regardless of the matchup.

Now, if Marcus Mariota starts over Daniels, I'd only consider him in deeper leagues. Samuel and Ertz get knocked down several pegs, and are better deep-league options, even though they'll still start in a lot of standard leagues.

The Commanders' backfield trio of Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Chris Rodriguez and Jeremy McNichols have a very tough matchup, and because they are splitting snaps and touches, I'd only want to start them all in deeper leagues. We need to see a clear lead back before moving any of these guys up to standard league starts.

Irving Trending Downward

Bucky Irving still hasn't practiced this week because of his foot and shoulder injuries, so he's looking like a longshot to play in week 5.

That leaves Rachaad White to power the backfield. He's owned in 86% of leagues now, and that should get to 100% if Irving is eventually ruled out.

Irving has played 89 offensive snaps this season, getting 31 touches overall. He has 23 rushes for 108 yards and a score, plus 34 receiving yards on eight catches and nine targets.

Sean Tucker would likely be RB2 if Irving is out. Tucker has played just three snaps so far, rushing once for two yards on his only touch of the season. He's had fantasy relevance in the past as the lead or No. 2 back, and is seeing his own percentage (16%) rise over the past couple days.

It's an average matchup for the Tampa Bay backs against Seattle this weekend, so White could be added and started in standard leagues, in my eyes. He definitely needs to be starting in deeper leagues. Tucker is more of a risky starting option, but a few of you in deeper leagues might not have better options, so I don't hate the idea of starting him.

It looks like Baker Mayfield is going to be good to play through his knee and right biceps injuries, and his fantasy outlook might improve ever so slightly if Irving is out. It's a tough matchup for him though, so I wouldn't put a ton of confidence in Mayfield in week 5.

The Seahawks are tough on wideouts too, but the injury to Irving would boost the values of guys like Emeka Egbuka and Chris Godwin. I only like starting Egbuka in standard leagues, while Godwin is a better deep-league starting option.

Seattle is terrible at slowing tight ends, so Cade Otton could be a sneaky good play this weekend. He's only got four targets on the season, but leads the team in snaps, so it's not crazy to want to start him. I'd definitely consider it in deeper leagues, and in a pinch, I could see starting Otton in a standard league.

Like in the case with the Hubbard injury and not knowing how long it might affect him, fantasy owners should be reacting the same way with Irving banged up.

At least add and stash White in standard leagues, while doing the same for Tucker in deeper leagues. If this turns into a multi-week absence for Irving, then those two have a chance to contribute fantasy points in the meantime.