How to deal with losing Isiah Pacheco 🤕

We know your team is dealing with a lot of injuries early this season – everyone is. That means it’ll be a mad dash to the waiver wire, and we’ve got you covered in the latest waiver wire show of the Upper Hand Fantasy Podcast!

• Dolphins place QB Tua Tagovailoa on injured reserve with concussion sustained in Week 2 vs Bills, will miss at least four games

  • The expectation was always that Tua could miss more than the standard 1-2 weeks associated with concussions, and the Dolphins have officially sealed his fate for the next four games by placing him on IR. In that time, the team is allowing him to consult a specialist as he recovers from his third concussion of his career, and given his history with injuries of this nature, there’s a chance he could miss more time beyond the allotted four weeks required by his stint on IR. In the meantime, it’ll be Skylar Thompson under center for the Dolphins – a less than ideal scenario for the likes of Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and co. With just two touchdowns in his career (one in the regular season, one in the postseason), the ceiling has effectively been shaved down significantly with Hill and Waddle becoming boom/bust options as long as Tua is out. RB De’Von Achane stands a better chance of maintaining a high level of fantasy production (it’s much easier to hand a playmaker the ball int he backfield than it is to complete a pass to one), as Thompson is almost certainly lined up to be coddled by Mike McDaniel’s playcalling to limit turnovers and play efficient football. Fantasy managers should hold onto Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in hopes that Tua returns sooner rather than later, but expectations should be lowered out of the weekly WR1 realm and into the mid-WR2 conversation with Thompson drawing the starts.

• Packers place rookie RB Marshawn Lloyd on injured reserve with ankle injury, set to miss at least the next four games

  • Lloyd is an extremely talented back and was a favorite of Faraz’s coming out of USC this season, but an early laundry list of injuries has derailed the beginning of his career and prevented him from establishing a role for himself in the Packers offense. After dealing with a hamstring injury all preseason, Lloyd returned to action for just a handful of snaps on Sunday before exiting the game with an ankle injury – one that has ultimately relegated him to injured reserve ahead of Green Bay’s Week 3 matchup with the Titans. The Packers have been content to lean heavily on Josh Jacobs so far this season (32 carries in Week 2), and as long as it’s Malik Willis at the controls, that plan is likely to continue. At this point, fantasy managers can likely drop Lloyd if they need space to pick up replacements for other injured starters (which we’re assuming you do, considering the ridiculous number of injuries that have happened through two weeks so far). However, he’ll be on the radar as a potential stash once again shortly before his eventual return.

• Chiefs sign veteran RB Kareem Hunt to practice squad, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero

  • It’s a reunion between Kareem Hunt and the team that helped him to make a name for himself in the league and in the hearts of fantasy managers in the first place. With Isiah Pacheco on his way to IR with a fractured fibula, the Chiefs turned to the experienced veteran for some RB depth behind undrafted rookie Carson Steele, new free agent acquisition Samaje Perine, and the (presumably) soon to return Clyde Edwards-Helaire. Unfortunately for the Chiefs, Hunt is far from the dynamic dual-threat ballcarrier he was back in his early Chiefs days… but in a backfield that lacks a clear separator, he could challenge for some touches in what’s likely to be a committee to end all committees. Perhaps most frustrating is the fact that Pacheco had the vicegrips on the clear lead role on a very good Chiefs offense, and will now see his hopes for a breakout season in fantasy football dashed by injury. Even with Hunt’s signing, both Perine and Steele should be prioritized heavily on the waiver wire given their familiarities with the system relative to Kareem.

Without Isiah Pacheco for the next 6-8 weeks – and maybe longer – with a fractured fibula, I’m probably favoring these Chiefs RBs more than any other waiver wire pickup this week, especially if you need an RB. But it’s a tricky situation - this backfield is going from a workhorse situation to a timeshare, and it could be annoying one. Carson Steele can score two goal-line TDs this week, and then next week Samaje Perine catches 5 balls for 57 yards and a receiving TD and end up being the better play.

Role-wise, I think Steele will get most of the carries even though he did fumble last week. It’s worth noting Andy Reid doesn’t punish players for that right away - he gives them a chance to learn from it, so I wouldn’t ding him for that when you’re trying to choose between the two. He’s going to get the first crack at the early down work, but I do think Perine will mix in on the ground, and he will be their primary passing down back and run the most routes in the coming weeks once he gets acclimated to the playbook.

We saw the Jerick McKinnon role flourish here, but Samaje Perine is a big back – so it doesn’t seem apples to apples, but Perine was one of the most efficient pass-catching RBs last season. And I can see why Andy Reid wanted him on this team. If I’m looking for a short-term add and just need an RB play this week, I’m probably going with Carson Steele - he’ll also likely have the first crack, and if he performs, it’ll be hard to take the job away from him. And it is worth noting that in terms of yards after contact/att, missed tackles forced/att in college - he was up there among the high-volume backs. So there is some precedence of him being good.

But long term, once Perine gets involved, I can see him being the guy you want, assuming the Chiefs end up being a more pass-first team. I think one of the reasons why they were willing to run the ball so much is because they had someone like Isiah Pacheco - but now that they don’t, I can see them putting the ball more in Patrick Mahomes’ hands, which means Perine can see more of the money touches - and as we know, one target is 2.5x more valuable than a carry in PPR.

If you can’t land Samaje Perine, I’d still even be ok with dropping 25 FAAB on Carson Steele as a consolation price off the wire.