Is Austin Ekeler Playing In Week 3? Should I Start Joshua Kelley For Fantasy Football?

Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler has had an outstanding career after going undrafted in 2017. The former Western State star became a fantasy superstar starting in 2019. That year, Ekeler had 224 touches for 1,550 scrimmage yards and 11 touchdowns.

The superstar running back had back-to-back top-five fantasy finished in 2021 and 2022. He had 276 touches for 1,558 scrimmage yards and 20 touchdowns in 2021 before having 311 touches for 1,647 scrimmage yards and 18 touchdowns the following year. More importantly, the former undrafted free agent led the NFL in scrimmage touchdowns in both seasons.

Ekeler was a top-five pick in most fantasy football drafts this year. The superstar had an excellent Week 1 performance against the Miami Dolphins, totaling 16 rushing attempts for 117 yards and a touchdown. He also had four receptions on five targets for 47 receiving yards against the Dolphins.

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Is Austin Ekeler Playing In Week 3?

Unfortunately, the former undrafted free agent running back suffered an ankle injury in Week 1. While he didn’t practice leading up to the Week 2 matchup against the Tennessee Titans, fantasy players held out hope that Ekeler would suit up on game day.

However, the superstar missed last week’s contest because of the injury. More importantly, Ekeler didn’t practice on Wednesday. While he still has two more days to practice, this isn’t the news fantasy players wanted to hear.

The good news for fantasy players is that Ekeler doesn’t need to practice to play in Week 3 against the Minnesota Vikings. The superstar running back is a veteran and should have no trouble playing this week without any practice time.

Should I Start Joshua Kelley?

If Ekeler can’t play again this week, Kelley will get his second consecutive start against the Vikings. The former UCLA had an excellent Week 1 performance against the Dolphins, totaling 16 rushing attempts for 91 yards and a touchdown, scoring 15.1 half-point PPR fantasy points.

Unfortunately, Kelley struggled last week against the Tennessee Titans. He had 13 rushing attempts for 39 yards in the game, scoring only 3.9 fantasy points in the loss. However, that shouldn’t discourage fantasy players from starting the veteran this week.

The Titans arguably have the top run defense in the NFL. Meanwhile, the Vikings surrendered 175 rushing yards and 25.6 fantasy points to D’Andre Swift in Week 2.

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