Justin Jackson (RB, LAC) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues

ROSTERED: 5% of Leagues

ANALYSIS: Austin Ekeler was off to a tremendous start to 2020 in his usual role as a dual-threat running back for the Los Angeles Chargers. So naturally, because it is definitely one of those seasons across the league, he had to exit the Chargers' Week Four contest against Tampa Bay with a hamstring injury that will keep him sidelined for four to six weeks. Los Angeles isn't left without options in the backfield: Joshua Kelley is off to a sterling start of his own in a dual-threat role similar to that of Ekeler's, and rookie QB Justin Herbert has accumulated 47 rushing yards and a touchdown in his own right over three games.

Having said that, Ekeler's absence takes a big chunk out of the Chargers' weekly plan for touch-distribution, and that could mean a wide window of opportunity is opening for the third option in the Charger backfield, Justin Jackson. It is true that, to this point, Jackson's place in the backfield pecking order was little more than an afterthought, as he saw the field for just 15% of the team's offensive snaps in Week One against the Bengals and didn't participate at all in the two games leading up to the matchup with Tom Brady's Buccaneers. However, once Ekeler exited late in the first quarter, LA wasted no time in getting the third-year back involved, putting him in the game for 40% of the team's snaps on offense and taking six carries for (an albeit lackluster) nine yards, while also notching two receptions on two targets, good for 12 yards.

He wouldn't be a Chargers RB if he couldn't operate just as well in the passing game, and while the sample size for his career is limited, the fact that he entered the 2020 season with 406 rushing yards and two TDs on 79 carries in conjunction with 157 receiving yards from 24 catches in 30 targets over 20 games from 2018-2019 paints a promising picture for the production he can offer with an uptick in usage. It's a big week for understudy running backs stepping in for their fallen headliners, and Justin Jackson is receiving the least amount of hype for the group, but he is an excellent option in filling a void in the Charger's offense that he is quite familiar with.

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