The Chargers placed Gus Edwards (ankle) on IR on Saturday, meaning the veteran running back will miss at least four weeks. That leaves a hole in the L.A. backfield alongside J.K. Dobbins ($6,200), who has been effective as the team’s No. 1 running back. One very interesting fantasy football option to stash is rookie running back Kimani Vidal ($4,000), who is ready to make his NFL debut, according to Chargers’ coach Jim Harbaugh.
Vidal slid to the sixth round in last year’s draft but landed in a great spot in this run-heavy attack. While Dobbins will likely continue to get most of the work, Vidal could mix in since Edwards was playing about 25%-45% of snaps depending on the week.
The Chargers have a history of developing running backs from smaller schools, like Austin Ekeler from Western Colorado. Vidal was an absolute workhorse the past few seasons for Troy, where he was a three-year starter and set pretty much all the school records while scoring 34 touchdowns. Last year, he had seven games with at least 100 yards and totaled 1,661 yards on 297 carries, finishing with the second-most rushing yards in the country.
Vidal hasn’t been active yet this season and could still be behind Hassan Haskins ($4,000) on the depth chart. However, Haskins hasn’t done much with his limited looks, while Vidal impressed this preseason, including racking up 49 yards on 11 carries in the second preseason game against the Rams, including runs like this:
If you’re looking to get ahead of a running back rush, Vidal is a great scoop and stash off the waiver wire for this week. He’s not startable in any formats yet, but is just a Dobbins’ injury away from taking over a huge workload in an effective offense.
Even if he’s just in a timeshare with Dobbins, he’ll be borderline flex material in the coming weeks.
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