The New York Giants slipped to 0-3 on Sunday Night Football against the Chiefs, but some very important fantasy football news came out of the matchup as well. Rookie running back Cam Skattebo continued to play a large role in the offense, and towards the end of the first quarter, Tyrone Tracy Jr. left with a potentially serious shoulder injury. In this post, we’ll take a look at the latest on Tracy’s injury status and how high Skattebo can soar if he steps into a full-time role.
The Giants face the Chargers in Week 4 at home before heading to New Orleans for a matchup in the Big Easy in Week 5. Looking further down the road, their bye week doesn’t come until all the way in Week 14, so Skattebo has the potential to be an every-week solution if he takes over the primary job.
Tyron Tracy Jr. Injury Update
Tracy caught a swing pass out of the backfield and picked up a few yards before lowering his shoulder into a pair of Chiefs defenders along the Kansas City sideline. He fell hard to the ground and immediately pointed at the injury and stayed down on the ground.
The Chiefs’ training staff came over to him, and the Giants’ training staff eventually helped him off the field, supporting the weight of his arm against his shoulder. The fact that it looked like he was unable to move his arm could indicate a subluxation or dislocation.
Here’s what ESPN’s Jordan Raanan reported about the injury on Monday at around noon:
While there is still no exact timeline, depending on the severity of the injury, he could be out for a while, since some shoulder injuries like this require surgery. Especially for a running back who takes so many hits, shoulder injuries often lead to multi-week absences.
He was questionable to return and later downgraded to out, but the team has not yet announced a timeline for his recovery. He most likely will miss time, though, just based on how the injury looked.
Cam Skattebo Fantasy Football Outlook
Skattebo was the Giants’ fourth-round pick in last year’s draft after a great college career at Arizona State. He played only eight snaps (12%) and had two carries for -3 yards in Week 1, and also caught two passes for 12 yards and finished with 2.9 fantasy points.
In Week 2, he had a much larger role, though, playing 35 snaps (52%) and finishing with 13.9 fantasy points on 11 carries for 45 yards and a touchdown, along with two catches for 14 yards.
In Week 3, he was expected to have an even larger role before the Tracy injury, and he ended up with 10 carries for 60 yards and a touchdown while adding six catches on eight targets for 61 more yards and a total of 24.1 fantasy points.
Even with Tracy getting some early work, Skattebo posted the fourth-highest running back score of the week against an extremely stout Chiefs’ run defense. His role as a receiver after Tracy left gives him immense upside and keeps his floor high regardless of game script.
The Bottom Line
Skattebo is owned in 75% of Yahoo! fantasy football leagues, and if he’s available in any of yours, he should be a top-priority pickup right away. If there’s any way to acquire him via trade, he has the potential to be a league-winning addition. He has true RB1 upside for as long as Tracy is out. If you have Skattebo on your roster, this situation makes him almost a must-start every week that Tracy is out.
Next week, he is only $5,500 in DFS contests like the NFL $3M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st]. Since the salaries came out prior to Sunday Night Football, he’ll be an outstanding value even in a tough matchup against the Chargers, who have been good against the run. He’ll likely be a chalky play with plenty of love this week, but he’s a must-play at that price if he’s lined up for the majority of the workload for the G men.
