Einstein's Dog

Okay if you must wait - Ekeler missed practice Thursday. I'm thinking with a couple days of reflection Ekeler now realizes he was rushed back in for the teams benefit. With the game on the line LAC sent him back in even though he had an injured ankle. Time for him to have his own doctors give him advice - he's on a one year contract.

And so it begins....missed today's practice. If it happened on the play I saw, the Chargers put him back in for 3 or 4 more plays afterwards. My Ekeler scenario (as a J Kelley proponent) thinks he is getting his ankle checked out by his own doctor. A disgruntled Ekeler probably will not play hurt like he says he did in 2022. Decent chance IMO this becomes a case of the dreaded sprained ankle. J Kelley looks like he was already going to have value in standard leagues anyway. With the changes in OC to K Moore, it looked like more time for Kelley and Kelley was going to be getting more of the short yardage . According to the article from Christopher Allen on the waiver wire report, in short yardage situations (considered 3 or fewer yards) Kelley had 5 attempts to Ekeler's 2. And Red Zone attempts were 5-4 in favor of Kelley.

Be aware that K Gainwell may be injured. He hasn't practiced yet this week according to the notification I got today. And Philly plays on Thiursday.

Yes, I think Ekeler will miss time. I think that may be sooner than most others think - like he suffered a high ankle sprain in the last game. I saw a view of the play I think it occurred on, from that point Ekeler had about 3 or 4 more carries and JK got about 7. It would make sense the staff is downplaying it because they sent him back out there after it occurred. If that's the case they will slow roll the information. Ekeler will probably have his own doctors evaluate him and the odds go up he sits. The angle from the team will be Ekeler is being overly cautious and the angle from Ekelar is the team was reckless and putting his career in danger. And yes, as long as Ekeler is starting Kelley's ceiling is limited. But even still I think I would prefer him over Akers and K Williams (going against SF), and over any RB on Indy at the moment.

Disagree. J Kelley has the potential to be driving force behind league winners. If/when the disgruntled Ekeler finds an injury worth holding out on, J Kelley shoots up to easily a top 10, maybe top 5 RB. J Kelley looks to have stand alone value right now as the 1b RB in LAC. For instance, for this week I rate J Kelley above both C Akers and K Williams (who play SF).

No update yet on Ekelers tweaked ankle. The podcast I heard downplayed the injury saying it was only Wed practice that was being talked about being missed. While Ekeler may be a beast the first week may be showing that LAC, now under OC Moore, will use J Kelley more. First week 91 yds on 16 carries and a TD while LAC had a fairly healthy Ekeler. After week 1 it looks like LAC will have a porous defense, explosive offense, be involved in plenty of shootouts. And J Kelley may have an active role. I tend to believe the outlook gathered for LAC after week 1 more than information gathered on the Rams from week 1.

I think Joshua Kelley is the answer. He just did well with Ekeler in the lineup. JK will be an RB1 when Ekeler hits the sideline. The Rams are going to stink and be in a committee. I have the second pick and hope he is still there.

T Hill is criminally underrated and an incredible value in standard leagues playing with a TE designation. Hill scored a TD in 8 different games last year, so the one game blowup criticism is misguided. Hill scored 7 of New Orleans 12 rushing TDs last year. Hill averaged 7.4 fpg's - better than Engram/Ertz/Goedert With Kamara being out it seems like the short term looks bright. Don't forget New Orleans is paying Hill around $10M/yr, they should be motivated to use him.