Jonathan Dwyer, Stepfan Taylor's Fantasy Outlook After Andre Ellington Injury

One of the hot names in fantasy football this year is Arizona Cardinals running back Andre Ellington. Unfortunately for owners, the second-year back is dealing with a foot injury that clouds his outlook for the start of 2014.

According to Mike Jurecki of Fox Sports 910, Ellington's foot issue isn't news to Arizona, but it did get worse during a practice session on Thursday and an MRI was taken on Friday:

While this is bad news for those of you who already drafted Ellington, it does open the door for Arizona running backs Jonathan Dwyer and Stepfan Taylor leading into the team's Week 1 matchup against San Diego on Monday night. 

AZ Central's Kent Somers has a note on Dwyer:

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Jonathan Dwyer, in his fifth season, likely would start in place of Ellington. A free agent who played four seasons in Pittsburgh, Dwyer signed with the Cardinals this off-season and was impressive in training camp.

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Even though Ellington was poised to become the Cardinals' feature back, there's been some uncertainty about the number of times he will actually touch the ball. Darren Urban of Cardinals.com wrote on Aug. 4 that Ellington "may shoulder the offensive load, but in what ways keeps everyone guessing right now, and that includes the Cardinals."

Urban also noted in a separate report on Aug. 17 that his expectation was Dwyer would be Arizona's goal-line back. 

Dave Richard of CBSSports.com noted that if Ellington is out for an extended period of time that Dwyer should get the first crack at the starting job:

Since Dwyer was in line to get the touchdowns in Arizona's running game anyway, he immediately becomes the guy to get if you are looking for a quick solution. He's had a solid career as a backup for four years with Pittsburgh, averaging 4.2 yards per carry and filling in nicely when asked to start six games in 2012 with 623 yards and two touchdowns. 

Bruce Arians raved about the addition of Dwyer during a preseason press conference. Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com quoted the Arizona head coach as saying that the powerful back is “exactly” the player this team needs because he “can bounce it outside, he has deceptive speed for a big man.”

Taylor's role in the offense will increase, but it's unclear how much or how effective he will be. The Stanford product had just 36 carries as a rookie in 2013 for 115 yards and didn't look much better in preseason with a team-leading 22 carries for 43 yards. 

Coming out of college, Taylor's best attribute was his ability to block, as you can see in the video embedded below. There is value to that kind of player on an NFL roster, especially in Arians' offense because he likes to throw the ball deep down the field. For fantasy purposes, though, it doesn't really help anything. 

Unless something drastic changes during the course of the game against San Diego, expect Dwyer to be Arizona's workhorse back. He's had a lot of support from Arians throughout camp and is a more versatile option than Taylor. 

Neither player is good enough to be a No. 1 and Dwyer is barely good enough to be a No. 2 on the right fantasy team, but if you need depth at running back or already had Ellington on the roster, you need to grab Dwyer. 

Don't expect a lot of touches for the running backs. Last year under Arians, the Cardinals threw the ball 574 times against 422 runs. It also doesn't help the rushing attack that San Diego's defense ranked 29th in pass defense last year, so look for Arians to air it out a lot in Week 1. 

Beyond that, keep Dwyer around as a flex option because he's going to get the lion's share of the workload. He will be effective in the right matchups. 

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