Jonathan Dwyer's Fantasy Outlook vs. Chargers on Monday Night Football

When it was revealed Arizona Cardinals running back Andre Ellington suffered a foot injury during practice that could potentially keep him out for several weeks, fantasy owners everywhere were crushed. With Ellington's status in doubt for the team's Monday Night Football contest against the San Diego Chargers, backup Jonathan Dwyer may be a necessary replacement in some fantasy lineups.

If you find yourself in that situation, here's what you need to know before he takes to the gridiron in the NFL's final Week 1 game.

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

First off, one big question remains: How likely is it that Ellington will play? According to general manager Steve Keim during an interview with Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, via John Weinfuss of ESPN.com, Ellington appears to be a game-time decision:

Said Keim, "We'll talk with our medical staff and training staff and test it out tonight and see if he can go. But aside from that, without having a medical background, it's hard to say at this point."

Due to Ellington's need to rely on his shiftiness, we can speculate the odds of him starting are less than 50 percent. That means Dwyer is in line for the bulk of the work out of the backfield.

A former Pittsburgh Steeler, Dwyer is very familiar with head coach Bruce Arians' system due to their time together in Pennsylvania, when the coach was the offensive coordinator. Many onlookers think of Dwyer as a bruising between-the-tackles runner—which may be true, as Brad Evans of Yahoo Sports tweeted his take:

Although, one big stat is missing there—and it's rather surprising. During his four years in Pittsburgh, Dwyer scored a total of two touchdowns. Let that sink in for a moment.

For fantasy purposes, we can't consider Dwyer a favorable option due to his running style because he's never been a goal-line back. This tweet from Sports Illustrated pretty much sums up the situation:

While starting Dwyer certainly isn't ideal, some fantasy owners just won't have another option.

He doesn't have an ideal matchup against the Chargers on Monday. San Diego finished the 2013 season ranked 12th against the run, allowing an average of 107.8 yards per game on the ground. The Chargers were last year's 11th-ranked team against opposing running backs in fantasy points allowed, giving up an average of 16.8 per game, via FFToday.com.

Unfortunately, while Dwyer may not be capable of that kind of fantasy production—especially due to his scoring history—Stepfan Taylor may vulture a few points from him as well. A tweet from 4for4.com Fantasy expanded on the situation:

Neither Dwyer nor Taylor is exactly a sexy option out of the backfield, so a pass-happy Cardinals team should be expected to keep pace with a prolific Chargers offense with an aerial attack of its own. With the possibility of both a passing frenzy and Taylor cutting into Dwyer's reps, expectations must be tempered on Monday night.

Start him if you must, but don't expect double-digit fantasy points in standard-scoring leagues.