Giovani Bernard, More Updated Fantasy Outlook After Joe Mixon's Injury

Following their 34-23 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday, the Cincinnati Bengals received bad news about starting running back Joe Mixon. 

Per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo, the Bengals "fear" Mixon is going to need arthroscopic surgery on his knee. 

Backup Giovani Bernard is in line for a bigger workload and a more prominent role in the fantasy football realm.

Bernard has primarily been a third-down, pass-catching back throughout his NFL career, but if Mixon misses a significant amount of time, he will garner plenty of early-down work as well.

With Mixon on the shelf, here is a look at how the fantasy value of Bernard and other players on the Cincinnati offense will be impacted moving forward.

Giovani Bernard

The most obvious beneficiary of Mixon's trip to the injured list is Bernard, who will have a chance to show he can be a featured back.

Through two games this season, Bernard has touched the ball 12 times for 76 all-purpose yards with no touchdowns. 

Bernard was already a useful player in PPR leagues with at least 39 receptions in each of his five NFL seasons entering 2018.

Despite the presence of Mixon and Jeremy Hill last season, Bernard finished with 458 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, as well as 43 grabs for 389 yards and two more scores.

Even in games where Bernard struggles to get going on the ground, he will have a high floor due to his propensity for catching passes.

Since there is little competition for touches in the backfield with Mixon out, Bernard has big-time upside and the makings of an RB2 at worst for as long as he has the starting job to himself.

Even if the Bengals decide to go with a more air-based offensive attack without Mixon, Bernard will be a worthy fantasy play on a weekly basis, and he will be especially valuable in PPR leagues.

Andy Dalton

A starting running back going down can be detrimental to the passing game at times, but quarterback Andy Dalton actually figures to be a better fantasy asset without Mixon.

Since the Bengals invested a second-round pick in Mixon last year and seemingly have a lot of belief in him as a bell-cow back, there appears to be desire within the team to feed him the ball and give him a chance to get going with a lot of volume.

That won't necessarily be the case with Bernard as the starter since he is more of a scat back than an all-around back like Mixon.

Bernard starting will allow the Bengals to spread it out more often and put more wide receivers on the field in all situations.

That should result in more responsibility being placed on Dalton's shoulders, and some plays that may have previously been Mixon runs could turn into screens and swing passes to Bernard, as well as quick slants to the receivers.

All of that will result in more passing yardage for Dalton, and more touchdown opportunities as well. He is off to an excellent start in 2018 with 508 passing yards and six scores, including four against the Ravens. 

Dalton is still more of a fantasy backup than starter despite those numbers, especially with the Carolina Panthers defense waiting in Week 3. In the event of a favorable matchup, Dalton isn't a bad play while Mixon is out.

Cincinnati's other options in the backfield are extremely limited. Mark Walton has yet to appear in a game due to a shoulder injury. Tra Carson has appeared in each of the Bengals' first two games on special teams, but head coach Marvin Lewis hasn't used him as part of the offense.