Melvin Gordon, Royce Freeman Fantasy Outlook After Phillip Lindsay Injury

The Denver Broncos' running back rotation may have gotten a little less crowded Sunday when Phillip Lindsay suffered a concussion during the game against the Kansas City Chiefs, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Outside of the Broncos, the injury could have a lasting impact in fantasy circles.

Lindsay already left Denver's Week 1 loss to the Tennessee Titans with turf toe, which cleared the way for Melvin Gordon to put up impressive numbers with 15 carries for 78 yards and one touchdown. He also mixed in three catches for eight yards.

There was no question he was the workhorse running back without Lindsay, as Royce Freeman had just one carry and one catch.

Gordon was surely already on fantasy rosters before this latest setback to Lindsay.

After all, he is a two-time Pro Bowler who ran for 1,105 yards in 2017 for the Los Angeles Chargers. He has been an RB2 for fantasy players a number of times throughout his career, although there were some questions about how much he would split carries with Lindsay in his first year with the Broncos.

If Lindsay is sidelined, fantasy players will not have to worry about those questions and shouldn't hesitate at all to put or keep Gordon in the starting lineup.

The same cannot be said about Freeman, even if he is elevated on the depth chart without Lindsay.

The Oregon product has been a solid secondary option since he entered the league as a third-round pick in 2018, but he has never established himself as a long-term starter and someone with a high fantasy ceiling.

If the Broncos didn't bring Gordon in this offseason, an injury to Lindsay would likely clear the way for Freeman to become a fantasy weapon. Instead, he had just one carry in that Titans game and is clearly behind Gordon in the pecking order.

It is still not worth starting Freeman even with Lindsay sidelined.