Tim Hightower Injury: What Is Fantasy Effect on Ryan Torain, John Beck?

Frustration with the Washington Redskins running back corps is par for the course for fantasy GMs now that the Shanahans run the show. However, far more frustrating than trying to divine how many carries Tim Hightower may or may not get is the fact that he's now out for the season with a torn ACL.

That leaves fellow backs Ryan Torain and Roy Helu to manage the bulk of the carries, granted that head coach Mike Shanahan doesn't throw a third player back into the mix.

While most everyone believed that Torain would be the starting running back in the team's Week 7 game, Hightower was practically the lone back until leaving the game with the knee injury.

Torain and Helu both struggled against the Carolina Panthers, even for having such a limited workload. Helu had one carry for negative one yard and two receptions for six yards, while Torain had two rushes for negative five yards.

However, this doesn't mean that Helu, and especially Torain, have no fantasy value. In fact, the value of the two backs have skyrocketed because of Hightower's injury, with Torain benefiting the most. Torain will be the feature back with Helu getting the third down carries moving forward.

Both backs need to be owned in fantasy leagues, and if you're one of Hightower's owners, or an owner of one of the myriad running backs who were injured in Week 7, it's recommended you pick up one of these guys.

And if you've been stashing one of them on your bench, now's the time to give him the start.

Quarterback John Beck's already marginal fantasy value falls but not because of the injury to Hightower.

Beck, who was named the starter after the benching of Rex Grossman in Week 6, had 279 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception in his team's loss Sunday against the Panthers—with much of that yardage coming in garbage time.

And now he's without his main target, wide receiver Santana Moss, who is out for at least five weeks after breaking his hand versus the Panthers and having surgery this morning to repair it.

Beck was already a desperation start in standard leagues—nothing more than a bye-week replacement for those owners who grabbed their backup quarterback in the last minute—or an uninspiring QB1 in the deepest of leagues, but now, without Moss, his value slides even further.

Better news is in store for owners of tight end Fred Davis, who will now clearly become Beck's number one target. Yes, this helps Beck's value not fall into the basement, but it's hardly a compelling argument for starting him.