Update (9/8): Ellington practiced Sunday on a limited basis per general manager Steve Keim, but is still a game-time decision for tonight's tilt against the San Diego Chargers. Owners who have been holding out hope for Ellington to start better also hope they have a different option to swap in if Ellington is out. Jonathan Dwyer is the top option within the Cardinals own backfield, so if your league allows you to still add/drop and he's available pick him up immediately. The team's inactives will come out roughly 90 minutes prior to kickoff (8:50 p.m. Easter time) and you can get the latest scoop on Ellington with our updated tracker.
Update (9/7): According to azcentral.com, Andre Ellington could play on Monday night against the San Diego Chargers. This is good news for owners who have been dancing with the fantasy devil, hoping Ellington would start. Still, a cautious approach is always advisable in situations such as this, so if you have someone else you can slot in that might be the way to go. We'll update you with more as news comes in.
Fantasy owners woke up Friday morning to a disheartening report. Arizona Cardinals running back (and potential fantasy breakout) Andre Ellington was undergoing an MRI on his foot. Ellington has a lengthy injury history from his time at Clemson, which is part of the reason he fell to the sixth round in the 2013 NFL Draft. A few hours later, however, it appears as if the Cardinals and fantasy owners have dodged an early season torpedo.
This is good news and bad news. Ellington owners will be tortured all the way to and during the Cardinals' Monday night tilt against the San Diego Chargers. Unless they are fortunate enough to also have the likes of another viable Arizona or San Diego player on their roster, their options are to sit Ellington outright, pick up Jonathan Dwyer or roll the dice and hope Ellington plays. None of those options are particularly enticing, although if Dwyer gets the nod he could be unspectacularly effective and get the goal-line looks. Of course, if Ellington starts there is the potential for a big night against the Chargers, who gave up almost 20 fantasy points to running backs on the road in 2013.
The bad news is that at 5-foot-9, 199 pounds there were already worries about Ellington staying healthy with an increased workload in 2014. The fact that he is already carrying a foot injury into the season doesn't bode well for him to play a full 16 games as, well, feet are rather crucial to a running back's success (talk about a hot take, right?). Cautious owners could try to sell high on Ellington and move him via trade, but I'd advise against that as we still don't know enough about the extent of the injury. There are rumblings that it is a muscle injury, but we should wait until the team gives us the official word. For now, Ellington's upside and potential in the Arizona offense are reasons enough to stash him and hope he delivers on the high-ish draft pick owners sacrificed to get him.
UPDATE:Cardinals' coach Bruce Arians said on Saturday that he is optimistic for Ellington's chances of playing on Monday night. The running back was a limited participant in practice Saturday, a major upgrade from not participating at all on Friday. Still, Ellington is officially questionable and remains a game-time decision. Fantasy owners need to decide to start another running back in his place on Sunday or anxiously sweat this one out, which could be risky.
-- Follow Alex on Twitter @AlexGelhar
