Darrell Henderson Injury Update Still Leaves Sony Michel Fantasy Outlook Shaky Today

Darrell Henderson opened the season as the clear RB1 in the Los Angeles Rams' backfield, but it's going to be Sony Michel's turn in Week 3.

Adam Schefter reports that Henderson is not expected to play due to his rib injury, and that gives Michel's fantasy football outlook a boost against the Tampa bay Buccaneers on Sunday. That doesn't necessarily make Michel a must-play in fantasy, however.

Henderson was getting a workhorse role to open the season, seeing 17 opportunities (16 carries plus 1 target) on 94% of the Rams' offensive snaps in Week 1 then 18 opportunities before making an early exit with the injury in Week 2.

Michel went on to handle every single one of the Rams' final 10 carries after Henderson went down, and he's the clear next man up, with little competition for volume.

This boost in value doesn't suddenly make him a must-start option. Michel is a one-dimensional back who has caught only 26 passes since 2018. That means you're going to need some serious efficiency out of him to return a big day in fantasy.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will make that difficult. The Bucs have opened the year ranking 11th in Pro Football Focus' run defense grade, which is right in line with the grade they received in 2020 when they allowed the fourth-fewest fantasy points per game to opposing running backs.

If you're in a bind you can go ahead and start Michel, but his value will likely depend on whether he scores a touchdown or not.

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Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.