Indianapolis Colts star running back Jonathan Taylor will not play against the Denver Broncos on Thursday Night Football due to an ankle injury suffered against the TennesseeTitans on Sunday.
Taylor, who was taken at the top, or near the top, of essentially every fantasy football draft this season, has just one touchdown through four weeks this season, but still leaves a massive hole for managers to fill in his absence.
To make matters worse, there is no clear backup running back in Indianapolis for fantasy football managers to lean on, with Nyheim Hines, Phillip Lindsay and Deon Jackson all potentially in the mix.
Exacerbating the situation is the fact that the Colts play on Thursday night, forcing fantasy football managers to make lineup decisions based on Indy's running backs very soon.
With this in mind, I leverage the Action Network's updated fantasy football rankings for Week 5 to determine who our experts recommend starting tonight.
Nyheim Hines Fantasy Football Start or Sit?
Of the three running backs who could see action on Thursday night, Hines is the highest ranked among our fantasy football analysts.
Checking in as RB32 in standard scoring, Hines is a low-end RB3 or high-end RB4 depending on the number of teams in your league.
Phillip Lindsay Fantasy Football Start or Sit?
At RB43, Lindsay is a bit further down our running back rankings than Hines, but many fantasy football managers may not have a choice when it comes to a spot start while Taylor is out.
Sure, in an ideal world managers would have the option to go with Hines instead, but that always isn't the case based on waiver priorities and options on the bench.
Deon Jackson Fantasy Football Start or Sit?
And if you're really in a pickle, Jackson could be a running back option in Week 5 as well.
Jackson is listed as RB67 for Week 5 in standard leagues, which puts him in Hail Mary territory for desperate fantasy football managers struggling to replace Taylor.
