The Falcons placed RB Cordarrelle Patterson on injured reserve on Monday, creating some decisions to make for fantasy football owners.
Patterson, who is sidelined with a knee injury, isn't expected to miss the rest of the season, but rather a minimum of four games.
The utility asset has totaled 340 yards and four touchdowns on the ground in addition to four receptions for 28 yards.
Up next on the running back depth chart: Tyler Allgeier and Caleb Huntley.
Allgeier has been a clear second choice at RB for the Falcons, amassing 139 yards on 26 carries. Huntley, meanwhile, has tallied 59 yards on 11 carries.
For analysis on the impact Patterson's injury has on Atlanta's backfield and fantasy owners, experts Samantha Previte and Sean Koerner detail their thoughts below.
Samantha Previte's Fantasy Football Analysis
The Falcons leaned heavily on their run game after quarterback Marcus Mariota threw a pick in the third quarter on Sunday, giving further indication that Allgeier and Huntley could get short-term boosts in production with Patterson's injury.
The duo is rostered at 16% and 0% in Yahoo! leagues, respectively.
Atlanta running backs accounted for most of the team's total offense in its 23-20 win over the Browns. Between Allgeier and Huntley, the former had 10 carries for 84 yards and the latter tacked on 10 carries for 56 yards and a touchdown. Allgeier also added one catch for 20 yards.
Both running backs had better fantasy days than the sum of Kyle Pitts and Drake London, which is an indictment on the Falcons' passing game. We may see a heavy emphasis on the run, and I prioritize Allgeier over Huntley of the two.
Sean Koerner's Updated Allgeier/Huntley Rankings
For Week 5, Sean Koerner has Allgeier ranked as his RB35 and Huntley his RB44.
Allgeier shared rushing duties with Huntley and operated as the main pass-catching back when Patterson went down. Allgeier is kind of like a discount James Conner, so view him that way — just without the massive TD upside. The downside for him is Mariota hasn't been targeting RBs in the passing game.
Huntley was more of the short-yardage/goal-line back. That could be a problem on a team that won't score many TDs, especially this week in Tampa Bay.
