After Andre Ellington aggravated his left foot in practice on Thursday, and reports are ranging from “he could be out for an extended period of time” to “he still has a chance to play in Week 1.”

I’m not even close to a doctor, so I won’t speculate how big or small this foot injury is. I do analyze fantasy football though, and Andre Ellington being sidelined for any sort of time is a big deal. So let’s look at what that means.

Dwyer's Time

There’s plenty of optimism surrounding Ellington as we enter the 2014 season. Because of his big-play ability, he ranked eighth among the 47 100-plus attempt running backs last year in terms of Rushing compares physically to a player like Mark Ingram. It'd be interesting to see him play with some more volume, but if Ellington is indeed out, the team will more than likely give the majority of touches to Jonathan Dwyer, the man second on their depth chart.

Though Dwyer’s metrics look horrendous – and they are – a key point to make is that the Steelers offensive line was borderline atrocious during his time in Pittsburgh. When he received significant carries in 2012 and 2013 (156 and 49, respectively), Dwyer outperformed every Pittsburgh running back on a per touch basis outside of Le’Veon Bell. Given his low per-touch Rushing NEP score, it just goes to show how poorly the Steelers have run the ball over the last couple of seasons.

Dwyer hasn’t been horribly inefficient through the air, either. In terms of Reception NEP per target, which measures the number of points added on all catches divided by the number of targets a player sees, Dwyer’s efficiency is right around the league’s average.

The important thing here is that, while Jonathan Dwyer isn't a special talent, Stepfan Taylor may not be, either. And given his experience both in the NFL and under Bruce Arians, who once coordinator the Steeler offense, Dwyer should be the guy to add if you're looking for someone to replace Ellington in your lineup.

In Week 1, Arizona faces a San Diego rush defense that ranked 31st according to our metrics last year. If we hear that Ellington is out prior to Sunday lineups being locked - remember, Arizona plays on Monday night - playing Dwyer wouldn't be the worst move in the world given potential volume. If you're in a shallow league, however, you really should have better options.