Dalvin Cook: 5 Fantasy football replacements for Vikings RB

3. Wendell Smallwood, Eagles

When looking at the Philadelphia Eagles rushing attack right now, it’s really a “your guess is as good as mine” type of situation as to how they’re going to divvy up the carries among a large stable of backs. And if you look at Week 4, there’s a good chance that much of the narrative is going to be about LeGarrette Blount after he reeled off some really impressive runs, including a Beast-Mode-esque run for over 60 yards when he owned a host of defenders.

With that said, the Darren Sproles injury has opened the door for Wendell Smallwood to carve out a much bigger role. Sproles was largely used as a pass-catcher out of the backfield, a specialist to a degree. And it appears that Smallwood is the most obvious candidate to fill that void, but him being on the field more has also led to more carries as well. After combining for seven carries in Weeks 1 and 2, he got 12 totes in Week 3 (71 yards) and 10 in Week 4 (34 yards, one touchdown).

Smallwood most certainly isn’t a player that’s going to blow the rest of your league away. However, it’s becoming clear that he’s going to see a solid number of snaps and be given the chance to make some plays with the ball in his hands. Especially if you’re in a PPR league (four receptions, 45 yards in Week 4), he’d be a nice pickup.