NFL Fantasy Football Outlook: How will Leonard Fournette's injury impact Buccaneers season?

Leonard Fournette's fantasy football impact after missing rest of fantasy season with injury

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' season was put into jeopardy after their loss to the New Orleans Saints in Week 15. It wasn't the impact on the Buccaneers' winning record that affected the team, but instead the physical loss of several star offensive players: Chris Godwin is out for the season, Mike Evans is questionable for Week 16 and the biggest loss was running back Leonard Fournette, who is likely to miss at least the rest of the regular season.

Leonard Fournette has gone from being RB39 last season to a top-five fantasy football running back in 2021. He had 811 rushing yards, 454 receiving yards, and 10 touchdowns in total prior to his hamstring injury. He was an intricate part of Tampa Bay's offense and passing game, which leaves a large hole on the depth chart and many fantasy football rosters.

With the fantasy football playoffs are already underway, losing any starting player is not good news. Leonard Fournette has been a workhorse in fantasy this season and his absence will affect many matchups moving forward. Fournette was a solid RB1 who had at least 13 fantasy football points in his six games and only had less than 10 points twice this season. In deep leagues, losing Leonard Fournette could mean losing the championship. In standard leagues, it still sets you back but you should be able to counter his loss.

His rookie backup, Ke'Shawn Vaughn, was a dud when he filled in for Leonard Fournette against the Saints. Ronald Jones will get the starting snaps but has been too inconsistent and is not a threat in the passing game. Tampa Bay signed Le'Veon Bell, but he is no more than a desperate FLEX option in Week 16.

With Chris Godwin and Mike Evans likely out as well, it's hard to play any Buccaneers player in Week 16. Tom Brady is Tom Brady, but his best receiver will be tight end Rob Gronkowski and he won't have a reliable check-down target in the backfield to help move the chains.

If you are in need of some replacement options for Leonard Fournette ahead of Week 16, the following running backs are good waiver wire pickups on Wednesday:

• Craig Reynolds - Detroit Lions
• Samaje Perine - Cincinnati Bengals
• Ameer Abdullah - Minnesota Vikings
• Duke Johnson - Miami Dolphins
• DeeJay Dallas - Seattle Seahawks