Michael Badgley injury update: How to handle the Chargers kicker vs. the Colts

Editor’s update: The Chargers downgraded Michael Badgley to doubtful and he is not expected to play on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts. Ty Long will handle the kicking in his place.

The Los Angeles Chargers added kicker Michael Badgley’s name to the injury report on Friday. He suffered a groin injury in practice, and his status for this Sunday’s opener against the Colts is up in the air as of Saturday.

Badgley was a revelation for the Chargers last season. In 2017, the Chargers barely manage to make two-thirds of their field goal attempts. They started last season on the same foot (pun intended) when Caleb Sturgis made a not-so-nice 69% of his field-goal attempts and a pathetic 60% of his extra-point kicks through the first six games. The Chargers signed Badgley off the scrapheap and never looked back.

In 10 games, he set four franchise records for kicking, including the longest field goal in franchise history (59 yards against the Bengals in Week 14) and five field goals in the Chargers’ Wild Card round win over the Ravens.

Badgley was a top-10 kicker for fantasy coming into the season.

Fantasy impact: In real life, kickers are the true heroes. In fantasy, their interchangeable parts. The fact that Badgley injured his groin on Friday doesn’t bode well for him this week. You better find another leg, lest your fantasy dreams get the boot.