Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall had already been ruled out for Sunday's playoff game because of the knee injury he sustained in week 17. But a Monday MRI confirmed that Mendenhall won't play for the rest of this season and probably won't be ready for the start of next season either.
Mendenhall has a torn ACL in his right knee and will be placed on injured reserve. A source has told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that there is no other damage to the knee, and Mendenhall will undergo surgery within the next week or two. Running back Isaac Redman will now be the team's starter during the playoffs, and rookie John Clay will be his backup.

Fantasy Analysis:

It's not as severe as what happened to Adrian Peterson in week 16, but Mendenhall is a long shot to be ready for the start of the 2012 season. And even if he plays in September, he likely won't be back to his usual form until late in the year or 2013. That's just the nature of this injury. We'll see what the Steelers do in the offseason to remedy this problem. Redman had some nice performances this year and outplayed Mendenhall at times. But I can't see Pittsburgh rolling with Redman as their lead back for maybe most of 2012.