RADIO
The 2015 fantasy season has essentially become a battle to see who the last team standing is. I mean that as close to literally as possible. There has been so many injuries and disappointing draft picks, especially at the running back position.
A week after Le'Veon Bell was lost for the season, New England running back Dion Lewis was ruled out for the remainder of the year as well. I know this isn't necessarily an injury blog but it's worth mentioning that the unbelievable amount of injuries to the RB position basically instills a "be grateful for what you have" mentality. I say that because the players listed this week are by no means cause for panic but rather guys who are going through a rough patch during otherwise productive seasons.
In short, you'll want to stick with what got you this far if you happen to own any of the following three players. The theme for this week is that each of these backs still hold value but do warrant discussion, especially if someone is willing to pay a premium to acquire them from you.
Running Backs Sending Out Warning Signals
Chris Ivory – RB, NYJ
I had added Chris Ivory to this list a few weeks ago back when he had a rough outing against the New England Patriots. Some of that was (apparently) injury related so I was willing to give him another week or two. Here we are several weeks later and I have to say I'm back to being legitimately concerned about Ivory's recent production.
Over the last three weeks Ivory hasn't exceeded 41 yards in a game, with his longest rushing attempt going for just nine yards over that span. During that time, his yards-per-rush hasn't exceeded 2.4 and was even held to just 17 yards overall against the Oakland Raiders. From a purely fantasy perspective, Ivory's most recent outing against the Jacksonville Jaguars was salvaged by scoring two touchdowns but even still, he ran 23 times for just 26 yards. Suffice it to say, Ivory is most certainly in one hell of a slump.
The thing about Ivory is that he's already shown he can be productive this season and was looking like a dependable high-end RB2 with RB1 upside. Going back to last season, however, his numbers did take a slight dip as the year progressed. He does have a decent schedule ahead of him with matchups against the Texans, Dolphins, and Giants but I'm worried his best days are already behind him. Again, this isn't the week to panic but rather the time to evaluate your team and see if anyone out there is willing to pay top dollar for the guys you have. Don't trade for the sake of trading as Ivory is definitely still a usable piece come playoff time. Just be on the lookout for an owner who sees his previous numbers and thinks he's poised for a massive late season surge that likely isn't coming.
Doug Martin – RB, TB
Similar to Chris Ivory, Doug Martin was developing into a high-end RB2 with RB1 upside prior to his most recent game against the New York Giants. Martin ended up coughing up a fumble, resulting in Charles Sims receiving some extra touches before fumbling on his own. Unlike Ivory, however, Martin has the added benefit of only having one bad showing as of late so I'm a lot less concerned about him going forward.
Prior to the game against the Giants, Martin had an average day against the Atlanta Falcons, totaling 71 yards on 23 carries. If you were to go back even further, you'd notice that the three games before Atlanta was where Martin started to explode with a trifecta of 100+ yard performances. It's for that reason I'm more inclined to chalk up the Giants game as a bump in the road for now. The Buccaneers host the Dallas Cowboys in Week 10 followed by a slightly tougher contest with the Philadelphia Eagles before heading to Indianapolis for a tasty matchup against the Colts. If Martin doesn't have solid outings against Dallas and Philly, then I'll be a lot more concerned about the game in Indy. I'm willing to hold off worrying about the self-proclaimed Douggernaut for now.
Mark Ingram – RB, NO
The last player to touch on this week is Mark Ingram of the New Orleans Saints. For the most part, Ingram has had himself a great season by making up for his somewhat low rushing totals with a decent amount of touchdowns sprinkled in. Unfortunately, he now has just one score over his last three games. It's not so much the statistic itself that concerns me but rather the manner in which his TD drought occurred.
The Saints last two games were against the Tennessee Titans and the New York Giants. The Titans are by no means a defense worth fearing and if you recall, that Giants game was a touchdown bonanza. In both of those contests, Drew Brees went absolutely nuts. For a New Orleans team that has become increasingly more balanced this season, you'd expect Ingram to find the endzone at least once in those two games.
Of the three running backs listed this week, Ingram concerns me the least for the reasons I just mentioned. The Saints are a more balanced offense and when Drew Brees is out there throwing seven touchdowns against the Giants, you should probably let him sling it all over the field until his arm falls off. You shouldn't have anything to worry about with Ingram going forward. Brees will come back down to Earth for some more reasonable numbers, opening the door for Ingram to find the endzone once again.
Updates From Last Week
Giovani Bernard – RB, CIN
I give up trying to figure out what to believe about the Cincinnati ground game. For weeks the coaching staff has said they want to lean on Jeremy Hill yet they continue to follow up one Hill-heavy game with another that looks like a timeshare. I had said last week that Bernard getting just one carry against the Steelers was a sign of things to come but instead the team went right back using both backs equally. If you own a Bengals running back you're looking at a flex play with upside. Nothing more at this point.
C.J. Spiller - RB, NO
C.J. Spiller now has a grand total of nine touches in his last two games. He's droppable in all formats if he wasn't already.
