RADIO
Do my eyes deceive me or did we finally make it through an entire week of football without a major injury to a running back? How about that, it looks like that checks out. It only took ten full weeks but we finally had ourselves a Sunday that didn't involve us clutching our chests hoping a key rusher isn't lost for the season.
Thankfully, that makes this weeks Warning Signals a little easier to digest given the pleasantly surprising clean bill of health across the board. Sure, there are some minor hiccups here and there but overall running backs are looking rather fresh for the first time in a while. The only drawback to that is that there really isn't any more room for excuses. You're either performing as you should or you aren't.
As a preview for what you're about to read this week, the theme is somewhat similar to Week 10; these are players that should be okay long term. They all just so happen to be dealing with an unexpected rough patch at this point in the season. You shouldn't panic but that doesn't mean you can't analyze their current value, especially this close to the fantasy playoffs.
Running Backs Sending Out Warning Signals
Marshawn Lynch – RB, SEA
Out of the top five running backs drafted in fantasy this year, only Adrian Peterson has truly lived up to expectations thus far. In case you need a refresher, here's how the rest of that bunch has turned out; Le'Veon Bell tore his MCL , Jamaal Charles tore his ACL, and Eddie Lacy has been abysmal.
That leaves us with Marshawn Lynch, a back who has dealt with some injuries of his own this year but has played through them for the most part. He hasn't been great by any means but at least he's still on the field and he hasn't been nearly as bad as Eddie Lacy. Still, in looking at Lynch's numbers you'd notice that he's only exceeded 100 rushing yards once thus far and has just three touchdowns on the year. Those are disappointing stats by his standards so I understand if you're bummed about his production. That said, you're not going to bench him and you're not going to trade him unless you can get top dollar.
What I'm getting at here is that Lynch is just fine for what he is at this point. He's clearly declining a bit but he's still a serviceable RB1. There are others who have surpassed him by a mile (Todd Gurley, Devonta Freeman) while others who have fallen far behind him for a variety of reasons (Bell, Charles, Lacy). In short, you should be able to hang tough with Lynch once you make the playoffs. I will say, however, that handcuffing a guy like Lynch is absolutely essential. If you don't own Thomas Rawls be sure scoop him up if he's still available on the waiver wire. Just ask Bell and Charles owners how that turned out for them. You don't want to be stuck without a reliable backup in Week 13.
James Starks – RB, GB
Let's face it, the Green Bay Packers have been struggling mightily as of late. After three straight losses, I would imagine that every facet of the offense will be under review as they head into a huge game with the Minnesota Vikings in Week 11. The passing game is a different conversation for a different article so we should stick with our theme here and just focus on the team's rushing attack.
The stars couldn't have aligned any more perfectly for James Starks in Week 10. Head coach Mike McCarthy had come out and said that Starks had earned the top spot on the depth chart, it was a cake matchup against a weak Detroit defense, and Eddie Lacy ended up missing this game with an injury. If Starks couldn't go off against the Lions under those circumstances surely he isn't the man for the job, right?
Not so fast. The fact of the matter is the Detroit Lions came to play defensively and like I said previously, the Packers were already struggling on offense to begin with. In fact, over that three game losing streak only Aaron Rodgers (shocker) has been a usable fantasy commodity. Other than that, Green Bay has disappointed across the board. It's likely not going to improve immediately for Starks against the Vikings so you should look ahead before expecting a bounce back. With games against the Bears, Lions, Cowboys, and Raiders left, you're looking at a decent schedule to end the year. As a Starks owner myself, I'm probably going to sit him this week and hope the team is able to right the ship offensively against Chicago.
DeAngelo Williams – RB, PIT
I'm going to try to keep this one short and sweet. We've already seen just how productive DeAngelo Williams can be in the absence of starter Le'Veon Bell so the only real reason he made the list this week is because he had a disappointing outing against a terrible Cleveland run defense. Williams had just 54 rushing yards with zero touchdowns in what should have been a much bigger day for him. Having said that, Ben Roethlisberger came in relief duty at quarterback for the injured Landry Jones and simply obliterated the Browns secondary. That was more than enough for the Steelers to win this game so it's best to chalk this game up to an issue of strategy and game flow. Those things happen in fantasy. It might not be a great matchup in Seattle after Pittsburgh's bye but you're still going to trot DeAngelo out there if you own him.
Updates From Last Week
Chris Ivory – RB, NYJ
Chris Ivory didn't find the endzone against the Bills on Thursday night but he did manage to rack up 99 yards on 18 carries. It's looking like he's still the team's workhorse back which is reassuring after a few sub-par outings. He might not be flirting with RB1 status anymore but he's still locked in as a high-end RB2 with upside. With injuries to both Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brandon Marshall, it's possible that Ivory is in line for a big game against Houston on Sunday as the team will likely have to lean a little more heavily on the run.
Doug Martin – RB, TB
It would appear that the expected bounce back to Doug Martin's rookie form was premature as he's now turned in three consecutive disappointing showings. He too is no longer in the RB1 conversation and has come crashing back down to Earth as a low-end RB2. Martin is still usable given the right circumstances; he's just not going to be the superstar many thought he would turn back into this season.
Mark Ingram – RB, NO
The New Orleans Saints got absolutely destroyed by the Washington Redskins on Sunday so it's not really all that shocking that the offense didn't turn in a superb fantasy day. The only real key player to put up big numbers was Brandin Cooks so I'm willing to give Mark Ingram another week to show us what he can do. He did manage one huge 70-yard run but he also only had five carries. That had a lot to do with the fact that the Redskins were torching a defense formerly coordinated by Rob Ryan. The Saints are on a bye this week so it'll be a while before we start talking about Mark Ingram again.
