Kalen Ballage (RB, MIA) - Week 16 Waiver Wire Pickups

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ANALYSIS: In the nine games that he had played in for the Dolphins to kick off his rookie campaign, former Arizona State Sun Devil Kalen Ballage had amassed all of eleven rushing yards on eight attempts out of the backfield with zero trips to the end-zone. Miami had made some mild attempts to diversify Ballage's on-field use, but with little practical avail to the tune of six receptions (albeit, out of six targets) good for only 16 yards and a single kick-off return for (coincidentally) 16 yards. Behind Frank Gore and Kenyan Drake who took up most of the carries and backfield-receptions between them, there wasn't too much room for Ballage to thrive. That all changed last week when, after Frank Gore exited the game with an injury, Ballage exploded for 123 rushing yards across twelve carries including an awe-inspiring 75-yard touchdown run.

While those kinds of circumstances would seem to make him a perfect flash-in-the-pan candidate, he will likely receive the reigns as the Dolphins main backfield weapon for the rest of the regular season when considering the facts that Gore's foot injury will sideline him for the remainder of the campaign and Drake has primarily served in the pass-catcher role having only taken seven carries for 30 yards in the last two contests. The Dolphins are fighting for their postseason lives in their last two regular season outings, and they are no doubt excited by the spark that Kalen Ballage could provide against the struggling Jaguars and Buffalo Bills to close out the campaign. Even with minimal effective involvement in the Ryan Tannehill-led passing game, him receiving the bulk of the hand-offs and his ability to break free make him a dangerous asset for fantasy football managers looking to end on the year on their best foot.