RADIO
Texans running back Mark Ingram is a fantasy football waiver wire pickup to target as a free agent addition for Week 2 of the 2021 NFL season.
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ANALYSIS: The Houston Texans are fresh off of a resounding Week One win over Urban Meyer, Trevor Lawrence, and the division-rival Jacksonville Jaguars at the hands of veteran dual-threat QB Tyrod Taylor and a rag-tag set of skill players: David Johnson, Phillip Lindsay, Rex Burkhead, Brandin Cooks, Danny Amendola, Chris Conley, and their usual two-TE scheme. Rag-tag or not; if you need to have confidence in a member of this backfield moving forward, it should be three-time Pro Bowler and 2009 Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram II. The eleventh-year professional is extremely used to working in a crowded, versatile backfield where folks feared he'd get lost in the mix, so after eight seasons with the Saints and two with the Ravens, the Texans backfield must read incredibly straightforward to the Bama alum. Against the Jaguars, Ingram took 26 carries for 85 yards and a touchdown while the next closest in attempts was Lindsay (eight carries, 25 yards, one TD), Taylor (four runs for 40 yards), and finally Johnson, who took just three carries for ten yards.
It's true that Ingram didn't have the most efficient night from the ground and that Ingram and Lindsay both failed to reel in their lone pass target from Taylor while Burkhead and Johnson got a little involved through the air, but Ingram was just as efficient on each carry as the other Houston backs while sustaining it for a longer sample size (and across the goal line). Tyrod Taylor has always been one for big plays, but his throw-count is consistently kept in check; so unless your name is Brandin Cooks, hoping for more than five targets a game will probably disappoint. Fortunately, this isn't in our universe of concern for Ingram. Johnson and Burkhead are best utilized as catch-first backs or 50/50 catch/carry options, while Lindsay's last season in Denver coupled with his mediocre start in Texas have left him in no position to relieve anyone of their carries for the time being. From 2014 to his first season in Baltimore (2019), Mark Ingram II quietly put up 7,265 total yards from scrimmage (about 1,211 per year) and 59 RRTD (9.8 per year), never producing less than 815 yards and six touchdowns in a given season. With a role neatly carved out for him in Houston, don't let yourself end up surprised by Mark Ingram again.
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