Chris Carson has finished as the RB7 and
RB9 the last two weeks and gets a tasty matchup with KC.
Grab a Helmet
Jaylen
Samuels @ NO: I’ll be without Aaron Jones for the championship
tilt this weekend as the Packers’ dynamo was placed on IR Wednesday
following a painfully brief Week 15 performance (sprained knee).
That would have left me dangerously thin at RB had James Conner
been able to get back on the field for Pittsburgh this Sunday,
instantly devaluing Samuels, a Week 15 breakout and my new RB2.
As of this writing, however, Conner is highly doubtful, meaning
Samuels, who exploded for 142 rushing yards on 19 carries, is
once again set to handle a sizeable workload for the Steelers.
We can’t expect another 142 at the Superdome and it would actually
be foolish to expect even 100. The Saints haven’t allowed a single
back to notch triple digits this season. I’m confident the multi-talented
Samuels can contribute as a receiver, however, in a game the Steelers
need. Start him.
Jamaal
Williams @ NYJ: The best news for Aaron Jones owners
who nabbed Green Bay’s next man up, Jamaal Williams? Aaron Rodgers
has decided to play in the Pack’s final two games. One could hardly
blame him or Green Bay’s leadership for wanting to play it safe,
but Rodgers was right to keep grinding since he gets paid a lot
of money to do exactly that and two games is 13%-ish of a regular
season. Williams isn’t the back Aaron Jones is and could really
have struggled with Deshone Kizer under center, but he’s a more
polished receiver whom Rodgers trusts, holds up well in the red
zone, and has very little in the way of competition for carries
with Jones on the shelf. The Green and Gold grabbed Kapri Bibbs
off the waiver wire Monday, but otherwise have no other running
backs on the roster (unless you count fullbacks).
Chris
Carson v. KC: Seattle’s got a stable of viable running
backs, including a guy they were willing to spend a first round
pick on in April’s draft (Rashaad Penny). Yet, with two weeks
to go in the season, it’s a guy who was four picks away from being
last year’s Mr. Irrelevant who leads the NFL’s most prolific rushing
team in all major rushing categories (attempts, yardage, and touchdowns).
Carson’s carried the ball twice as often as Penny or Mike Davis,
despite missing a couple games, and is coming off back-to-back
22-carry performances which netted him 35+ fantasy points. That’s
about as reliable as it gets this time of year. The ‘Hawks kicked
away a chance to lock down a playoff berth last Sunday and now
get the Chiefs at CenturyLink. You beat KC by keeping Pat Mahomes
off the field and Carson’s just the guy to do it.
Grab a Gatorade
Adrian
Peterson @ TEN (Sat): AD appeared in this same space
just two weeks ago and did not disappoint (did disappoint?) when
he tallied a gruesome 16 yards on 10 carries against the Giants.
He was better last week against a rugged Jacksonville defense
(51 yards on 17 carries) but draws another stingy opponent this
Saturday down in Nashville. The Titans are still very much in
the playoff hunt and have stoned two RB studs in a row, holding
Leonard Fournette and then super-rook Saquon Barkley to a combined
67 yards on 28 carries and no touchdowns. It’s a miracle Washington
is sitting at .500 and still competitive minus its top two QBs
and most of its pass-catching options, but their faint playoff
hopes are likely to be officially extinguished this weekend. If
not, I’m officially starting my Jay Gruden for Coach of the Year
social media campaign. Peterson sits.
James
White v. BUF: It’s been a strange campaign for New
England’s jack of all trades. He started off the year ostensibly
plugging holes in a short-handed Pats lineup (Sony Michel, Rex
Burkhead, Julian Edelman, Gronk) but looked like a featured option
more often than not. Through the season’s first nine weeks, the
diminutive former Badger averaged a stellar 15.2 FPts/G in standard
leagues and an eye-popping 22.0 in PPR leagues. Then Gronk and
Michel got healthier and Burkhead returned and…before you knew
it, White seemed to have become an afterthought. Since Week 10,
he’s only averaged 5.7 FPts/G (9.7 PPR). Those are serviceable
numbers but not what we’d come to expect. Josh McDaniels knows
NE is better with White involved but are we guaranteed an uptick
in production with so much on the line in Week 16? I may end up
regretting this one, but he’s just too risky.
Kenyan
Drake v. JAX: The Dolphins lost Frank Gore early in
last week’s loss to the Vikings and Drake owners with fond
memories of his late 2017 explosion—he led the NFL in rushing
over the final month—had to be rubbing their hands together
in excitement. That excitement quickly turned to disbelief, presumably,
when rookie Kalen Ballage and not Drake received most of Miami’s
carries the rest of the afternoon. Adam Gase was cagey in post-game
interviews as to why the rookie Ballage got the nod (“just
kind of how it went”), but we can assume it had something
to do w/ poor execution and missed assignments. Even Drake admitted
as much when he called it his worst game of the year. I’m
guessing he touches the football more this Sunday, but the possibility
of another quick hook is frightening. The matchup’s not
that encouraging either. Sit him down.
