What role will Mark Ingram play for the Saints moving forward?
Once week eight finished I was thinking we are halfway through the season. Eight weeks in the book with nine to play. Then I remembered something. Most fantasy leagues don’t use week 17. Most playoffs start week 14. That means there are just five weeks left in the regular season for fantasy football. We no longer have time to hold out hope for underperforming or injured players. We are in bye week Hell and every roster spot is valuable. Let’s take a look at fantasy football’s running back by committees to determine the value of these guys moving forward.
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Chicago Bears
Well, that was unexpected. Heading into Monday night’s game against the vaunted Minnesota defense the Bears were expected to use a two or three-man committee at running back. Instead, Jordan Howard turned a whopping 30 touches into over 200 yards and a touchdown. Howard was a recommended sit for most people so, hopefully, you had him in your lineup if he was on your roster. Ka’Deem Carey received just two carries on six snaps and Jeremy Langford was on the field for just five snaps. Howard is the only one worth starting after his Week 9 bye, but the presence of Carey and Langford keeps him more in the RB2 discussion.
Kansas City Chiefs
This one stings for fantasy owners because of how good of a spot Spencer Ware was in this past week. Going against the Colts’ garbage run defense Ware managed 47 yards on nine touches before exiting the game with a concussion. With Jamaal Charles not right that left Charcandrick West to rush 14 times for 52 yards while adding two catches for eight yards. With Ware’s status unknown moving forward West should be one of the top free agent adds this week. Charles was placed on IR and can be safely dropped in all re-draft formats.
New Orleans Saints
Few people in this world deserve what happened to Mark Ingram owners this past week. Entering Week 8, Ingram was not having a great year but was still an every-week play at running back. He tallied three caries for -9 yards before losing a fumble. He was then benched and replaced with journeyman Tim Hightower, who received a ridiculous 26 carries and turned them into 102 yards. Not only did Ingram owners receive -2 fantasy points for his performance but they had to watch Hightower receive more carries than Ingram had gotten all year. The Saints are saying they want to keep both guys involved moving forward, making each of them risky, low-end RB2s against the 49ers with so many players on bye.
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Brendan Tuma is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Brendan, follow him @toomuchtuma.
