Carson enters the season as the Seahawks 1a back, fresh off a quietly
solid 2018. Rushing for over 1,100 yards and 9 touchdowns, the former
7th round pick was one of the best values in fantasy football last
year. While still expected to split time with last year’s 1st rounder
Rashaad Penny,
Carson figures to be a featured part of the offense this week against
the Bengals. Losing Doug
Baldwin to retirement and several potential starters to preseason
injuries, leaves the Seattle passing game very thin. I expect Carson
to exceed 20 touches with a great chance at a score against a Cincinnati
defense that yielded the 2nd most fantasy points per game to running
backs last season.
Ingram was a huge get for Baltimore this offseason, as they manufacture
their new version of exotic smashmouth football. The direct beneficiaries
of running threat quarterbacks are always the tailbacks, and if
he can stay healthy, Ingram could have a career year. No longer
sharing the load with Alvin
Kamara, Ingram should be a three-down back for the Ravens. I
expect the offense to keep it simple against a very beatable Dolphins
team, and for Ingram to have a big 2nd half as he leans on a tired
defense. Baltimore should have the ball a ton in this game, and
as long as Lamar
Jackson doesn’t vulture too many scores, fire up Ingram as a
RB1.
Cook’s 85-yard touchdown run two weeks ago showed you all you need
to know about his health and readiness for the season. Locked into
a workhorse role on a team that wants to run a ton, look for the
Vikings to play keep-away from a potent Atlanta offense. Minnesota
has added some beef to their offensive line and the Atlanta defense
was one to target in running back matchups last season. The Viking
passing game looked out of sorts this preseason, and Coach Zimmer
knows this is an important conference matchup. With passing game
chops to go with his role in the game plan, fire up Cook in the
first of what should be several RB1 matchups this season.
Shady McCoy being cut last week certainly shook this backfield up
a ton! While not totally unexpected, the Bills now field the oldest
back in the league (Frank
Gore) and one of the youngest to lean on for the running game.
Clearly the Bills were confident enough in Singletary this preseason
(despite him not really standing out) to let McCoy go. I have to
go with my gut here and believe that the Bills are going to make
this a true committee with Gore as the lead, at least to start the
season. Yeah, Singletary has more season-long upside, but he’s a
small guy in the mold of Tarik
Cohen, but he lacks the deep speed of the Bears electric runner.
His game is predicated on making guys miss, but that’s a lot harder
in the NFL than it is in Conference USA.
While I expect the running backs on this Texans offense to eventually
be fantasy assets, Week 1 won’t be that time. Carlos
Hyde joined the team a few days ago, and Duke Johnson has hardly
been on the field since coming over in a trade this summer. Throw
in the fact that Laremy Tunsil is causing a shift across the line
and you have a dangerous mix. This O’Brien offense is notoriously
difficult to learn and I can see some struggles this week in their
season opener on the road in the Superdome. It’s hard to gauge just
how these guys are going to be used, but it might be a near even
50-50 split this week, making it incredibly difficult to trust them
as anything more than a FLEX.
I try not to make it a habit of putting
top 5 drafted running backs in this part of the column often,
but I’m just not sure about this Arizona offense. Yes the
preseason was atrocious, but it’s more than that. While
I do think the Air Raid offense can be effective in today’s
NFL, I just don’t think the Cardinal offense has the personnel
to make it work right away. This is a very similar offensive line
that Johnson struggled with last season, and I don’t think
defenses are going to respect Murray until he beats them with
his arm. Detroit's d-line is greatly improved from last year,
and while Johnson is going to see plenty of volume to be a RB1,
I think he struggles with efficiency in this one, leaving him
to underperform his draft pedigree.
