It’s been a relatively quiet week at the running back position and that’s a great thing. There’s nothing worse than having to deal with a ton of unrest at a position so vital at this time of year. Of course, we aren’t 100-percent drama-free, now are we? Of course, there’s one team that has to cause the fantasy football community problems and you know what…? It’s kind of a big deal…in a very annoying way for some.
Baltimore Ravens
Welcome to the Gus Edwards era? Those who own Alex Collins are still shaking their heads as they were completely blindsided Sunday with the distribution of carries. All seemed normal with Collins getting the early work and the first touchdown of the game, but after that, he completely disappeared while Edwards was on his way to rushing for 115 yards on 17 carries. Edwards also found his way into the end zone for his first career touchdown. Head coach John Harbaugh played this one really close to the vest as no one saw it coming. There wasn’t a single Ravens beat writer who even hinted that this could be a possibility. Way to do your job, fellas. You just keep covering the marquee names and forget about the team’s depth.
We haven’t heard anything regarding the Week 12 workload, but given the match-up against the hapless Raiders, one would think Harbaugh would maintain the same configuration – Lamar Jackson under center and Edwards as his lead running back. The problem, of course, is that fantasy owners cannot be 100-percent sure this won’t end up a shared backfield. Edwards’ performance certainly earned him a larger role, but can this undrafted free agent out of Rutgers maintain a similar level of production this week? What happens if he fumbles? Will Harbaugh have as quick a hook here as he had with Collins back when the season opened? For fantasy purposes, if you’re hurting at the position, you have to side with Edwards for now, but treat him and Collins as a package deal. The last thing you want is to let Collins go only to find out that Edwards was a one-week wonder.