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Fantasy Football Week 16 Start or Sit: Joseph Randle

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By @bradberreman24

Joseph Randle, DeMarco Murray, Dallas Cowboys, Fantasy Football

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Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray has certainly been a key cog in multiple fantasy football owners reaching their championship game this week. Some bad news has come though, with surgery to repair a broken bone in his left hand on Monday leaving his status for Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts up in the air. So Murray’s fantasy owners may now be left looking for another option in Week 16, at obviously a less-than-ideal time.

Joseph Randle has produced well when given the opportunity this season, averaging 7.0 yards per carry (237 rushing yards on 34 carries) along with two receptions for 13 yards. But with Murray having such a big workload (351 carries and 54 receptions) there just hasn’t been room for Randle or Lance Dunbar (26 carries so far this season) to make any impact.

The Colts have been generous to running backs this year, allowing 19.1 fantasy points per game (sixth-most in the league; ESPN scoring) to the position. They’ve actually only allowed one rushing touchdown to a running back over their last four games, but allowing 116.5 rushing yards per game to opposing backs over their last two games has made up for that stinginess.

The Cowboys are of course optimistic Murray will be able to play on Sunday, and he was able to practice on a limited basis both Wednesday and Thursday. It tentatively looks like he will suit up right now, barring something unforeseen, but how effective he will be is the big question.

Randle is in line for a prominent role, but I also expect Dunbar to see some action with Murray at less than full strength even if he does play. The potential for a backfield committee should turn fantasy owners away from any Dallas running back, but it would take a lot of guts (and a very good option to replace him) to bench Murray if he is on track to be active on Sunday.

Optimistic fantasy owners could consider Randle a solid plug-and-play for this week, but Dunbar’s presence creates the real possibility of a two-man timeshare if Murray is inactive. In that situation I usually lean toward the back that will get the majority of the goal line work, but exactly how the workload would be split between Randle and Dunbar is at best unclear.

Randle has surely been a top waiver wire addition this week, and rightfully so given Murray’s uncertain status and the prospect of being atop the depth chart. A case can be made for starting Randle as a low-end RB2 or flex, if Murray is declared out at some point, but there is too much risk involved for me to jump on that bandwagon.

Brad Berreman is a Columnist at Rant Sports.com. Connect with him on Twitter or Google +.

 

 

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