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I was beginning to wonder when a team would give this guy a look…
On Thursday afternoon, the Indianapolis Colts hosted a visit with free agent running back Ahmad Bradshaw. With young, more durable guys in their backfield like David Wilson and Andre Brown, the Giants felt like they could afford to let Bradshaw walk in free agency. Per Kimberly Jones, the Colts and Bradshaw were involved in serious talks, and she hinted that a deal could get done sooner rather than later. If he does wind up in Indianapolis, there will certainly be some Fantasy Football implications.
Last year, we saw Vick Ballard emerge into the Colts’ new starting running back. While there isn’t anything truly exciting about Ballard’s game, I found myself starting him almost every week (MJD injured). He’s a plodder, lacks blazing speed, but is solid catching the ball out of the backfield, which is necessary when playing in this offense. Of course, if Bradshaw joins the mix, this certainly hurts Ballard’s fantasy value. Sure, there’s still a chance that Ballard maintains the starting job, but if the team goes out and gets a proven, veteran guy, doesn’t that sort of indicate that they are looking for more out of their running back position?
Personally, I think Bradshaw would be a terrific fit for this offense. With Andrew Luck under center, this team threw the ball a ton last year. What does Bradshaw excel at? If you said something along the lines of “pass protection”, you just won a prize. At 5’10″, 215 pounds, Bradshaw may be the best pass-blocking back in all of football. The guys over at Pro Football Focus dug up some terrific numbers, stating that over the past three years, Bradshaw has been asked to pass block 347 times. It’s even more impressive when you consider that a much bigger Brandon Jacobs was also in the mix during that span, and the Giants still preferred Bradshaw. However, that’s not all he can do. This is a guy who is averaging 4.6 yards per carry throughout his career and has rushed for over 1,000 yards twice. With Bradshaw, the Colts may finally have a reliable goal line back as well, rather than depending on Delone Carter. Expect Bradshaw, assuming this deal does happen, to be the Colts running back to own in your fantasy leagues. He’ll be pretty strong in PPR formats, considering Luck threw the ball a whopping 627 times during his rookie year, the fifth most in football. Bradshaw caught 47 balls in 2010 with a Giants team that had it’s fair share of weapons. I expect Bradshaw to catch anywhere between 40-50 passes with Luck and company.
One thing is for sure, it looks like Bradshaw is back on fantasy radars.
Adam Pfeifer is a featured fantasy sports columnist for Rant Sports.
You can follow him on Twitter @aPfeiferRS.
