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Last fantasy football season people fell in love with Cincinnati Bengals RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis. The Law Firm averaged 108.6 rushing yards per game between Week 11-15 and looked like a serious fantasy starter.
However, at second glance Green-Ellis didn’t have that good of a season. He still averaged an embarrassing 59.7 rushing yards through the first nine games of the season and lost two fumbles before Week 5, which were the first two of his five-year NFL career.
Green-Ellis also scored just six rushing touchdowns all season and failed to catch a single touchdown. It is hard to look at a six at the end of his stat line, especially when so many other starters where piling up touchdowns in 2012. Fantasy is all about reaching pay-dirt and Green-Ellis simply doesn’t score enough to be a weekly starter.
Additionally, the team selected North Carolina‘s RB Giovani Bernard in the second round of this past year’s draft. Bernard scored 17 total touchdowns (12 rushing and five receiving) in 2012. He also racked up 1,228 yards on the ground and another 490 through the air. People thought of him more as a scat back, but he still averaged 6.7 yards per carry. Needless to say, Bernard’s presence in the backfield will completely hinder the veteran’s production throughout the 2013 season.
Green-Ellis may still be worth a spot as a third or fourth back, but he isn’t reliable fantasy starter anymore. I would simply avoid him and take a shot on one of the younger backs in the league.
Adam McGill is the Senior Fantasy Sports Writer at Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @adammcgill83, like him on Facebook, or add him to you networks on Google here or here.
