Jim O’Connor-USA TODAY Sports
David Wilson fumbled the second carry of his NFL career last year, and because the cameras caught a tear sliding down his face, it’s something that haunts him to this day. It’s a play that put the Tom Coughlin spotlight on him, and it hasn’t yet been removed.
Limited to just 75 carries as a rookie because of bad pass-blocking and missed assignments, Wilson is no longer buried on the New York Giants’ depth chart. This year, he’s not the penciled-in starter, but he’s expected to make a big contribution to the team.
But all is not easy in fantasy land. Wilson first has to share carries with goal line back Andre Brown. Brown, in fact, scored eight touchdowns in 10 games. That means he was good enough to be trusted when it counted last year, so there’s little doubt that Coughlin would deviate from that plan this year.
That means that even if Wilson is the feature back, he’ll be getting pulled the moment the Giants are in scoring position. That means Wilson is going to have keep breaking those long-distance scoring runs like he did against the New York Jets, or Brown is going to have to prove he doesn’t deserve the responsibility. For those counting at home, the big run seems the more likely prospect.
The only thing we really know about Wilson at this point is that he has fumbling and blocking issues. Add to the fact that he has competition in the backfield for goal line runs and only has a career-high of just 15 rushing attempts in a game, and it’s a bad combination.
Committee backfields are commonplace now, but they’re also fantasy killers. If Wilson is incapable of stealing touchdown runs away from Brown, he may not be more than a third running back selection. There’s a ton of upside with Wilson, but there’s also huge risk.
Don’t believe me, just check out this clip from David O’Barr.
