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Fantasy football team owners, remember what I told you a couple of weeks back? If week one was any indication of what is to come for the New Orleans Saints, it looks like I was right.
Both Mark Ingram and Pierre Thomas will be incredibly inconsistent fantasy options to own this year. In week one, Ingram ran nine times for 11 yards with a long of seven yards — ouch. Thomas, on the other hand, ran the ball nine times for 43 yards and caught four passes for 16 yards — a bit better than his counterpart.
However, for the Saints, the running back that stole the show — and will continue to do so — was Darren Sproles, running for 22 yards on eight carries and catching six passes for 88 yards. In an offense that does a lot of spreading the ball around, Sproles looks like he’ll continue to be the only running back worth keeping in fantasy leauges.
Of course, if you have a roster spot that you could afford to use on Ingram or Thomas to stash for later, go ahead. They may see some potential value if there was an injury in the future. But, until then, I don’t see any high reward for either of these guys. And, like I said before, I would not want either back on my fantasy squad.
The Saints could again find themselves back in the top five teams, offensively, this year. With the way Drew Brees plays quarterback, New Orleans will surely put points on the board. But, as far as the running game is concerned, I think we’ll see a lot more of what we saw in week one — parity between backs. Carries split between three guys on a regular basis, and only one of them being a factor in the passing game.
Ryan Heckman is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @ryanmheckman, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
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