Related: Fantasy Football: Making Sense of New York Giants’ Backfield
What a surprise – Darren McFadden is hurt again. This time, he left the Week 9 game against the Philadelphia Eagles with a hamstring injury. Luckily, the Oakland Raiders had a viable backup in Rashad Jennings.
Jennings had a career-best game with 174 total (102 on the ground) yards and a touchdown on his way to 23 fantasy points. There is currently no word on McFadden’s status in Thursday’s practice. However, he did not practice on Wednesday. Jennings goes up against the New York Giants, the ninth-best fantasy defense against the run. They allow just 13.6 fantasy points to opposing running backs and have surrendered only 78 rushing yards in the last two games combined.
Terrelle Pryor does not have many options in the passing game. Denarius Moore and Rod Streater have had success in recent weeks with 257 combined receiving yards in the last two games. However, there isn’t a lot for Pryor after that. As a result, Jennings caught seven passes on 10 targets last week for 74 yards (10.57 YPC).
The same could happen this week as well. Despite the nice yardage from the Oakland receivers, they haven’t scored since Week 6. Jennings could haul in another 5-7 passes while the Giants shut down Moore and Streater. Jennings is the 40th-ranked running back and could move into the top-30 with another good game this week.
With Jamaal Charles and Stevan Ridley on a bye this week, Jennings is a good pickup to fill in as a flex play. He is available in about 70 percent of ESPN leagues. Expect him to get 80 total yards and a score.
Bill Pivetz is a fantasy football writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @Mr_Piv1127.
