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Fantasy Football Week 7 Sleeper: RB Brandon Bolden

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By @DaveCuff

Brandon Bolden Patriots

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With all of the injuries to running backs this season, it is difficult to find available free agents to plug into your fantasy lineups. One guy who could be available in your league is Brandon Bolden of the New England Patriots. Bolden is definitely worth a look and is a big-time sleeper for Week 7 as a potential flex play.

The Patriots play the Thursday Night game this week against the New York Jets. On Sunday, New England lost their starting running back Stevan Ridley to a season-ending knee injury, and are without a workhorse back. Backup Shane Vereen is very talented, but not an every-down back. In four NFL seasons, he has only had five total games with 10 or more rushing attempts, and a single-game high of only 14 rushing attempts. Bolden doesn’t have a lot of carries in his career, but he is well suited to handle a heavy workload.

Bolden has 126 rushes, 570 yards, five touchdowns and a 4.5 yards per carry average for his career. He has shown flashes of brilliance in the past and will look to shine in Ridley’s absence. He actually has a favorable matchup going against a Jets rush defense that has given up 300 yards on the ground over their last two games. Guys like Brandon Oliver and Ronnie Hillman have been able to have success against the Jets’ once-tough rush defense.

Bolden is not going to give you a 20-point fantasy game this week, but he is a definite sleeper. With Ridley gone and Vereen more of a third-down back, Bolden has a perfect opportunity to get 10-15 carries easily for New England — that on top of a favorable matchup against the Jets, in a game that could be out of hand early, makes Bolden a big-time sleeper and a solid flex play.

David Cuff is a University of Michigan Football writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DaveCuff, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.

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