A week ago, fantasy football owners were set up by Arizona Cardinals running back Tim Hightower. Armed with opportunity and a deceiving second-half performance in the blowout win that was Week 14 against the awful Denver Broncos, Hightower was expected to have a nice Week 15 game against the more terrible Carolina Panthers. Of course, he ran six times for all of 16 yards. Nice fantasy performance. Way to help us out!
This week, Jacksonville Jaguars reserve running back Rashad Jennings was the big setup, and while I can't say I predicted this poor a fantasy effort -- 15 carries for 32 yards, really? -- the writing was kind of on the wall that people were a bit too excited. Jennings had performed well in relief of Maurice Jones-Drew this season, or as an occasional complement, scoring touchdowns in three consecutive games leading to the fantasy playoffs. He was one of ESPN's most added players for this week, in case opportunity would knock. And when the news came down Saturday that Jones-Drew was downgraded to doubtful for Sunday's game against the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, Jennings became a lot more popular.
I've got Jennings on a few teams, including one in which I needed to sit Jones-Drew, but I made sure to not overrate the news. What kind of track record does Jennings have as a starting running back? Well, now we know sometimes the ultra-obvious isn't really so. This doesn't mean Jennings doesn't have a big future. He might go off in Week 17, for all we know, if Jones-Drew sits again. For the record, when I couldn't use Jones-Drew, I activated Danny Woodhead instead. I'm going to lose anyway, if it makes you feel better!
For more on Rashad Jennings, plus notes on Carson Palmer, Tim Tebow and the Buccaneers, you must be an ESPN Insider!
Eric Karabell | email
ESPN.com Senior Writer- ESPN contributor on TV, radio, podcasts, blogs, Magazine
- Charter member of FSWA Hall of Fame
- Author of "The Best Philadelphia Sports Arguments"
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Eric Karabell
Eric Karabell is an ESPN.com senior writer. He has worked at ESPN since 1997 and covered fantasy sports for ESPN since 2001, specializing in baseball and football. Eric appears several times per week on SportsCenter, NFL Live and other ESPN shows, contributes to ESPN Radio and ESPN The Magazine and is the host of the Baseball Today Podcast. He has been honored twice as fantasy sports writer of the year by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, his blog was named best fantasy baseball series for 2007 and he was inducted into the inaugural FSWA Hall of Fame class in 2010.
Eric grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs, and accordingly, favors Philly teams first, his fantasy teams second. He previously served as ESPN.com's lead NBA editor, and is a former Washington Post and Philadelphia Inquirer sports writer. Eric is also the author of "The Best Philadelphia Sports Arguments," published by Source Books and available in bookstores and online.
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