Richard Barnes – USA TODAY Sports
I firmly believe in completely shunning certain teams in fantasy football. The New York Jets are one example. Their offense is abysmal and there is no upside to picking a flyer wide receiver or tight end.
That being said, let’s take a look at Chris Ivory.
There are actually quite a hefty amount of reasons why Ivory is incredibly appealing fantasy-wise.
First of all, he plays for the Jets, and will likely be ignored in draft rooms, allowing him to slide a few rounds.
Second of all, there are very few teams that have one feature back without a back up running back right on his heals. Arian Foster has it in Ben Tate, Frank Gore has it in LaMichael James, Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller have it in each other, just to name a few. Ivory doesn’t have that. Mike Goodson is the No. 2, and he poses little threat to Ivory.
Thirdly, as we all know, the passing attack led by Mark Sanchez is nothing short of impotent. As a coach, it’s far more appealing to have Ivory carry the ball thirty times as opposed to Sanchez throwing it thirty times.
Ivory is coming out of an incredibly overpopulated New Orleans Saints‘ backfield that was sparsely used because of Drew Brees‘ powerful passing attack. He moves out of that system into a Jets system where he will have every opportunity to succeed.
Even in the cluttered backfield, Ivory managed 40 carries for 217 yards and two touchdowns. That’s a 5.4 yards-par-carry average.
Shonn Greene, who was the premier back in the Jets backfield, was given 276 carries. Ignoring Greene’s lackluster stats, if Ivory gets 276 carries at 5.4 yards per carry, that’s just shy of 1500 yards and 14 touchdowns. If he’s seeing that kind of success when it’s known that Sanchez will not see success, why wouldn’t Ivory see even more carries?
The Jets offensive line isn’t the best, but neither was the Saints. Ivory is going to be a fantasy stud for the lesser Meadowland dwellers, and it would not at all be unreasonable to expect that 1500-yard, 14-touchdown mark. It’s the only offensive hope the anemic Jets have.
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