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One of the most popular fantasy football sleeper picks in the beginning of the summer was RB Chris Ivory of the New York Jets.
Ivory came over from the New Orleans Saints and most thought he would instantly walk into a starting gig in New York. He was drafted as a flex starter in most formats and many people had high hopes for 25-year-old.
However, the veteran has severely struggled to stay on the field this summer. He has battled a nagging hamstring injury for weeks and it appears to have kept him from getting into football shape. Through two preseason games, Ivory has only racked up 28 rushing yards on 14 carries. He has had problems learning the playbook and the veteran has looked extremely rusty in the backfield.
Ivory has even lost many reps in the first team offense to RB Bilal Powell, who has conversely looked much better this preseason. It is hard to justify giving Ivory the nod this week when he hasn’t even won the starting job outright. Powell has at least played his way into a timeshare in New York, which is just another devastating blow to Ivory’s fantasy value this year.
Now factor in that New York will play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this Sunday, and it would be better to leave Ivory on the bench all together. Tampa gave up a meager 82.5 rushing yards per game last season and the team has one of the toughest front-sevens in the entire league, which won’t leave much room for Ivory to move the chains.
Ivory could win the starting job over the next several weeks, but I wouldn’t bother starting him this weekend.
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Adam McGill is the Senior Fantasy Sports Writer at Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @adammcgill83, like him on Facebook, or add him to you networks on Google here or here.
