Fantasy: Should You Begin to Start Chris Ivory Every Week?

During the NFL’s preseason, many fantasy football experts had the newly-acquired running back of the New York Jets, Chris Ivory, as a must-draft running back this year. Many experts felt that Ivory would be an added jolt to a running game that struggled over the past few seasons under Shonn Greene.

The start of the season for Ivory was not what any owner thought it would be when they drafted him. Through his first six games, he did not gain over 52 yards on the ground in any contest. The Jets even began to start running back Bilal Powell over Ivory. Many owners said enough was enough and decided to drop Ivory thinking that he was a draft-day bust.

Then, Ivory broke out and ran for 104 yards against the New England Patriots. This was still not enough proof for owners to either start him or even pick him up off of their waiver wires, especially after the terrible 11-yard game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

In Week 9 of the fantasy football season, Ivory had himself another great week, which brings up a great question that many fantasy owners need to ask themselves: Is Ivory a must start every week now?

The answer is that you should start him, but he’s not a must-start quite yet. The remaining schedule for Ivory is very good, especially after their bye week in Week 10. Ivory will face some very favorable matchups like the Buffalo Bills and other teams. His biggest problem is his counterpart, Powell, who has been a decent option for the Jets this year. Ivory will have to continue his solid play to get more reps every week.

In my opinion, if you want to go out and get a running back that may not cost your team a lot in a trade, I think Ivory could be a good guy for you to try and get. Again, the Jets don’t exactly have a no. 1 offensive weapon. I think Ivory could become that for the Jets, as well as become a nice addition to your fantasy football roster.

Dom DeCarlo is a Fantasy blogger for www.RantSports.com. Follow him @DomDecarlo1, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.