Week 5 Fantasy Football: Don’t Start RB Steven Jackson
By Adam McGill
@adammcgill83twitter.com
Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
It wasn’t long ago that Steven Jackson was an elite fantasy football talent. He was a perennial Pro Bowler and was once a guaranteed 1,000-yard rusher. Since signing with the Atlanta Falcons, though, Jackson has been absolutely worthless from a fantasy standpoint.
Well, that disappointing trend has continued in 2014, as Jackson has averaged a pedestrian 4.0 yards per carry this season. He also has yet to see over 15 carries in a single contest and hasn’t rushed for more than 55 yards. Needless to say, he isn’t the reliable starter he once was.
The veteran recently started losing carries to speedster Antone Smith, while Jacquizz Rodgers is still around frustrating fantasy owners. Both backs will only see more carries as the year moves on, and the team could even mix in rookie Devonta Freeman more, if he ever gets over his fumbling problems. Jacksons suddenly has tons of competition for carries, and this weekend will be no different.
Even worse, the Falcons play a rather consistent run defense in the New York Giants. The G-Men are currently 10th in the league against the run (101.3 yards/game) and are only allowing the 16th most fantasy points to opposing running backs. So to make matters worse for Jackson, he doesn’t even have a favorable matchup.
Jackson simply isn’t the back he was a couple years ago and he can’t be trusted as a starter on a week-to-week basis anymore. So if you need a flex starter in Week 5, it would be better to go with someone else.
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.
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