Fantasy Football Week 6 Start or Sit: Branden Oliver
By Walton Yeboah-Amoako
@WaltYeboah
Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
The San Diego Chargers have found the NFL‘s next version of Darren Sproles in the form of overnight fantasy football sensation rookie running back Branden Oliver.
The Chargers running game hit the ground tumbling this year when starting RB Ryan Mathews accrued just 71 rushing yards over the first two games. To exacerbate the matter, Mathews went down with a right MCL sprain, but his backup, Danny Woodhead, suffered an even greater injury after he was ruled out for the season with a fractured fibula coupled with a severe high-ankle sprain.
San Diego then looked to offseason signee Donald Brown to be their saving grace, but after three unimpressive starts, he too got knocked out (literally) of a game with an injury after he suffered a concussion in Week 5′s contest against the hard-hitting New York Jets.
However, the Jets probably wished they could have revived Brown’s health status because his backup, Oliver, had no mercy on their formerly top-ranked defense against the run. In Sproles-like fashion, Oliver dominated the ground and the air with 182 all-purpose yards, four receptions and two total TDs — not too shabby for a backup, eh?
At the moment, Oliver appears to be 2014′s version of Bobby Rainey, but his starting job seems to be a lot more secure going forward, since he doesn’t have to compete with a Doug Martin-type of RB on his team.
To prove that that they’re in no rush to see Brown or Mathews back on the field, the Chargers signed Ronnie Brown on Tuesday to serve as Oliver’s backup when they take the field on Sunday against the 31st-ranked run defense of the winless Oakland Raiders.
Believe it or not, I picked up Oliver and Ronnie Hillman from the free-agent pool last week in my fantasy league, and you better believe that I’m starting both of them on Sunday. If you were fortunate enough to acquire even one of these players, follow my lead.
Walton Yeboah-Amoako is a Columnist for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @WaltYeboah, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
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