Fantasy Sports Fantasy Football

Fantasy Football Week 9 Start or Sit: Tre Mason

Tre Mason St Louis Rams

Getty Images

St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher believes that in order to give your team the best chance of winning on Sundays you need to have a balanced offense and a tough and punishing defense. So it doesn’t matter if he has Kurt Warner or Austin Davis at quarterback, you can expect whoever is in the backfield to get their fair amount of touches so that he reach his desired balance. In the past he has used Eddie George and Chris Johnson to be his workhorses and the results speak for themselves; both running backs were at one point considered to be in the top three in the league, and they carried their teams to the playoffs. Last year it appeared that Zac Stacy was going to be his new go-to guy, but midway through this season Tre Mason seems to be catching his eye; maybe he just has a thing for guys with only three letters in their first name.

But if I were you I would sit Mason this week for a number of reasons. First, they are going up against a tough San Francisco 49ers defense that is still productive in spite of all the injuries they have sustained this year. Currently they are fourth in the league in only giving up 84 rushing yards per game, and there is a chance that their leader Patrick Willis will return to the field this week. In their last matchup, Mason made his NFL debut and rushed for 40 yards off of only five carries, but that’s just part of the issue and the second reason why I think you should sit him this week.

In his second career game against the Seattle Seahawks, Mason got the majority of the touches out of the backfield. But a late fumble that almost cost them the game seems to have caused him fall out of favor with Fisher a bit and he has fallen back into the dreaded running back by committee fold. He still has a world of talent and I don’t expect Fisher to give up on him just yet, but expect Mason to have to earn his coach’s trust again before he becomes the team’s workhorse and a dependable fantasy starter for your squad.

And just in case you needed another reason to sit Mason this week, the Rams’ only significant threat in the passing game, Brian Quick, is now out for the year with a shoulder injury. This means that the 49ers will load the box to stop the run and will rely on their cornerbacks to hold their own against Tavon Austin and company. So do yourself a favor and look elsewhere for a running back this week or you could be shouting some four-letter words to replace Mason’s first name.

Kelly Anderson is a blogger for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @bgipp01 or add him to your network on Google.

Share Tweet