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Fantasy Football Week 12 Waiver Wire Pickup: RB Jonas Gray

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By @Brandon__Raper

Jonas Gray New England Patriots

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This fantasy football game that we play can be funny sometimes. Before Sunday night, if you’re like most of football-loving America, you had no idea who New England Patriots RB Jonas Gray was. Now, not only do you know his name, but you’re probably scrambling to the waiver wire to see if he’s available in your league for the playoff run. The good news is that he probably is.

The bad news, depending on your roster depth, is that he won’t be for long.

Coming into week 11, Gray was owned in just 8.4% of all ESPN.com leagues, and a remarkable 1.1% of NFL.com leagues. For an undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame, who was just promoted to the Patriots’ active roster four weeks ago after spending last year with the Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens practice squads, that in itself doesn’t sound like much of a surprise. Perhaps it should have been.

Good luck trying to figure out a Bill Belichick rushing attack, but Gray quietly led the Patriots in carries each of the two previous weeks before his monster showing against the Indianapolis Colts. That may have been due to the comfortable leads New England enjoyed, as Shane Vereen is still Tom Brady‘s preferred target from the backfield. Then again, maybe it was a sign of the team’s growing confidence and a new wrinkle in the lauded Belichick offense.

The Colts led the league in total offense coming into Week 11, so perhaps the idea on New England’s side was simply to try to keep Andrew Luck off the field, eating up clock and tiring out the defense. Maybe Belichick and company saw something in the tape that showed a weakness. Whatever it was, Gray quickly showed that he can be power run threat that the Patriots have often either lacked or forgotten as they continue to favor the pass.

It would be foolish to expect another 38-carry, 199-yard, four touchdown performance from Gray, but he may prove useful to stash away as you make a playoff run. Five of the Patriots’ remaining six games come in potential cold weather conditions, where the ability to run the ball between the tackles always helps. There are some tough run defenses ahead, but so were the Colts, and, well, we all saw how that one went.

Whether you’re looking to shore up the running back position or just make sure your opponents can’t take advantage of the hot hand, Gray is sure to be the first player picked up in your league when the wire opens. Get your claim in early, or be left behind.

Brandon Raper is the lead golf writer and an NFL contributor for Rant Sports. “Like” him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter @Brandon__Raper, and join him on Google+.

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