Fantasy Football Week 17 Dark Horse Sleeper: Tre Mason

Even with two missed games to start to his rookie season as he worked his way back from a torn ACL, and just six carries for nine yards in his first game, Todd Gurley is still the fifth-highest scoring fantasy running back (176 points) in ESPN standard leagues entering Week 17. But the St. Louis Rams may be without their best offense player against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, as Gurley missed practice on Wednesday and Thursday with a foot issue and the St. Louis Post Dispatch reported he is wearing a walking boot.

Gurley’s official designation on Friday’s injury report will be telling, but the Rams clearly have some concern about his status with their promotion of running back Malcolm Brown from the practice squad. Gurley seems likely to be limited if he is able to play on Sunday, and if he’s inactive Tre Mason and Benny Cunningham would move into primary roles against San Francisco. Both guys could then become relevant to fantasy football owners in Week 17, but Mason stands out as the back that would assume most of Gurley’s workload in a favorable matchup.

Entering this week, the 49ers have allowed the second-most fantasy points to running backs this season (21.7 per game, ESPN standard scoring). That notably includes the most rushing touchdowns (17) and the second-most carries (405; 27 per game) allowed to the position, as well as 95 receptions (tied for third-most) allowed to running backs. Not surprisingly, Gurley had a big game (20 carries for 133 yards and a touchdown; three catches for 13 yards) against San Francisco back in Week 8.

Mason proved he could be a productive No. 1 running back last season, with 608 rushing yards (two 100-yard games) over the final nine games, and his season-high for carries this year (15, for 46 yards) actually came in the first game against the 49ers. It will be hard to replace Gurley this week if need be, for both the Rams and fantasy owners, but Mason is in line to be a productive fill-in and he’s also worth targeting in DFS contests ($3,000 on DraftKings) if Gurley’s status is in doubt at all.

Brad Berreman is a Senior Writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter.