CLEMENTIME
Oh my, Eagles backup RB can be fantasy darling
ALOT has gone wrong already in fantasy backfields across the land.
You felt great getting Le’Veon Bell with the second pick. Now he is holding out, and appears willing to continue holding out until well into the season.
You were satisfied with David Johnson as a top-four pick, but he is off to an awful start and his future outlook is troubling.
Or maybe your team is dealing with injuries to Jerick McKinnon, Joe Mixon or Devonta Freeman. Perhaps you have suffered disappointing workload developments for Alex Collins or Royce Freeman. Could be you are grappling with the gimpy status this week of Leonard Fournette, Dalvin Cook or LeSean McCoy.
Yeah, the list of RBs gone bad is long. Which means many fantasy owners likely are scrambling for RB coverage much earlier in the season than they envisioned. Seriously, we aren’t even into bye weeks yet, and we’re sifting the end of the bench and the waiver wire for playable options.
The good news is, bad news on our regular guys opens up opportunities for others. Some of those options, like Tevin Coleman and Giovani Bernard, you just plug in and feel confident. Others, like Phillip Lindsay and T.J. Yeldon, you try to find a way to keep on your bench.
One replacement guy we have faith in this week is Corey Clem- ent. Jay Ajayi is out with a back injury and Darren Sproles will miss this week’s game while nursing a sore hamstring. With both out, Clement will inherit a significant role in the game plan and instantly become a viable fantasy starter in all formats.
Facing the Colts’ defense doesn’t offer any disincentive. Indianapolis gave up big fantasy days to Mixon and Chris Thompson over the first two weeks. And we’ve seen Clement get heavy use in the passing game before, most notably in the Super Bowl (four catches, 100 yards and a touchdown).
The Eagles also are getting Carson Wentz back. This helps on two fronts. First, we don’t expect him to step in and immediately start slinging it all over the field. We anticipate a game plan that doesn’t focus as heavily on the air attack, which means more Clement. We also expect the Colts to pay extra atte ntion to the passing game with Wentz back in the mix, hence opening more running room for Clement.
Clement also is a cheap daily option (Fan Duel $5,800; Draft-Kings $4, 300). The absence of Ajayi and Sproles also puts Wendell Smallwood (Fan Duel $4,500; Draft Kings $3,000) in play as a daily tournament option, but Smallwood doesn’t get consideration in season-long formats.
If that rash of RB disappointments has you stuck, just clock in for some Clementime.