DIGGING DOUG
Fantasy heartbreaker good for one-week fling
ALMOST e ve r yo n e has that old romantic flame who keeps reappearing in their lives. Maybe you had an initial attraction, then later parted ways, only to come back together later, then again experience a famili ar disappointment that leads to another split. Well, now that fantasy flame is back again. We j ust locked eye s from across the room with old fantasy crush Doug Martin. He initially captivated us with an incredible 2012 rookie season. We instantly fell in love, but then came the hard times. He was a colossal disappointment in 2013. That constituted a we-need-totalk crisis. Then he went and did it again with a dismal 2014 campaign, after we warned him we would not put up with that type of behavior. That was it. We were through.
Then he pleaded with us to take him back in 2015, and he made a compelling case he was a changed man with an outstanding season. So we took him back and made him a part of our 2016 fantasy plans. And what did he do? The same bloody thing he did before. We s houl d have known better.
We knew not to get involved again this year when he made his move to Oakland. Then fate stepped in, and starter Marshawn Lynch went down with a groin injury. But we weren’t ready to take Martin back. And mostly, we were right. Since Lynch went down, Martin has averaged just 54 yards rushing over seven games. Jalen Richard absorbs most of the passing-down duties, so Martin gets little work there. He has three TDs in those seven games and a ho-hum average of just 10.6 fantasy points per outing.
But there is something different about him. A glimmer in his eye? A better wardrobe? A more confident posture? Nope, it’s just the fact he is playing the Bengals. Like an average-looking person in a room full of ugly people, it makes Martin appear like a supermodel from our past.
How ugly is the Bengals’ defense? A running back has scored at least one rushing TD in every game against them since Week 5. They have allowed an average of 25.0 fantasy points to opposing lead RBs — and that doesn’t include Mark Ingram’s 25.2-point day, which trailed backfield mate Alvin Kamara (26.2).
Call it a one-week fantasy fling, but we’re gonna hook back up with Martin. There are no strings attached. This is strictly a one-week stand.