Let me introduce to you, the Game Day Blunder, Ron Dayne.
Ron Dayne's career is like a horror flick with a bad ending. No matter how appealing the previews look, you know you will be disappointed in the end. His presence leaves a stink that no one will forget, not even the desirous Daunte Culpepper owners of 2006. Before I go into any detail, I first must ask you, are you completely sane enough to put your fantasy football season on the line with Ron Dayne in your starting lineup? If you answered yes, I might just disappoint you in this column.
Dayne is remarkably, I repeat remarkably, averaging 92 yards and 1 touchdown a game over the last three weekends. Ron Dayne has essentially pushed Wali Lundy out of the running back by committee in Houston. In the 9 games he has played in, Dayne is averaging only 51 yards a game. He has also only scored three, count them up, three touchdowns all season, all within the last two weeks.
This is too good to be true!
Ron Dayne, the fantasy championship catalyst extraordinaire!
Let me flush the toilet before I stink the joint up.
Houston faces the worst run defense in the National Football League this week. Ron Dayne will start. Rookie Chris Taylor will back him up. Wali Lundy is expected to be active as well. Now, let's get back to Chris Taylor. Taylor has his own little "from rags to riches" story as well. We have been anticipating a Chris Taylor appearance since a December 1st article claiming that "
Chris Taylor is coming." The same Chris Taylor that was cut from the roster September 12th. The Houston front office would like to see what they have in this kid before they head into the off-season and target a premiere running back in the NFL Draft. From getting signed to the practice squad, to getting cut, re-signed, and now looking forward to 6-10 carries against a horrible run defense (if not more), Chris Taylor is the curveball fantasy football geeks don't like to see.
Now, let's jump on to how Chris Taylor/Colts run defense/Rosenfels should be expected to effect Ron Dayne's numbers Sunday. As for Indianapolis, I expect a game plan similar to the one they used against Cincinnati. Jump up early on Houston, force the Texans into a one-stride, pass first offense, and blitz with the defensive ends early and often to put pressure on David Carr or Sage Rosenfels. What this will result in is a limited number of carries for any running back for Houston. You can easily say that head coach Gary Kubiak will stick to his stubborn game plan to see what his running backs can bring to the table, but I think too much pressure will be on him to display Rosenfels' skills. Yes, this is off-topic, but I do think Carr will get benched at some point this Sunday.
Chris Taylor will steal 6-10 carries, Ron Dayne will be strained in a way that Rudi Johnson was strained last week. I am projecting a 15 carry, 63 yard performance for Ron Dayne, but I do not expect him to reach the end zone. In most leagues, that is only 6.3 fantasy points.
You can make a blunder in fantasy football, and still get by, but blunders are inexcusable in fantasy championships. The fact is, that if you made it to your league's Fantasy Super Bowl, your team must be pretty darn good. I know for a fact that no one rode Ron Dayne to this point of the season. I have been lurking on some message boards other than ffLiveWire's, and seen some bold projections from a bandwagon that everyone is jumping on. 160+ rushing yards and multiple touchdowns?! No way Jose. That bandwagon has four flats and is stuck in neutral as far as I am concerned.
The last time Ron Dayne faced the Colts, he carried the rock 11 times and didn't reach 40 yards. He should surpass that mark this week, but not by much, and not enough for you to win your championship. Don't expect more than 6.3 fantasy points in a standard scoring system, like I said previously. 15 carries for 63 yards and no scores or turnovers is in the game plan for Ron Dayne this week.