The fantasy world was shocked when an already decimated running back landscape suffered yet another crushing blow. Now Oakland Raiders violent runner Marshawn Lynch is set to miss at least a month with a groin injury. Ian Rapoport claims there is even a chance that he lands on injured reserve. At first glance, it seems like Jalen Richard is the next man up, due to his snap count. However, Richard’s role is not going to change much. Instead, veteran Doug Martin will take over Beast Mode’s snaps.
Carlos Hyde was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars just minutes after the Lynch news came out. Find out what to do in the fallout of that situation here.
Doug Martin, Not Jalen Richard, the Back to Own in Fantasy Football After Lynch Injury
Not Lead Back Material
Richard is a satellite back. Nothing more. At 5’8″ and 208 pounds, he doesn’t exactly have the size to carry the load for the team. So far this season he has served as the third-down back, and the guy who comes in when the game is out of hand. During these times he basically acts as a receiver out of the backfield. He plays this role well, but that is about it.
Richard hasn’t had more than two carries any week except Week One. He has one start under his belt last season when he filled in for a suspended Lynch. With them, he didn’t exactly wow, getting only five carries for 21 yards. In fact, his best rushing performance of his career was the first game of his rookie season, where he gained 84 yards on just three carries – one of which was a 75-yard touchdown. Fantasy players adding him hoping he will suddenly break out will be sorely disappointed.
Return of the Muscle Hamster?
When Beast Mode needs a break, Martin comes in. This is no surprise because head coach Jon Gruden has been talking up Martin since the off-season, leading many to wonder back then if Lynch would even make it to the season opener:
Gruden often during the offseason: Everybody is sleeping on Doug Martin https://t.co/nTXxG3LLW3
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) October 20, 2018
Martin wasn’t able to pull the starting job from Lynch, but having a 32-year-old running back as the starter, it was smart for Oakland to keep Martin around. Now, whether Lynch misses a month or the rest of the season, Martin will be there to carry the load.
Martin has shown he can handle a high workload as well, as he has two seasons in his career where he posted over 1,400 rushing yards. He has also never had a season with less than 100 carries and has been elected to two Pro Bowls. (Compare this to Richard who has never had more than 100 carries in a season.) His issue is that fantasy owners never know which version of Martin they are getting. In every season Martin hasn’t reached 1,400 yards, he wasn’t even able to eclipse 500.
Last Word on Oakland Raiders Running Back Situation in Fantasy
When it comes down to it, fantasy team owners should not give up too much even to get Martin. The biggest for this is that the Raiders offensive line is in shambles. Pro Bowl tackle Donald Penn is on injured reserve and the team is fielding two rookies at their tackle positions. To make matters worse, Kelechi Osemele has missed the past few games with an injury, and it is unclear when he will be back.
Lynch made up for a lot of the line’s issues, ranking at the top of the league in missed tackles and yards after contact. Of his 376 yards, a whopping 311 were after a defender made first contact. Even with this, Lynch was a middle-of-the-road fantasy back. Martin won’t come anything close to this. He is 42nd out of 54 qualified running backs in yards after contact. He was dead last in the 2017 season.
