This week the mysterious Ryan Grant becomes the Packers' newest starting running back, providing a possible option for fantasy owners burned by weeks of poor performances. The chart below shows the best Green Bay rushing performance for each game this season. It doesn't take long to figure out why the Packers rank dead last in the league in rushing offense this season.
| Week |
Player |
Rushing Yds |
Rushing TDs |
| 1 |
Brandon Jackson |
40 |
0 |
| 2 |
DeShawn Wynn |
50 |
2 |
| 3 |
Brandon Jackson | 22 |
1 |
| 4 |
DeShawn Wynn | 20 |
0 |
| 5 |
DeShawn Wynn | 78 |
1 |
| 6 |
DeShawn Wynn | 37 |
1 |
| 8 |
Ryan Grant |
104 |
0 |
While DeShawn Wynn has produced four touchdowns, his inability to regularly produce more than 50 yards rushing makes him a risky fantasy option. Brandon Jackson was a hot rookie sleeper in the preseason, but injuries (and the emergence of DeShawn Wynn) have taken him out of the picture.
This week Grant faces a Chiefs team ranked 17th in rushing defense, a team that gave up 78 yards to Ahman Green and an amazing 101 yards to Cedric Benson. Yes, that Cedric Benson. With Grant being named the starter and the Packers expected to use him as a workhorse this week, he makes a solid bye week fill-in for your running back slot.
The key thing to watch this week isn't how many yards Grant finishes with (though that's what you care about for fantasy purposes), it's how many carries the Packers give Grant. His 22 carries last week was the biggest one-game workload any Packer has had this season. If the Pack gives him another 20+ carries it will be a great sign that the team is willing to commit to the run, something they haven't done all season.