Waiver claims are due tonight in a lot of leagues, and no doubt running back-desperate fantasy franchises will be considering Kalen Ballage. And that's fair. Starting running backs can be hard to come by at this point in the season, and he should be Miami's starter the next four games. But expectations should be modest.
Ballage began the year in a committee with Kenyan Drake (since traded), and has most recently been in a committee with Mark Walton. But Walton is suspended for the next four weeks, so Ballage is about all the team has at running back now -- seventh-rounder Myles Gaskin and undrafted Patrick Laird are the other in-house possibilities, and neither has an offensive touch this season.
Ballage will have the initial opportunity, but will he do much with it? He's been pretty ineffective this season.
He's carried the ball 35 times for just 70 yards, an average of 2.0 per attempt. Among 56 running backs with at least 30 carries this season, that's not only last -- it's last by more than half a yard compared to every other running back.
| RUNNING BACK YARDS PER ATTEMPT, 2019 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Att | Yds | Avg | TD |
| Devin Singletary | BUF | 40 | 267 | 6.7 | 2 |
| Raheem Mostert | SF | 55 | 307 | 5.6 | 1 |
| Christian McCaffrey | CAR | 165 | 881 | 5.3 | 10 |
| Matt Breida | SF | 99 | 524 | 5.3 | 1 |
| Duke Johnson | HOU | 54 | 287 | 5.3 | 1 |
| Nick Chubb | CLE | 154 | 803 | 5.2 | 6 |
| LeSean McCoy | KC | 72 | 371 | 5.2 | 2 |
| Dalvin Cook | MIN | 177 | 894 | 5.1 | 9 |
| Mark Ingram | BAL | 114 | 585 | 5.1 | 7 |
| Chase Edmonds | ARI | 58 | 295 | 5.1 | 4 |
| Josh Jacobs | OAK | 152 | 740 | 4.9 | 6 |
| Phillip Lindsay | DEN | 118 | 584 | 4.9 | 5 |
| Rashaad Penny | SEA | 34 | 165 | 4.9 | 1 |
| Leonard Fournette | JAX | 174 | 831 | 4.8 | 1 |
| Tony Pollard | DAL | 48 | 230 | 4.8 | 1 |
| Ezekiel Elliott | DAL | 158 | 741 | 4.7 | 6 |
| Carlos Hyde | HOU | 149 | 704 | 4.7 | 3 |
| Alexander Mattison | MIN | 71 | 337 | 4.7 | 1 |
| Saquon Barkley | NYG | 88 | 401 | 4.6 | 2 |
| Kenyan Drake | 2TM | 62 | 284 | 4.6 | 1 |
| Latavius Murray | NO | 80 | 359 | 4.5 | 4 |
| Chris Carson | SEA | 175 | 764 | 4.4 | 3 |
| Jordan Howard | PHI | 119 | 525 | 4.4 | 6 |
| Miles Sanders | PHI | 76 | 336 | 4.4 | 1 |
| Gus Edwards | BAL | 59 | 261 | 4.4 | 1 |
| Jamaal Williams | GB | 52 | 228 | 4.4 | 1 |
| Marlon Mack | IND | 159 | 679 | 4.3 | 3 |
| Adrian Peterson | WAS | 115 | 491 | 4.3 | 1 |
| Alvin Kamara | NO | 86 | 373 | 4.3 | 1 |
| Tevin Coleman | SF | 83 | 355 | 4.3 | 5 |
| Rex Burkhead | NE | 31 | 134 | 4.3 | 1 |
| Malcolm Brown | LA | 37 | 154 | 4.2 | 2 |
| Aaron Jones | GB | 122 | 496 | 4.1 | 8 |
| Frank Gore | BUF | 106 | 437 | 4.1 | 2 |
| Ronald Jones | TB | 92 | 381 | 4.1 | 3 |
| Royce Freeman | DEN | 93 | 374 | 4.0 | 2 |
| Derrick Henry | TEN | 164 | 644 | 3.9 | 6 |
| James Conner | PIT | 97 | 380 | 3.9 | 4 |
| Todd Gurley | LA | 92 | 355 | 3.9 | 6 |
| David Johnson | ARI | 77 | 300 | 3.9 | 2 |
| Austin Ekeler | LAC | 84 | 321 | 3.8 | 3 |
| Damien Williams | KC | 60 | 225 | 3.8 | 3 |
| Mark Walton | MIA | 53 | 201 | 3.8 | 0 |
| David Montgomery | CHI | 112 | 406 | 3.6 | 5 |
| DeAndre Washington | OAK | 37 | 133 | 3.6 | 1 |
| Ty Johnson | DET | 39 | 137 | 3.5 | 0 |
| Devonta Freeman | ATL | 97 | 333 | 3.4 | 0 |
| Sony Michel | NE | 144 | 482 | 3.3 | 6 |
| Le'Veon Bell | NYJ | 125 | 415 | 3.3 | 1 |
| Kerryon Johnson | DET | 92 | 308 | 3.3 | 2 |
| Peyton Barber | TB | 83 | 277 | 3.3 | 3 |
| James White | NE | 32 | 104 | 3.3 | 1 |
| Joe Mixon | CIN | 101 | 320 | 3.2 | 0 |
| Melvin Gordon | LAC | 64 | 192 | 3.0 | 3 |
| Jon Hilliman | NYG | 30 | 91 | 3.0 | 0 |
| Giovani Bernard | CIN | 30 | 80 | 2.7 | 0 |
| Kalen Ballage | MIA | 35 | 70 | 2.0 | 2 |
Ballage is working behind a poor offensive line, of course; maybe the league's worst. But both Drake and Walton have been up around or over 4.0 behind that same line, twice as effective as Ballage.
I'm considering using a bottom of the roster spot on Gaskin. He hasn't even been active for a game this season, but some chance he gets a shot to move ahead of Ballage.
--Andy Richardson