Nick Chubb broke his foot on Sunday. I'm not a doctor, but it's Week 16 coming up, so he's out for the year. That puts Jerome Ford back into the starting lineup.
I saw a question as to whether Ford or New Orleans running back Kendre Miller is the better waiver claim. Good question. There are some variables here.
If we knew that Alvin Kamara (groin) would be out this week, Miller would certainly be appealing as a likely full-time running back. Unfortunately the Saints aren't shedding much light on that, so you could pick up Miller only to have secured a backup running back for Week 16. Hopefully tonight, when claims need to be submitted, we'll have more clarity. If it sounds like Kamara won't play, Miller at Green Bay as a probable three-down back would be a lineup option.
Since we don't know that, and we do know that Chubb ain't playing, let's consider Ford. He's at Cincinnati this week. Schwing.
Ford started the first six games of the season, with Chubb on the PUP list; he was injured himself in the sixth one. But in the first five, he was a decent starter in PPR leagues. Not great: he only scored 1 TD, and the Browns were also using D'Onta Foreman and Pierre Strong some, and probably will again. But here's how Ford fared in his five healthy games.
| JEROME FORD AS STARTER | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Run | No | Rec | TD | Pts |
| Dal. | 44 | 6 | 25 | 1 | 18.9 |
| at Jac. | 64 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7.4 |
| NYG | 37 | 3 | 33 | 0 | 10.0 |
| at L.V. | 58 | 7 | 27 | 0 | 15.5 |
| at Was. | 47 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 7.9 |
Ford's two biggest receiving games in terms of yards were with Strong out with a hamstring injury. Strong is healthy, so those better receiving games might not be as likely. Ford's best game, 18.9 points, was the game he scored in.
But again, Cleveland is at Cincinnati this week. The Bengals have allowed 44 touchdowns in 14 games, which is more than 3 per week. There aren't many better matchups in the league for scoring. I'll sign off on picking up Ford this week as a decent Week 16 option. Miller would have a worse matchup, and he won't necessarily start, giving Ford the slight edge as of now.
--Andy Richardson