New England Patriots running back Damien Harris has been a pleasant surprise for fantasy football managers this season. Now, with playoffs on the line, will Harris be healthy heading into Week 15, or will he miss time due to a nagging hamstring injury? If he is not active, is Rhamondre Stevenson a safe start against the Indianapolis Colts’ defense?
Update 12/17/21: According to Adam Schefter, the New England Patriots downgraded RB Damien Harris to out for Saturday night’s game vs. Colts.
Despite his injury, Damien Harris has been a surprise
In Week 13, Harris and the Patriots’ offense went into Buffalo to compete in one of the most unique games we have seen in a while. With nearly historic winds and weather conditions making the passing attack non-existent, Harris and New England’s RBs were the real stars of the show.
However, Harris was not the lead back in that game. Due to his injury, Stevenson ended the day with 24 rushes compared to Harris’ 10. Even though Stevenson had more carries, Harris continued to show how important he is to this Patriots offense by rushing for 111 yards and a touchdown. Granted, a lot of that came from one 65-yard TD rush.
Even if Stevenson has proved to be valuable, this backfield belongs to Harris. The third-year RB is currently ranked first on the team in touches with 177. With those opportunities, Harris has 838 yards from scrimmage and 9 touchdowns.
Harris currently ranks as the 20th-best RB in fantasy (half-PPR scoring), which is nice value considering he was being drafted as the RB25, according to FantasyPros.
Damien Harris injury update
After being limited in Week 13 and having a bye the next, has Harris’ injury healed enough for him to return against the Colts? Unfortunately, the answer to that question is still unclear.
New England’s RB was limited in practice on Tuesday and Wednesday. Before those practices, RB coach Ivan Fears spoke to the media and was asked about Harris’ injury.
“I can tell you this about Damien: if there’s any way to find a way to get on the field to play, that’s what he’s going to do,” Fears said. “He’s working hard, he’s been here all weekend. He’s taken full advantage of the bye week to get himself as much as possible ready for practice.”
Fears’ confidence in Harris is great, but with fantasy playoffs kicking off, can you trust that Harris will be able to return and be productive enough for you to win your week? And if he cannot, is Stevenson the answer, or can Brandon Bolden potentially return from injury to steal this backfield?
Can the Patriots’ backfield find success against the Colts?
Indy’s defense started the season off strong against the run game. In the last three weeks, however, the Colts have allowed the third-most fantasy points to RBs. Before their game against the lowly Texans, the Colts allowed Tampa Bay’s Leonard Fournette to rush for 100 yards and 3 TDs.
Pro Football Network’s Fantasy Analyst Tommy Garrett currently has Harris listed as RB35 in his Week 15 RB rankings. What is interesting is that Stevenson is actually four spots higher at RB31.
That is likely with the assumption that the two will split carries. If Harris is not 100% after his thigh injury, Stevenson is probably the one that will profit the most. Stevenson has been slowly starting to take touches from Harris over the last few weeks, and with Harris potentially banged up, Stevenson will continue to try and cement himself as RB1.
On the season, Stevenson has amassed 100 carries for 429 yards and 3 scores. The last time he was the starter was in Week 10 against the Cleveland Browns, where he carried the football 20 times for 100 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
What happens against the Colts?
The Patriots are now the top seed in the AFC at 9-4 after they have strung together seven straight wins. That has a lot to do with how good this rushing duo has been. Left tackle Trent Brown said it best when he touched on the 1-2 punch of Stevenson and Harris.
“It’s one of the better 1-2 punches in the league,” Brown said. “Both of those guys run tough, run hard. And they make us look good up front.”
At the end of the day, Harris is a risky start. Even if the Colts have struggled the last few weeks against the run, they are still solid.
Harris is banged up, and Stevenson is waiting in the wings to take over as the RB1. It is tough to bench Harris, but if you have better options available, I would look to them. Harris is the definition of boom or bust this week against the Colts due to his injury.