A playoff berth — and perhaps the AFC South Division — will be on the line Saturday when the Houston Texans visit the Indianapolis Colts. Both teams will look to their running game to pick up their offenses, but which running back in this game is the better choice to start among fantasy football managers: Indianapolis Colts RB Jonathan Taylor or Houston Texans RB Devin Singletary?
Here’s the fantasy outlook for each player heading into this huge matchup.
Should You Start Jonathan Taylor in Fantasy This Week?
With RB Zack Moss inactive last week, Taylor got the majority of the workload in the Colts’ backfield against the Las Vegas Raiders. The result was a season-high 96 rushing yards for Taylor, who had 21 carries in the game — just the second time all season he received 20 or more carries in a game.
Whether or not Moss has been available this season, there is no question that when Taylor is in the lineup the Colts want him to be the man in the backfield. Indianapolis is 4-2 on the season when Taylor has 15 or more carries in a game and 1-2 when he has fewer than 15 carries.
Taylor has also been getting in the end zone lately — he has a streak of four straight games with at least one rushing touchdown. That’s the second-longest active streak in the NFL behind Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen.
Now, while many will point to the fact that Taylor has a terrific history against the Texans — he has more rushing yards against Houston (623) than any other opponent — that isn’t relevant here for a couple of reasons. First, he hasn’t faced the Texans since Week 1 of the 2022 season. Secondly, this Texans team is one of the best this year at stopping the run.
The Texans have allowed just 88.5 rush yards per game, tied for the third-fewest in the NFL. They have also held their last four opponents to a combined 63.0 rush yards per game.
Should You Start Devin Singletary in Fantasy This Week?
Back in Week 2, Singletary did next to nothing against the Colts’ defense, finishing with just 14 rushing yards on only four carries.
But that was a long time ago, and this is a much different running back now. Singletary has 626 rushing yards since Week 10 (eight games) — the third-most in the NFL over that span.
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He is averaging 4.4 yards per carry for the season, but over his last eight games, that yards per carry average is nearly five (4.8). He hasn’t put it in the end zone as much as Taylor lately — just one touchdown over his last five games — so that is something for fantasy managers to consider.
Using Pro Football Network’s Start/Sit Optimizer, our Consensus Rankings say that Taylor is the player to start. His projected 20.0 points include 99 rushing yards and five receptions for 25 yards. His projected stat line outperforms Singletary’s 11.0 points.
Singletary is projected to finish with 43 rushing yards and three receptions for 20 yards.
My ranking for the two running backs aligns with the consensus. While the Texans’ defense has been one of the best against the run this season, Taylor is arguably playing his best ball of the season, and the Colts will need him at his best to pick up the win Saturday.
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