The 2-2 Denver Broncos host the 1-2-1 Indianapolis Colts on Thursday Night Football to kick off Week 5 of the 2022 NFL season. Fantasy football managers will have to make difficult choices for their starting lineup, so let’s dive into whether you should start Broncos running back Latavius Murray against the Colts.
Should you start Latavius Murray vs. the Colts?
The Broncos were faced with a significant blow in Week 4 as star rusher Javonte Williams suffered a torn ACL and LCL. To make matters worse, veteran backup Melvin Gordon coughed up his fourth fumble of the season, and it was his third one in the last 12 months to be recovered and returned for a touchdown by the opposing defense. For as well as Gordon has played in relief of Williams throughout their time as a tandem, fantasy managers are asking about Gordon’s backups in Denver.
Shortly after Williams’ injury, the Broncos signed the veteran Murray from the New Orleans Saints practice squad. Murray had just played for the Saints last Sunday in London after the team made him a game-day elevation, providing 57 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. ESPN’s Jeff Legwold reported that Murray is unlikely to play on Thursday night but Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett said it’s possible he could be included in sub-packages.
Denver has one of the biggest backfields in the NFL with the 6’3″, 230-pound Murray added to the 6’1″, 215-pound Gordon and the 5’10”, 205-pound Mike Boone. Gordon will be the RB1, but we’re unsure of the exact role Boone and Murray will find themselves in. Boone has only three carries for 20 yards and two receptions for 11 yards in 2022.
Entering Week 5, Murray is ranked at RB64 and No. 243 overall in our expert PPR fantasy football rankings. We have more confidence that Boone will have some sort of role, as he’s ranked as RB43 and No. 150 overall. Gordon is RB23 and No. 84 overall.
The Broncos haven’t provided a large enough sample size of red zone opportunities for us to speak confidently on their player usage. Gordon leads the team with four red zone carries, but Williams had only four as well. Whether Boone or Murray picks up those valuable carries or Gordon simply owns the market share is yet to be known.
The safest play is to fade both Boone and Murray in your fantasy football leagues unless you’re desperately needing a variance starter. There’s a chance Gordon dominates the ball until the goal line and Boone or Murray becomes a vulture. I have a hard time seeing Murray walking into the building on a short week and immediately taking a significant role.
That doesn’t mean there’s no room for Murray to become a solid RB2 in this run-heavy offense throughout the rest of the season. I think he’s a fine pickup for fantasy managers needing some depth at the end of their bench since the Broncos likely don’t trust Boone over a long period of time, or in case Gordon was to suffer an injury.
If anything, Murray is 80 percent of Gordon thanks to the former’s reliability as a pass catcher and blocker. However, that doesn’t equal a starting-caliber play on Thursday night against the Colts. Boone is a better play if you need to start a backup from this Broncos roster.