Fantasy Takeaways, Week 8: Mark Ingram fumbles his way to the bench
1. Sean Payton is as fed up as the rest of us with Mark Ingram.
So far this season, the Mark Ingram fantasy ownership experience has been something less than great. Ingram entered the week averaging only 3.9 yards per carry, ranking outside the top-20 fantasy scorers at his position. He lost a critical fourth quarter fumble against Kansas City in Week 7, then put the ball on the ground again on Sunday, leading directly to an Earl Thomas touchdown. And at that point, Sean Payton was sufficiently disgusted.
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Tim Hightower dominated the backfield touches for New Orleans throughout the afternoon, carrying 26 times for 102 yards. He was stonewalled repeatedly by Seattle’s defense at the goal line, getting denied five separate times on touches inside the 5. We won’t try to convince you that Hightower was unusually effective. But he also didn’t give the game away, and that was enough for Payton.
Ingram doesn’t actually have a history as a chronic fumbler, and, again, Hightower isn’t the league’s most dynamic back. Let’s not assume Ingram will spend the rest of the season on the sideline. Still, he picked a lousy time to play his way off the field, with a dream matchup on deck at San Francisco. Hightower is looking like a priority add for Week 9.
2. Death, taxes and tight ends scoring touchdowns against the Lions.
When C.J. Fiedorowicz broke the plane early in the second quarter at Houston, it was the eighth time this season that a tight end had scored against Detroit’s defense. No team has allowed more TDs to the position. Here’s the full list of tight ends who’ve spiked against Detroit this year: Jack Doyle (twice), Dwayne Allen, Delanie Walker, Richard Rodgers, Zach Miller, Lance Kendricks, Fiedorowicz. Not exactly a murderer’s row. Keep streaming TEs against this defense whenever possible. For planning purposes, here’s a link to the Lions’ rest-of-season schedule. Kyle Rudolph gets to face this D twice over the next four weeks.
And speaking of tight ends…
3. Tyler Eifert is back in our fantasy lives.
Eifert saw a dozen targets in Sunday’s early morning appetizer at Wembley, hauling in nine for 102 yards and one touchdown. He played limited snaps in his debut, catching just one pass on two looks, but, as promised, he had a much larger role in Week 8. Consider him a set-and-forget tight end moving forward. Eifert was a touchdown-dependent player last season, delivering 13 scores on just 52 receptions, so it’s great to finally see a triple-digit yardage total. Ankle and back issues delayed the start of his season, but he’s returned to the circle of trust.
