Flash In The Pan Alert: Rock Cartwright

Th previous two FITP posts varied in the kind of player I targeted. Justin Forsett is a guy who remains in waiting for his chance to really shine behind Julius Jones in Seattle. That said, last week he had 45 receiving yards, 14 rushing yards, and 62 return yards, for a total of 121 yards. For a guy who fought his way onto the Seahawks roster, I think that is a quality “flash in the pan” kind of game. He continues to be a Julius Jones fumble away from getting a real chance from Jim Mora to carry the load.

Last week, I went with Steve Breaston, a much higher profile fantasy player. Anquan Boldin has been playing hurt for a while now, and last week seemed like an opportunity for Breaston to step in and benefit from the prolific Cardinal passing offense. As it turns out, Larry Fitzgerald picked up more slack than I thought he would. Breaston still had 5 catches for 66 yards and a touchdown. He added 25 receiving yards and 16 return yards. A pretty good day for a guy who probably spends a lot of time at the end of your fantasy bench.

This week, I’ll go somewhere in between. Rock Cartwright is a guy the Redskins coaching staff loves. He does absolutely everything they ask him to do. He is the special teams leader on the team and with Clinton Portis ailing, he steps up as the #2 running back this week. You are probably wondering how in the world I can recommend any part of the Redskins rushing attack. First of all, Portis has been hurt all year, so the rushing game has suffered partly because of that. The offensive line is also in shambles so this team is a tough one to touch from a fantasy perspective. But this is the Flash In The Pan column...and Rock Cartwright would create quite a flash if he had a big week. What we saw last week against the Falcons was Ladell Betts and Rock Cartwright fight for yards in a way that Clinton Portis has imply been unable to do. The effort from these two guys almost brought the Redskins all the way back into the game.

Ladell Betts is considered the favorite to get the bulk of the carries against the Broncos this week. The Redskins like to feed one horse throughout a game, counting on him to get into a rhythm. So why Cartwright? Well, Betts has been nursing an ankle this week for one. But also, inside the red zone, the Redskins won’t be afraid to bring in a fresh set of legs to try and punch it in. The offensive line has struggled mightily to keep Jason Campbell upright, so they will be leaning heavily on the rushing attack.

Finally, when the Redskins lose their primary running back like this, they typically are able to catch opposing teams off guard with lesser known backs. Names like Ladell Betts, Kenny Watson, and oh yeah...Timmy Smith all spring to mind. Rock Cartwright is going to get his chances on Sunday. If he stays healthy throughout the game, his stat line will most definitely be a flash in the pan kind of day.

All that said...I pity the fantasy team that has to rely on one of my Flash In The Pan players. But if I help just one team make a ridiculously questionable gamble and it pays off, I have done my job for the week.