Through the first month of the season, Devin Singletary has been a true workhorse running back. Seemingly healthy following the New York Giants’ loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Singletary is apparently dealing with a groin injury. How should fantasy football managers prepare?
Will Devin Singletary Be Active in Week 5?
I like to think I have a pretty good feel for injuries and whether a player is likely to play. Typically, when a player gets hurt, we know when it happened. With Singletary, it is unclear exactly what happened.
Singletary touched the ball 15 times against the Cowboys. He played 68% of the snaps, with his last snaps occurring in the fourth quarter. There was no report of an injury during or after the game. Yet, something clearly happened, as Singletary did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday.
Singletary, however, told ESPN’s Jordan Raanan that he has a chance to play this week.
While Malik Nabers (concussion) seems like a longshot to be ready for Seattle, RB Devin Singletary (groin) told me he has a chance. Wednesday was the best he’s felt since the Cowboys game.
Big couple days of practice upcoming to see if he can make it for Sunday.#giants
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan)
Groin injuries can be tricky. They’re not quite as bad as hamstring injuries. We saw Rachaad White tweak his groin two weeks ago. He wound up missing only a handful of plays before returning to the game and was fine going forward. Hopefully, Singletary’s issue is similarly minor. However, White never missed practice time — he was limited to open the following week.
Potential Fantasy Options if Singletary Is Out Includes Tyrone Tracy Jr., Alexander Mattison
I must preface this by saying Tyrone Tracy Jr. will not see anywhere near the workload that Singletary has seen. Tracy is the presumptive next man up, but this will likely be a 60/40 split with Eric Gray. In fact, in deeper leagues, Gray is worth consideration if you are truly desperate.
Tracy’s season-high snap share is 31%. That’s not particularly high, but it’s high enough to suggest he would be a safe bet for 10-12 touches if Singletary couldn’t play.
Tracy’s best game came in Week 3 when he touched the ball seven times and totaled 40 yards against the Cleveland Browns. Singletary managers would be wise to grab Tracy immediately just in case.
If you can’t look in-house for a replacement, I will admit, it’s tough out there. Looking at roster percentages, there aren’t many viable running backs on the waiver wire likely available.
Alexander Mattison stuck out as a potentially intriguing option because of Antonio Pierce’s comments earlier this week.
#Raiders HC Antonio Pierce on Alexander Mattison:
“He’s deserved more reps. And he’ll get ‘em.”
Pierce has a 90% reliability rating on injury coachspeak, with a possible big strike looming for his Zamir White coachspeak pic.twitter.com/1gpbwWit2Y
— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex)
It’s worth noting that Pierce has maintained all along he wants to get Zamir White a bunch of carries. As the Coachspeak Index aptly pointed out, Pierce’s coachspeak on White hasn’t exactly been accurate.
The point is Mattison has outplayed White all season and has a far better track record of success. If he sees 10-12 touches of his own this week, that’s good enough for RB3 production. In the event Tracy is unavailable as a replacement, Mattison is an external option worth consideration.
