With the news of Jonathan Taylor’s thumb surgery, the Indianapolis Colts will again turn to Zack Moss to carry the running game. But is Moss’ return as a featured back enough for fantasy football managers to start him over James Conner? Let’s take a look at the two entering Week 13.
Should You Start Zack Moss or James Conner This Week?
In the Pro Football Network Start/Sit Optimizer, our Consensus Rankings say that Moss is the player to start. His projected 12.5 points include 76 rushing yards and three receptions for 10 receiving yards. That projected stat line narrowly outperforms the consensus projection for Conner (11.5 points).
My ranking for these running backs aligns with the consensus. Moss should have no trouble adjusting to life as the Colts’ top running back, and I believe that will mean a better Week 13 stat line than Conner.
Fantasy Outlook for Moss This Week
While the Colts’ starting running back is hurting, their leading rusher will take over — and there’s little reason to believe the ground game won’t continue to rumble.
Moss is still Indianapolis’ leader in carries (141), rush yards (672), and touchdown runs (five). He is still top 10 in the NFL in rushing (10th) despite only five starts on the season. Now, he gets to have the bulk of the attention in the backfield for at least a few more weeks.
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Moss is more than capable of putting up numbers for the Colts. Keep in mind that from Weeks 2-6, Moss had the most rush yards in the league (466), as well as the most yards from scrimmage among running backs (576).
He is still seventh in the league in yards per carry (4.8) among players with at least 125 carries, and in the first meeting this season with the Tennessee Titans in Week 5, Moss ran for a career-high 165 yards and two touchdowns.
And although he averaged 50.4 offensive snaps per game and 19.2 carries per game as the primary starter in Weeks 2-6, Moss should still have fresh legs. Moss has had just 16 total rush attempts over the last three games. The last time he reached double-digit rush attempts was Week 8 (11 carries, 66 rush yards vs. the New Orleans Saints).
Fantasy Outlook for Conner This Week
Conner should be motivated to have a big game Sunday, as he is returning to Pittsburgh for the first time since he left the Steelers after the 2020 season.
Conner is having a good season, leading the Arizona Cardinals in rushing (526 yards) despite missing four games. However, he is coming off a season-low 27 rushing yards — on just 6 carries — in last week’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
One unique stat about Conner is that he has averaged at least 4.4 yards per carry in all eight games he has played this season.
The PFN Start/Sit Optimizer projects Conner to finish with 38 yards with three receptions for 21 yards.
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