The changing of the guard may be underway in the Broncos’ backfield. The emergence of Jonah Coleman over the last two weeks has provided a jolt in an underwhelming Denver offense, and in Week 9, this team gets a dream matchup against the Panthers. The sample size of success for the rookie is small, though, so can you trust him in lineups on Sunday?
Here are the details on whether you should start or sit Jonah Coleman in Week 9 fantasy.
Jonah Coleman Start or Sit Advice for Week 9
The Broncos deployed a two-man backfield of J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey last season, and both players performed well in their roles. However, they drafted Jonah Coleman in the fourth round back in April, adding another body to what was projected to become a committee at some point. Now, Dobbins is fading hard and Harvey is on IR, which has allowed the rookie to get into the mix and seize a real role – at least for the moment.
Coleman barely played in Week 1, but in Week 2, he handled 10 carries for 39 yards and scored his first NFL touchdown, also catching three targets for 19 more yards. He suffered an ankle sprain in that game that sidelined him for four weeks, but he returned in Week 7 and immediately made an impact. In that game, the rookie led the Broncos with nine carries, running for 54 yards on those chances. He also caught two passes, tying with Harvey for the lead among their halfbacks in that contest, too. However, Harvey was sidelined by a knee injury ahead of Week 8 and subsequently placed on injured reserve, opening the door for Coleman to take on a larger role.
In Week 8, Coleman took advantage of the opportunity and operated as the clear top option. He saw 11 carries to Dobbins’ seven, rushing for just 41 yards but getting into the end zone, also catching four of his five targets for 63 additional yards. All in all, he eclipsed 100 scrimmage yards on the day and finished with a career-best 20.4 PPR points on the day against a tough Chiefs defense, putting an exclamation mark on his best pro performance yet.
Now, Coleman and the Broncos head to Charlotte to take on the Panthers. Here’s a snippet from my piece earlier this week arguing that the rookie is a must-start RB – which does spoil the conclusion of this article, in turn:
The Panthers allow 28.3 FPPG to RBs, second most of any team in the NFL. On a per-game basis, they’re giving up 115.6 rushing yards to the position, fifth most, and the 1.4 touchdowns allowed are the second-highest average in football. As a bonus, the 4.73 YPC that opposing running backs are generating is the league’s fifth-highest mark.
On paper, this is a perfect matchup for the young running back to pop off and continue earning a heavy dose of touches moving forward. Weird things happen in football, though, so can we trust him in lineups this week?
The Bottom Line
You’ve probably gathered by now that Coleman is positioned to post a big day in fantasy football if he can take advantage of an advantageous matchup against the Panthers. They’ve consistently performed poorly against the run for what seems like several years now, and while the Denver offense has underwhelmed this year, the brightest flashes it’s shown have come over the last two games since the rookie runner started seeing more chances. Is that a coincidence? Possibly, but probably not.
Coleman is a firm start this week with expectations of a top-24 finish at the RB position. He’s seeing a very solid share of opportunities as the featured option in this backfield, and Dobbins isn’t much competition since he’s played poorly this season and has never been much of a pass-catcher. As such, watch for his rookie counterpart to absorb 10+ carries with a handful of targets in the receiving game – against a weak defense, he should be able to make the most of it and get into the end zone as well.
