Fantasy Football Projections Week 6: Why You Should Start BenJarvus Green-Ellis

The New England Patriots' running game will have success against the Dallas Cowboys, and BenJarvus Green-Ellis will rack up more fantasy points than Stevan Ridley.

Green-Ellis is listed as questionable this week.

If he were on any other team, it’d be an easy decision to slot his backup (Ridley) into his place. But Green-Ellis is on the Patriots, where Bill Belichick seems to take pleasure in confusing hordes of fantasy owners with misleading injury reports.

We know that Green-Ellis was limited in practice this week due to a toe injury, but we don’t really know why. It could be that the Law Firm simply wasn’t able participate. Or, it could be that the Patriots decided to hold him back to conserve energy for this afternoon’s game. With Belichick, there’s no way to know for sure.

I do know for sure that Green-Ellis leads all Patriots running backs in carries. I also know that he’s received double-digit carries in each of the last four weeks. Finally, I know that Green-Ellis has scored five touchdowns in his last five games, four of which came from inside the 5-yard line.

I don’t know much about Stevan Ridley.

I know that he was successful in the preseason, but that’s the preseason. I know that he had a great game against the Oakland Raiders, but I also know that he followed that up with a seven-carry, 13-yard effort against the New York Jets.

Like I said, I don’t know much about Stevan Ridley.

The Patriots have plenty of options at running back. If Green-Ellis is really incapable of contributing today, I think Bill Belichick would have deactivated him. With a bye coming next week, there’s no reason to run Green-Ellis out there if he’s not going to be a part of the offense.

Stevan Ridley has been a hot pickup, but until he proves otherwise, BenJarvus Green-Ellis is the running back you want. Expect the Law Firm to tally 12-17 carries for a total of 60-80 yards and a score. That’s solid for an RB2 and fantastic for a flex. Start him with confidence.