Week 8 vs Buccaneers
Mark Ingram is back with the Saints after two years in Baltimore and almost half a season in Houston. Ingram is actually closing in on becoming the all-time leading rusher in Saints history, needing just 90 yards to pass Deuce McAllister. Perhaps Ingram will get his old/Latavius Murray's old role in New Orleans, getting a few carries, maybe around ten, to spell Alvin Kamara from time to time. He makes it into our top 50 backs for this week, but we know how tough the Bucs rushing defense is.
Week 7 at Cardinals
Sunday was one of the better days for Mark Ingram and the Texans running the football. Too bad the Texans still got embarrassed by the Colts, but Ingram at least had his most yards since Week 1. If you're hurting at running back due to byes, I guess Ingram is an option, but they're playing the Cardinals and this game could get out of hand rather quickly. Ingram checks in at flex territory during bye-mageddon.
Week 6 vs Colts
If anything, Mark Ingram continues to see a lot of touches in the backfield for Houston. His 16 in Week 5 were more than double any other running back. That was his most work his Week 2. But he hasn't cracked 50 yards since Week 1. He's a top 40 option this week with byes now starting, but even with that, it still feels like a desperation move.
Week 4 at Bills
Houston's running game continues to be a cluster and a mess. It's a true running-back-by-committee approach. They also couldn't run the ball at all against the Panthers in Week 3 and it doesn't get any easier this week against the Bills. Mark Ingram is our highest-ranked HOU RB, but good luck picking out which one will work out. That's if you trust anyone in that backfield.
Week 3 vs Panthers
Mark Ingram once again saw the most carries (14) among Texans running backs in Week 2, but his snap percentage dropped to 31 percent, playing just 19 of 61 snaps. The Texans will continue to be a tough puzzle to figure out among the running backs, but with back-to-back weeks of double-digit carries, Ingram currently has the slight edge in the group for fantasy purposes. But it's far from an easy sell at this point.
Week 2 at Browns
For all the talk of a running back by committee in Houston, there certainly was a clear-cut leader in terms of touches in Week 1. Mark Ingram saw 26 carries for 85 yards and a touchdown. The next highest was eight for Phillip Lindsay. He did all that on just 36 snaps, as Houston did spread the snaps out among all their running backs (Ingram 36, David Johnson 22, Phillip Lindsay 20, Rex Burkhead 10). Houston will likely continue spreading the snaps, but Ingram gets the early nod and the highest rank among Houston running backs against the Browns.
Week 1 vs Jaguars
The Texans are likely going to use a committee approach among their running backs, but Mark Ingram might get the early looks as the early-down back with David Johnson as the third-down back. With how poor Houston's offense is expected to be, it's too early to want to get cute with any Houston running back. But at least keep an eye out to see if any running back breaks from the pack early on.
Week 15 vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Mark Ingram may be active this week against the Jaguars, but he seems to be at least third on the depth chart behind J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards at this point. Sit him. Drop him.
Week 11 vs. Tennessee Titans
Mark Ingram returned to action last week against the Patriots, but gained just 29 total yards on seven touches, including a pair of receptions. Ingram could’ve just been used cautiously coming off an injury, but even before he got hurt, he was averaging only 8.8 touches per game. Until that changes, keep him on the bench. He’s more likely to hurt the value of the other Baltimore running backs, than to become valuable himself.
Week 6 at Philadelphia Eagles
Mark Ingram had 57 yards on 11 carries last week in a dream matchup against the lowly Bengals. Unfortunately, that’s a season-high in carries and rushing yards for him, as the Ravens have taken a three-pronged approach to the run game – four-pronged if you include Lamar Jackson. Making matters worse, the Eagles rank eighth in aFPA to opposing running backs. A bad matchup with a questionable workload makes Ingram hard to trust, and fantasy owners should consider him a questionable RB3 option at best.
