Week 6 at Jaguars
Murray touched the football nine times against the Buccaneers, his highest total since Week 1. The bad news is he still didn't do much of anything with those opportunities, totaling just 34 yards. He's good for a catch or two and some extra points in PPR, but other than that, he's nothing more than a deep, deep flex option with four teams on a bye this week.
Week 5 vs. Buccaneers
Murray just simply isn't getting the opportunities needed to make any sort of fantasy impact. He's seen just one-third of the offensive snaps in three of the first four games and received just five touches against the Cowboys for a mere 20 yards. Murray looks like nothing more than a desperation flex play going forward unless we start seeing a change in game plan, which doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon.
Week 4 vs. Cowboys
Owners of Alvin Kamara may have had some concern that Murray was going to come and basically play Mark Ingram's role in the offense and take touches away from Kamara. That has been quickly diminishing. Murray has gone from eight touches to six touches to just two touches in Week 3. Until we see a change in their gameplan, it's very tough to trust Murray for much of anything fantasy-wise.
For as quiet as Alvin Kamara was against the Rams, Murray was even quieter. Murray touched the ball just six times against the Rams, rushing five times for just seven yards. And now the Saints do not have Drew Brees. The Saints may rely a lot more on Kamara while Brees is gone, making Murray a deep flex play at best, as we have him just inside the top 50 running backs in PPR.
Week 2 at Rams
All the talk during the offseason was how much would Latavius Murray cut into the workload of Alvin Kamara. In Week 1, the answer was not that much. Kamara received 20 touches against the Texans, while Murray had just eight. Murray, however, did break a 30-yard touchdown run while Kamara did not find the end zone. Murray will be involved enough in the Saints' offense that he'll warrant flex consideration but nothing more. You're almost banking on Murray finding the end zone when playing him.
Week 1 vs Texans
While Alvin Kamara will be the main focal point of the rushing attack and well-involved in the passing game, the Saints will not shy away from using Murray either. Remember, the Saints gave Murray $7.2 million of his $14.4 million contract guaranteed. They will use him. Someone has to take on the workload that Mark Ingram left behind and it won't all go to Kamara. Murray may see about ten carries and a few catches out of the backfield, but most of his damage will be on the ground. That still makes him a solid flex option. We have Murray ranked No. 33 among running backs in PPR scoring and No. 30 in standard scoring.
Fantasy Upside
The Saints gave Latavius Murray $7.2 million guaranteed, which is more than what the Baltimore Ravens gave Mark Ingram. New Orleans clearly has a plan for Murray. Even with Alvin Kamara around, Ingram still rushed for 645 yards and six touchdowns, while also adding a receiving touchdown on 21 catches, which was good enough to make Ingram a viable flex option. And that was all done in just 12 games. Murray will be available for all 16 games and there are 138 carries left from Ingram's departure and Murray is in line to receive a healthy portion of those carries.
Fantasy Downside
The main downside is obvious and that's Alvin Kamara. Kamara will always have more upside in both the rushing and passing attack. Unless something happens to Kamara, Murray's upside is capped, as he may only see about 10-12 carries per game.
Bottom Line
Even with Kamara limiting the upside of Murray, Murray does have RB2 upside. Ingram was an RB3 and missed four games. Murray is currently being drafted as a low-tier RB3 in the middle rounds, meaning he provides a ton of value with the upside he brings. There's no reason to believe Murray won't be a factor for the Saints.
Week 17 vs. Chicago Bears
As expected, Latavius Murray wasn't as involved last week as he was the week before. He gets more use than some backup running backs, but still not enough to warrant fantasy consideration.
Week 16 at Detroit Lions
Even with Dalvin Cook's return, Minnesota continues to use Latavius Murray. The backup finished with 15 carries for 68 yards and a score last week. However this was a bit of an anomaly as Murray hasn't had quite that amount of touches in recent games. Murray is still involved, but he's a risky bet for fantasy purposes and shouldn't be on anyone's radar.
Week 13 at New England Patriots
Latavius Murray actually led the Vikings in rush attempts (11) and rush yards (33) last week. He's continued to be involved since Dalvin Cook's return, he just hasn't been very good. He's mostly off of the fantasy football radar.
