5 Things I Learned From Week 11 of the NFL Season

Jonas Gray Is a Fantasy Football Legend

A week after Stevan Ridley's season-ending injury, Shane Vereen came out and crushed the Jets. I wrote about the performance in an attempt to find some sort of trend among Patriot running backs and predicting their usage for fantasy football purposes.

One of the big takeaways was that "Vereen games" tend to occur against teams with tougher rush defenses. This logically makes sense, as Vereen is a pass-catching back who's less likely to take a bruising through the middle of the offensive line.

Poor rush defenses, like the Colts (22nd against the run according to our metrics), could see a heavy dose of Jonas Gray. And that's what we saw last night.

Gray pounded the football for 199 yards and 4 touchdowns on 38 carries last night in what was the single best fantasy football performance by a running back this season. Even the biggest Gray backers didn't see that coming.

While Gray should certainly be picked up and owned everywhere, I do think it's important to note that the Patriots will face the Lions, Dolphins and Jets in three of their next five games. Vereen already killed the Jets earlier in the season, while the Lions and Dolphins have two of the better run-stuffing units in the NFL. I still think the backfield will be a roller coaster.