Christian Petersen/Getty Images. Pictured: New Orleans Saints running back Ty Montgomery.
Alvin Kamara got you to your fantasy football championship game and now you have to navigate Sunday’s final without him.
The easy replacement is Latavius Murray, right? He’s out, too, as the entire running-back room was placed on the COVID/reserve list.
Enter Ty Montgomery against the Carolina Panthers.
The New Orleans Saints turn to their No. 4 running back in a game with playoff implications. Are you really trusting a starting spot on a player who has touched the ball three times all season?
The answer might actually be yes.
Ty Montgomery Fantasy Rankings
Below are Montgomery’s rankings as a running back
Standard League
Consensus: 17
Koerner: 23
Raybon: 13
Freedman: 14
PPR League
Consensus: 14
Koerner: 15
Raybon: 9
Freedman: 14
Our fantasy experts make Montgomery a top-20 play in both standard scoring leagues and PPR. Chris Raybon is the highest on Montgomery, making him a top-10 play in PPR rankings. According to Raybon’s model on Fantasy Labs, Montgomery is the top-rated running back.
His ability as a pass-catcher is what makes Montgomery stand out, especially in this offense. The Saints’ offense has relied heavily on Kamara in the passing game, targeting him 107 times this season.
He has a very high floor, given he will likely inherit much of the pass-catching role. I also think he will dominate carries (12.0). I’m still being a bit cautious considering there is still a bit of uncertainty here. Tony Jones could end up seeing more work than we expect as the backup, but I can also see Taysom Hill having a much larger role. Montgomery is a no-brainer play in DFS at $4000, but he will likely be very popular in GPPs. One way you can gain some leverage on the field is to take a swing at the other $4000 RB in this game, Rodney Smith. Smith is in a similar spot with both Christian McCaffrey and Mike Davis ruled out. The Panthers backfield seems a bit more predictable as the “next man up” approach, where Davis became a workhorse whenever CMC was out. I expect Smith to get 15-20 touches here.
Montgomery’s ranking puts him ahead of other options such as David Johnson, Malcolm Brown and J.K. Dobbins.
