Latavius Murray

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.

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 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.