The Ageless Wonder and Young Buck
Like a fine wine, Frank Gore only seems to get better with age. Gore has supposedly been on the downward slope of his career for what seems like about five years now. And yet, the talented running back just seems to churn out starting-caliber numbers year after year. Last season, in what was arguably one of the worst of his 13-year career, Gore still manage nearly 1,000 yards and three touchdowns.
Frank Gore has always done his damage as the featured back in an offense, and that’s not going to be the case in Miami. But that isn’t to say there’s not a place for him in the offense, and one that will likely come at the detriment — at least from a fantasy perspective — of Kenyan Drake. It seems all but certain to me that, if Gore is going to be an integral part of the Dolphins offense, it’s going to come in short yardage and goal-to-go situations.
It’s hard to know just how much Gore has left in the tank, but he at least has enough left to fill in that role admirably. Gore has never been a touchdown producing monster, only notching double-digit rushing touchdowns once in his career, but if the Dolphins offense is clicking on all cylinders, Gore could take a lot of scoring opportunities away from Drake if that’s how the team plans to use him. Drake will get the lion’s share of the carries and yards, but if he doesn’t have the touchdown numbers to accompany, his fantasy production could be rough.
No problem, right? It’s a passing league and Drake is more than capable in that department. What opportunites Gore eats up on the ground, Drake can make up for in the air. This is PPR we’re talking about, after all. Well, not so fast. While I do believe Drake is a capable receiver, and will see some action in the team’s passing game, there’s a reason the team drafted Kalen Ballage. Ballage is an incredible athlete who never seemed to quite fit in the Arizona State offense.
Finding creative ways to get Ballage the ball is Adam Gase’s bread-and-butter. I don’t forsee Ballage being a big factor on the ground — at least not as a rookie — but he should make a significant contribution in the passing game. Ballage is built like few running backs you see today, and has the athleticism to line up all over the field. He’ll catch balls out of the backfield. He’ll catch them split out wide. They will find ways to get the ball in his hands. To Drake owners’ chagrin, I expect Ballage to be the team’s primary pass-catching back before all is said and done.
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