You could say that Jackie Battle's coming out party was last week against the Indianapolis Colts. The Chiefs fourth year running back out of the University of Houston had been nothing more than a special teams player and preseason all-star so far in his Kansas City Chiefs career.
Then Battle made his presence known with a 19-carry, 119 yard performance last Sunday against the Colts. It's one of the reasons that ESPN's fantasy football blogger Christopher Harris has Battle as one of the top waiver wire pickups heading into week 6, even with the Chiefs bye week coming up.
I watched this game tape and didn't see tons special about what Battle did: He took what was blocked, and found gaping holes on six or seven second-half runs. This is a guy who was known as a good athlete for his size (6-foot-2, 238 pounds) coming out of the University of Houston, running a 4.42 40 at his pro day, and he was a TD machine during his senior year (2006) in that wide-open Cougars attack
While veteran running back Thomas Jones and change-of-pace back Dexter McCluster will see some carries as well. Battle has earned himself another shot at some carries after the bye week heading into the Chiefs matchup with the Miami Dolphins. Not everyone was surprised at the increased workload that Jackie Battle had against the Colts last week. The Kansas City Stars' Adam Teicher reported that Battle would see a larger role in the offense for the game against the Colts. via kansascity.com
"He's a guy that wants to play, wants to contribute," Haley said. "He's been one of our best special teamers up to this point, and that's kind of been his calling card. But I know he wants to be a running back."
It looks like Battle may have shown Haley something against the Colts and if your fantasy football team is needing a waiver wire pickup, then Battle isn't a bad choice. But temper your expectations for a couple of weeks as he's not going to be a savior. The Chiefs' schedule does get increasingly more difficult and Matt Cassel's terrific performance against the Colts also contributed to Battle's success. That said, he's going to get some carries and he should get the ball around the goal line. Not a bad move on a most-likely thin waiver wire for running backs here in the sixth week.
You could say that Jackie Battle's coming out party was last week against the Indianapolis Colts. The Chiefs fourth year running back out of the University of Houston had been nothing more than a special teams player and preseason all-star so far in his Kansas City Chiefs career.
Then Battle made his presence known with a 19-carry, 119 yard performance last Sunday against the Colts. It's one of the reasons that ESPN's fantasy football blogger Christopher Harris has Battle as one of the top waiver wire pickups heading into week 6, even with the Chiefs bye week coming up.
While veteran running back Thomas Jones and change-of-pace back Dexter McCluster will see some carries as well. Battle has earned himself another shot at some carries after the bye week heading into the Chiefs matchup with the Miami Dolphins. Not everyone was surprised at the increased workload that Jackie Battle had against the Colts last week. The Kansas City Stars' Adam Teicher reported that Battle would see a larger role in the offense for the game against the Colts. via kansascity.com
It looks like Battle may have shown Haley something against the Colts and if your fantasy football team is needing a waiver wire pickup, then Battle isn't a bad choice. But temper your expectations for a couple of weeks as he's not going to be a savior. The Chiefs' schedule does get increasingly more difficult and Matt Cassel's terrific performance against the Colts also contributed to Battle's success. That said, he's going to get some carries and he should get the ball around the goal line. Not a bad move on a most-likely thin waiver wire for running backs here in the sixth week.