Indianapolis Colts running back Frank Gore has been solid this season at age 32, ancient for a RB. In nine games he has carried the ball 148 times for 599 yards (4.0 YPC) and four touchdowns while catching 20 passes for 135 yards. No, he's not going to swing your fantasy league for you. But he has totaled at least 75 yards from scrimmage in each of the last seven games and his stock is actually on the rise.
You see, Gore received a whopping 28 carries against the Denver Broncos last week, a mark he hasn't reached since 2011. Given Indy's struggles this season and the injury to quarterback Andrew Luck, Gore could be relied upon now more than ever. That means fantasy owners could see an upswing in his workload and production.
"This is also, perhaps, the reason the Colts can entertain the idea of unleashing Gore a bit," Stephen Holder of the Indy Star wrote. "He's been restricted to this point by what coach Chuck Pagano has described as a pitch count, an undisclosed number of carries the Colts would like to limit Gore to this season.
"But circumstances have changed. The Colts are 4-5. They're barely holding onto first place in their terrible division. And, by the way, their franchise quarterback, Andrew Luck, is out for an undetermined length of time with a lacerated kidney.
"This does not feel like the time to place limitations on one of the team's most productive offensive players."
Gore is on pace to become Indy's first 1,000-yard rusher since Joseph Addai did it in 2007. It would be his fifth consecutive season topping that mark.
The lack of a consistent running game has hurt the Colts in the post-season over the last three years and put additional pressure on Luck to win games singlehandedly. Though burning out the older RB is a legitimate concern (Gore has received the seventh most carries in the NFL this season), desperate times call for desperate measures.
"There's a bigger role for everybody considering the circumstances," Pagano said.
