It took most of the season, but it appears the New York Giants will place running back David Wilson on season-ending injured reserve to clear space for returning running back Andre Brown, according to Conor Orr of The Star-Ledger. Wilson has been out with a neck injury since the team's Week 5 game against the Philadelphia Eagles more than a month ago.
The Giants running back was a high draft pick in fantasy drafts this season, but after two fumbles in the season-opener and disappointing production leading up to the injury, his season likely ends with 44 carries for 146 yards and only a single score.
Brown, meanwhile, was expected to share carries with Wilson entering the season, but suffered a leg injury in preseason. Last year, Brown had 385 rushing yards and eight touchdowns in ten games as the co-backup (with Wilson) to Ahmad Bradshaw. Brown has been on the short-term injured reserve all season, and his activation basically forced the Giants hand with regards to Wilson.
Fantasy impact: Brown becomes the obvious No. 1 running back with the Giants, though a particularly quick lawnmower might be a better option than the guys New York has run out there the last several weeks. Regardless, touches breed production, and Brown is likely to be worthy of a start in most leagues with his return.
Behind him, Brandon Jacobs is the Giants' likely No. 2, but will need a Brown re-injury to have any fantasy relevance at all. A Brown re-injury is not a wild and crazy idea, as his 2012 ended in injury before his 2013 started with one, but until then, Jacobs is hardly worth owning. Also not worth owning are Peyton Hillis and Michael Cox, the most recent Giants attempts at a running game.
As for Wilson, he's obviously not worth anything in fantasy the rest of this season. Everything that was true about him -- speed good, fumbling bad -- entering the season will still be true about him entering next season. While it would be hard to burn a high draft pick on him again next year, he might be a viable sleeper pick for 2014.
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