The Tampa Bay Buccaneers pulled off their first win of the season on Monday night football against the Dolphins, but they lost one of their top offensive players in the process, as running back Mike James left with a fractured ankle and now the team and fantasy owners should look towards Bobby Rainey and Brian Leonard as the best RB pickups for Week 11.
James has come in for Doug Martin after his season ending shoulder injury and he had played well and was playing well again on Monday night before having to leave the game on a cart with a broken ankle, which was revealed after the game. According to NFL.com, James has a fractured ankle and Pro Football Talk reports that James will have more tests on the ankle to see how severe the injury is and it likely means he will be out for the next couple weeks, making Leonard and Rainey top pickups for fantasy owners moving forward.
James left the game in the first quarter on the opening possession for Tampa Bay and he was coming off of a big game against the Seattle Seahawks, rushing for over 150 yards and now he could be out for a while. The Buccaneers rushed for over 200 yards against the Seahawks and James was having a fantastic start with 41 yards on five carries and now it looks like Leonard and Rainey will be the primary backs going forward. James had been great over the past three weeks and he has over 290 yards on the ground this season and with just seven weeks left to go in the NFL schedule, it could mean the end of the year for the impressive rookie.
James came in for Martin and had 45 yards against the Falcons before putting up 39 against the Panthers and his best game came against the Seahawks with 158 yards and he also added 10 catches this season out of the backfield. The team was able to get its first win on Monday night, but now the rushing attack could be in big trouble with James out and that could mean more losses down the line for Greg Schiano and company after winning over the Dolphins. James likely will be out for at least a few games and likely more.
Leonard had 20 carries after James left the game and he ended up with 57 yards and he could be a solid pickup in deeper leagues as the season goes on, as him and Bobby Rainey should get the bulk of the carries going forward. Leonard had two catches for 16 yards in the game and has 18 for 140 this season and that could make him valuable moving along the rest of the year and he now has 29 carries for 90 yards. Rainey was recently picked up after Martin went down and finished with eight carries for 45 yards and one touchdown and he also added one catch in the game and a run of 31-yards, possibly making him the starting back moving forward. Schiano loves Leonard and liked what James was doing, but now that he is down, Leonard and Rainey should be the top options.