Cleveland Browns RB Ben Tate is ready to start in Week 5 over Terrance west and Isaiah Crowell for fantasy football owners after being injured for a few weeks and while he will be getting the bulk of the carries, fantasy owners should hang onto West and Crowell for the time being, as they could get touches if Tate is limited and it's possible Tate could go down again with an injury after playing in just one game this season.
According to ESPN.com, Tate is expected to play this week and while he may not be at 100 percent capacity, the Browns are planning to use him as the lead back. Reports say he will get about 15 touch ewes this game and maybe a few more and while that doesn't bode well for West and Crowell, Tate is just coming back and he likely will not get a heavy work load. Fantasy owners would be wise to hang into one of those backs, as Tate has dealt with injuries in his past and it could pop up again with it being a knee injury.
Tate started last season late after Arian Foster went down and while he had a serious rib injury, he continued playing and was very solid for the Texans. Tate had his best season a few years ago and nearly had 1000 yards while coming in for Foster and that is why the Browns signed him. The team traded away Trent Richardson last season and that is another reason why they added Tate and they also drafted West and now Crowell is also getting a shot. The two backs have been solid coming in for Tate and if fantasy owners have space on their rosters, keeping one of those players would be wise.
West has more yards, but Crowell has more touchdowns and right now it looks like Crowell is the backup to Tate and he will be getting more carries going forward. West comes into the pros after putting up some amazing numbers at Towson with over 2500 rushing yards and 40 touchdowns just last season and he has shown that he can be a solid backup and handcuff option in deeper leagues. This season Tate only has six rushes for 41 yards after leaving the first game of the year and now he will get the chance to get back into the starting lineup.
West likely now will be in the number three part of the depth chart and he comes in after averaging 4.3 yards per carry in three games this season. The Browns like West and what he can do and he comes in with 204 yards and two TDs along with four receptions this season. Crowell comes in with 1412 yards this season and he has three touchdowns and he likely will get more chances to score over West, although Tate has shown in the past he can go outside and up the middle in goal line situations.
The Browns are looking to keep the running game going and with Tate coming back obviously both Crowell and West lose value. Tate has a knee injury and those can linger, so keeping tabs on those RBs is as strong move for fantasy owners in case something poops up again.
