Ronnie Hillman Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Gordon (hip, knee) pushed to play this weekend but the organization informed him that he'll be inactive for the Chargers' season finale. He'll end his sophomore campaign three rushing yards shy of 1,000. With backup Kenneth Farrow also out, Ronnie Hillman will get the start for San Diego. He won't be a great fantasy option as he's struggled all season. He's averaging 2.6 yards per carry on the year and only managed six yards on nine carries last week against a horrible Browns defense.

Farrow hurt his shoulder on Christmas Eve and the Chargers decided to place him on the injured reserve, ending his season. With one meaningless game left, it would be a bit surprising to see Gordon (knee, hip) suit up. Although he will try to play, the organization has little incentive to put him on the field when he's still dealing with a pair of injuries, especially with one being in his knee. Should he sit, Ronnie Hillman will start against the Chiefs. He won't be a great fantasy option. Even in a nice matchup with the Browns this past weekend, he averaged 0.7 yards per carry on nine attempts, and his longest rush was for three yards.

It still appears that the Chargers are hoping to get Gordon back for Saturday's game with the Browns, a match-up that the second-year back will surely want to take advantage of. He was absent at Tuesday's practice which isn't overly concerning - if he's unable to get any action in over the next two days, we'll be a little more concerned. Kenneth Farrow literally dropped the ball in his first chance to lead the backfield, fumbling twice and showing very little vision/burst against what should have been a vulnerable Raiders defense. Expect Ronnie Hillman to be more involved this week if Gordon ends up sitting.

Earlier this week, there was some concern over Kenneth Farrow's pass-blocking ability. However, prior to the 2016 draft, Pro Football Focus' Wes Huber said Farrow had "next-level blocking chops." PFF also noted Farrow is exceptionally skilled as a receiver. Helping his own case, he caught 6-of-6 targets against the Panthers last week, which put him in a tie with Dontrelle Inman for a team-high six receptions. Given his abilities in the passing game, the concerns he would lose a lot of snaps to Hillman on passing downs may have been overblown. Farrow should be the feature back Sunday with Hillman, who will be active for the first time as a Charger, simply working in to provide Farrow a breather on occasion. Fortunately, he'll get a nice matchup for his first start. Oakland is only favored by 2.5 points in a game with a 49-point total. The Raiders rank 21st in pass DVOA, 26th against the rush, and 23rd against receiving running backs specifically. FanDuel priced Farrow up this week in anticipation of his start, which makes him a bit harder to roster there as compared to DraftKings, where he's still a very affordable $4.4k. Farrow, who has a knack for catching most balls thrown his way, will also have a higher upside on DK, as he'll be able to take advantage of their full PPR scoring. He's an exciting punt play this weekend.

No surprise here, as Gordon has been listed as doubtful all week. Kenneth Farrow will get the first crack at lead back duties, which makes him a very appealing cash game punt on both FD ($6,000) and DK ($4,400). Ronnie Hillman hasn't been active for any of the Chargers previous few games, but he also figures to eat into the workload and is probably the better pure runner between the two. In relief of Gordon last weekend, Farrow finished with 22 touches and should be locked into at least 15 even if Hillman does start to sieve carries. The match-up with Oakland's defense is definitely not one we want to run away from either, so you should feel confident in getting a solid $/pt return from Farrow this weekend.

Gordon (hip, knee) did add he was recovering faster than he expected, but this pretty much confirms he won't be able to play on Sunday. Kenneth Farrow could end up being a chalky play in DFS, but most sites anticipated Gordon's absence and raised Farrow's price dramatically. After Gordon went down against Panthers, the rookie running back piled up 22 touches, which he turned into 78 yards. He'll have a nice matchup with Oakland, who ranks 21st in pass DVOA (he caught six passes last game) and 26th against the rush. There have been rumblings that Ronnie Hillman will split work with Farrow though. Hillman hasn't been active since joining the Chargers, but San Diego reportedly trusts him more in pass protection. Considering the potential timeshare and Farrow's price hike, he won't be a simple plug-and-play running back in Week 15.

The Vikings RB stated his ankle feels better and he expects to play this week when his team hosts the Lions. It's a good match up for the team as the Lions are 25th in RB Rush DVOA but it's a situation that's hard to trust as Matt Asiata vultures red zone and passing down snaps and Ronnie Hillman has been thrust into the mix of late. McKinnon might be worth a GPP flyer or two if you're mass multi-entering lineups but outside of that he can be avoided. His return makes Asiata/Hillman unusable for DFS purposes.

Anderson was active last week, but didn't end up seeing the field. Instead, Ronnie Hillman led the backfield with Juwan Thompson acting in a complementary role, but neither RB took advantage of the opportunity. Hillman finished with 19 touches, but was only able to turn his 12 carries into 20 yards and couldn't cross the 50 yard mark in the receiving game despite 7 catches. Thompson finished with 9 total touches and he was also bottled up, gaining just 29 yards on those opportunities. If Anderson is indeed healthy, he could very well lead the backfield in touches against the Steelers. The match-up isn't great regardless of who heads up the backfield with Pittsburgh having one of the league's top run defenses. Both Anderson and Hillman will enter Week 15 as GPP dart throws.

With C.J. Anderson very questionable to play, Ronnie Hillman will again draw the start at running back for the Broncos. There was some talk that Juwan Thompson may end up starting which would have made this backfield even more of a mess, but it appears Thompson will just act in a complementary role behind Hillman. If Anderson is ruled out, Hillman is a very solid GPP target with the Broncos being much more run-heavy since the QB struggles began. After starting the season as one of the league's tougher draws for RBs, Oakland has now allowed the 12th most FPs to the position. Hillman has averaged just shy of 19 touches per game over his last three contests, and Anderson has made an appearance in all three games, so he'd be a very good bet to exceed 20 touches with Anderson out.