Earlier this morning we saw the New York Jets face off against the Miami Dolphins in London around 9:30 A.M. eastern time. Anyone that watched the game saw Jets running back Chris Ivory return to his prime week 1 form where he scored 21 fantasy points. Week 4 of the NFL regular season saw Ivory put up a monster 22 fantasy points. The question again has to be asked: Is Ivory capable of putting up these numbers all season?
When Healthy
To literally answer the question is simple. The easy answer is yes but it comes with a huge red flag over it. Ivory is injury prone and tends to be seen on the sidelines for multiple weeks at a time. Ivory looked banged up in week 2 and did not play at all in week 3. The Jets have a bye in week 5 but after that, their next few games are shockingly pathetic. They play Washington (decent offense, decent defense), Oakland (good offense, poor defense), Jacksonville (ok offense, poor defense). One thing is constant across the board, none of these defenses are particularly good. I personally could see Ivory easily getting 15 in each of these games and 10 at a minimum if he is on the field.
Defensive Impact
The Jets defense has looked great all season and it has directly helped the offense. The Jets look like a toned down version of the Seattle Seahawks. The Jets will win the game with their defense and the offense will get a few scores on the board. Ivory is directly affected by the defense. Every time the Jets defense gets a stop, it is only giving more touches to Ivory. To put this in perspective, it is the exact opposite of the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles will try to win it on offense and their defense tends to wear out. This directly affects DeMarco Murray who is not getting as many touches as Ivory simply because Ivory is on the field more. Overall the Jets defense is helping Ivory whether you want to believe it or not.
Ultimatum
Ivory will likely be a top 10 running back for the next few weeks the question is can he stay on the field. If Ivory is on the field I would expect him to be a top tier running back especially after the bye week. The X Factor for Ivory will be his health and personally I think he is a great running back pending his health. In conclusion, all Ivory owners continue to start him unless he goes down with an injury. If anyone is willing to trade a power 5 back (Bell, Charles, Peterson, Lynch, Lacy) for Ivory I would certainly recommend pulling the trigger and selling high on Ivory.