Hey everyone, glad to have you back for another spin over here at BetFTW. My name is Christian D’Andr–
Wait.
Hold on.
What does that headline say?
Rex Burkhead? Seriously? In this, the year of our lord, 2021? I mean that would have been stupid back at the height of his powers in, say, 2017. But we’re gonna do that here? Now? Just flush whatever minimal credibility we’ve built over the past two months down the drain because of Burk Freakin’ Rexhead?
Alright man. Whatever. Let’s talk about Ol’ Rex and why I’ve decided to drag you all into an argument appreciated by literally tens of people across the country.
Burkhead’s getting a rare moment of relevance thanks to circumstance. He was the Houston Texans’ leading rusher last week as they protected a lead late against the Tennessee Titans. He out-carried and out-gained David Johnson in both total yards and yards-after-contact. And he was thoroughly below-average — 2.2 yards per carry, 1.7 yards after contact — in the process.
But there’s reason to place some flier bets on his low expectations. On Sunday he goes from the league’s 18th-ranked rushing defense to No. 31 in another winnable game. The New York Jets have given up 100+ rushing yards every week but one this season. With Phillip Lindsay released, the carries in Houston will come down to either Burkhead or Johnson, who is averaging three yards per carry and fewer than five carries per game.
Burkhead is familiar with the Jets. Though he only played them three times in four seasons as a Patriot, he gained an average of 56 total yards and a touchdown per game as part of New England’s tailback platoon.
So here we have the perfect storm of weird circumstance and low expectations. Burkhead’s entire 2021 — nay, his entire career — have been building to this point. And much like he found a way to completely destabilize fantasy lineups at various points as a Patriot, he’s got a curtain call coming.
Rex Burkhead’s gonna mess around and have double-digit fantasy points this week. That’s either the dumbest or smartest thing I’ve ever written. Join me, friends, on this very lame expedition.