Is Ty Montgomery a reliable fantasy football running back?

Everybody knows that the Packers have a high powered, pass first offense in the NFL today. The one thing the team has struggled to find in recent memory is a consistent, quality running back. Last season Ty Montgomery made the switch from wide receiver to running back, something that doesn’t happen often in the NFL.

Last season was a good sign for Packer fans in terms of Ty Montgomery. He had 457 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns while staying active in the receiving game with 348 receiving yards. Ty Montgomery was a very efficient running back last season. He had 5.9 yards per carry and ranked sixth in the NFL with 6.7 yards per touch. Montgomery became one of the leagues best dual threat running backs in a short amount of time, but the question is can he carry that into this season and be a reliable fantasy football player. Montgomery will have some competition as the Packers drafted three running backs in the 2017 NFL Draft.

Ty Montgomery has his opportunity in front of him to be a feature back, but recent camp and preseason struggles are affecting his opportunity. In the first preseason game, all of the Green Bay running backs struggled, but Montgomery might’ve had the worst night. He had three carries for a total of zero yards and he lost a fumble while catching his only target for eight yards. Now it’s time to analyze Montgomery’s value in both standard and PPR leagues.

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Standard Leagues- Montgomery is an interesting pick in standard leagues this year. His current ADP in standard leagues is around the eighth pick of the third round. That’s a little early to draft a running back playing alongside the best quarterback in the NFL. Montgomery is being drafted ahead of players such as Dalvin Cook, Joe Mixon and Carlos Hyde. Currently the 17th running back off the board, Montgomery is being drafted as a RB2 while he’s more likely to put up RB3 numbers in Green Bay.

Standard leagues don’t bode well for Montgomery. He won’t get as many points as he’s capable of. With the other running backs on the Packers’ roster, Montgomery can have some of his carries taken away and won’t evolve into a true three down back. Mike McCarthy has told the media that Ty Montgomery should have his carries doubled from last season meaning he’ll have around 150 rushing attempts, not RB2 worthy for a 10-12 team standard league. Don’t pull the trigger on Montgomery in the third round of standard fantasy football drafts.

PPR- PPR is a different story for Ty Montgomery. Dual Threat backs thrive in PPR leagues. Just look at Danny Woodhead and his production when he plays a full season. Montgomery had 44 receptions last season and those numbers should only increase. Even in a half point PPR league, Montgomery is a very valuable running back. There are still concerns revolving around the other running backs on the roster but PPR is a different story. His ADP stays consistent between standard and PPR leagues, as Montgomery is being drafted as the 15th overall running back which is a high RB2. I still believe Montgomery is overvalued at that ADP. He isn’t a lock to keep his starting job and a third round pick is a big risk to take.

All in all Montgomery is a tough sell for fantasy owners but the faith that Coach McCarthy has in Ty Montgomery and his stats from last season make me believe that he will be a RB2 in PPR leagues. Draft him in the fifth or later in standard leagues and he’s a solid fourth rounder in PPR.

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