Indianapolis Colts Week 9 Fantasy Outlook

It’s time to look at the individual fantasy matchups that the Indianapolis Colts will be facing when they take on the Miami Dolphins today. The biggest injury for the Colts is the knee injury to Donald Brown, and he is listed questionable on the injury report after it was found that his knee swelled yesterday. He practiced fully on Friday and will be limited if he does play.

QB Andrew Luck

The Miami Dolphins defense is an underrated unit overall, despite being thin at the safety position. Cornerback Sean Smith does a solid job of shadowing receivers, and the pass rush is up there with the best of them. Cameron Wake is the headlining name, but Randy Starks is always one to watch on the inside.

There’s no reason to start Luck in this matchup, especially with No. 2 WR Donnie Avery consistently underperforming each week. He doesn’t even catch 50% of what’s thrown at him. Stanford teammate Coby Fleener will be out for two weeks, and Luck is once again a player who is an absolute no-go for your fantasy team.

Jim Brown-US PRESSWIRE

RB Donald Brown/Vick Ballard

I think he will be able to play through the pain, but he’s going to be splitting carries pretty evenly with Vick Ballard even if he does play. It’s difficult to pick one player over the other, because it depends on what you think Brown’s chances are of playing and how many carries he gets in comparison. The difference maker is probably going to be the fact that Brown is the better running back and averages almost a full yard per carry more.

Update: Start Ballard, because Brown is unlikely to play.

WR Reggie Wayne

Reggie Wayne is, once again, a must-start and will be the most productive player on the Colts offense. He’s the most talented player, and he has arguably the best matchup overall. Smith is a good CB overall, but he does get burned quite a bit and isn’t the best against precise route-runners like Wayne. At this point, the Colts veteran wideout is likely one of the best ten at the position this week. I think he can break a deep catch or two, in addition to all the targets he’s able to hoard. Wayne isn’t even going to draw all of his assignments against Smith, and that’s a good thing given the weaknesses of the rest of the DBs in coverage.

WR Donnie Avery

Even if you are in a 14-team league, there are better options at WR and, hopefully, at the flex position. Avery doesn’t even average 50 receiving yards per game.

TE Dwayne Allen

Even though he is productive on a per-target basis, Allen doesn’t get many targets and will only gain about three more targets with Fleener out. The focus is going to be on Wayne, and there are better options than Allen out there.

Colts Defense/ST

Reggie Bush is going to light up the Colts run defense, especially since they allow running backs to average 4.8 yards per carry against them. The pass defense is even worse, and the only thing going for them is the fact that Brian Hartline and Ryan Tannehill are both listed questionable. Matt Moore is a great backup QB as well. I mean, there is no reason to roster the Colts defense in the first place with how bad the secondary is and the lack of push against the run. I love the pass rush from Robert Mathis and Jerry Hughes, but this defense is clearly one of the worst ten in the NFL.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.