As we gear up to the start of the NFL season, Football Absurdity is going to bring you a comprehensive breakdown of every notable player that will be available in fantasy football drafts. Mark Ingram played his first season outside of New Orleans in 2019, and ended up as a top-ten running back. A lot of that had to do with the Baltimore Ravens scoring a league-high 64 touchdowns last year. What can we expect from him in 2020 fantasy football?
Mark Ingram ADP and AAV:
Standard Scoring ADP: RB18, 40 overall
PPR Scoring ADP: RB25, 53 overall
Average Auction Value: $15
Mark Ingram Statistics:
| Year | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| G | 15 | 12 | 16 |
| GS | 15 | 6 | 13 |
| Ru Att | 202 | 138 | 230 |
| Ru Yds | 1018 | 645 | 1124 |
| Ru TD | 10 | 6 | 12 |
| Tgt | 29 | 27 | 71 |
| Rec | 26 | 21 | 58 |
| Yards | 247 | 170 | 416 |
| TD | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Touches | 228 | 159 | 288 |
| Opp | 231 | 165 | 301 |
| Total Yards | 1265 | 815 | 1540 |
| Year | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| YPC | 5.04 | 4.67 | 4.89 |
| Ru Att/G | 13.5 | 11.5 | 14.4 |
| Ru Yd/G | 67.9 | 53.8 | 70.3 |
| Tgt/G | 1.93 | 2.25 | 4.44 |
| Rec/G | 1.73 | 1.75 | 3.63 |
| Catch% | 89.7% | 77.8% | 81.7% |
| Yds/Tgt | 8.52 | 6.30 | 5.86 |
| Yds/Rec | 9.50 | 8.10 | 7.17 |
| Touches/G | 15.20 | 13.25 | 18.00 |
| Opp/G | 15.40 | 13.75 | 18.81 |
| Yds/G | 84.33 | 67.92 | 96.25 |
| Year | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| Std Pts | 216.5 | 121.5 | 220 |
| HPPR Pts | 229.5 | 132 | 249 |
| PPR Pts | 242.5 | 142.5 | 278 |
| Pts/G | 14.43 | 10.13 | 13.75 |
| HPPR Pts/G | 15.30 | 11.00 | 15.56 |
| PPR Pts/G | 16.17 | 11.88 | 17.38 |
| Pts/Touch | 0.95 | 0.76 | 0.76 |
| Pts/Touch (HPPR) | 1.01 | 0.83 | 0.86 |
| Pts/Touch (PPR) | 1.06 | 0.90 | 0.97 |
Mark Ingram Overview:
Mark Ingram spent 2019 racking up a ton of touchdowns (nine) inside the ten-yard line for an extremely efficient and high-scoring offense. That’s after Mark Ingram spent a whole career… getting a ton of ten zone carries in an extremely efficient and high-scoring offense. Ingram didn’t’ get an appreciably high number of touches, he had just 202 carries and 26 catches through 15 games. He was, however, extremely efficient, ripping off 5.5 yards per touch and scoring on 6.6% of his touches. This is why I’m not too worried about a J.K. Dobbins snatching of touches in Baltimore: there will still be plenty to go around, and Ingram will still do a ton with his.
Why am I so confident in Mark Ingram continuing to eat? Well, Justice Hill and Gus Edwards combined for 206 touches, and Lamar Jackson’s 176 rush attempts have to go down in 2020. They just… have to. The Ravens are built to run the ball, and Dobbins’ addition should steal a bunch of touches from Edwards and Hill, but also create more opportunity for Mark Ingram. Ingram turns 31 during the season and has two years left on his deal. The Dobbins signing is likely to ease him into the lead back role in 2020 and go full bore with it in 2021.
Do I think that Ingram has a top-ten season in him in 2020? No. Do I think that the lead back, or even a back getting 170+ touches in the Ravens’ offense should end up well inside the top-twenty when all is said and done? Absolutely.
Mark Ingram Draft Strategy:
Mark Ingram Auction Value: $6
Draft Ranking: Find out for your league settings in a Beersheet! (coming late June)
If you’re drafting Mark Ingram, you should be committed to drafting-and-stashing J.K. Dobbins. It’s not a pure handcuff, but it is a hedging against the Ravens completely flipping the script on their usage and letting the rookie be the lead back. It’s an inexpensive investment ($4 in an auction, round 10 in most snake drafts) and it ensures you get the biggest piece of that ridiculous backfield combination.
Ingram is worth it as a backend RB2 at his draft position, but get more used to shrugging your shoulders and going “well, alright, that works” than getting super excited when you check his fantasy points every week. Think Frank Gore five years ago when we thought the end was coming (but the end will never come for Frank Gore).
Best Case Scenario:
J.K. Dobbins has a sit-and-learn year and Mark Ingram continues to roll, scoring fifteen touchdowns and rushing for 1,200+ yards.
Worst Case Scenario:
Dobbins steals Ingram’s touches, soul, and style. He starts dawning eyeblack, muscle tees, and yelling about BIG TRUSS (woop woop). He is, in fact, about that.
[Statistics are sourced from pro-football-reference.com and airyards.com]
