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Storm Johnson, anyone?

Storm Johnson, anyone?

Jacksonville running back Toby Gerhart was a moderately buzzy fantasy commodity back in August, but his stock took a nosedive in the opener and hasn't recovered. We're now five games into Gerhart's season, and he's averaging 2.6 yards per carry. These are the week-by week yardage totals he's delivered thus far: 57, 17, 63, 40, 29.

Add in the fact that Gerhart has only visited the end-zone once, and we have a running back who cannot be started, except perhaps in deep AFC South-only leagues (which do not exist).

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To be fair to Gerhart, health issues have clearly limited his performance this season. He injured an ankle in Week 1, then suffered a foot sprain/malfunction last Sunday. This week, Toby has been ruled out for the Jaguars matchup at Tennessee.

If for some reason you're still interested in the Jacksonville ground game, we have a new name for you. This from the Florida Times-Union:

We won’t know for sure until Sunday but [Gus] Bradley sure indicated like Storm Johnson would be getting a big shot at playing against the Titans. The Jaguars are searching for a run-game pulse and Johnson – fourth on the tailback depth chart during camp – will be the next one up.

Johnson is a rookie from UCF, like his quarterback, and he played a small role in Week 5 for the Jaguars, carrying four times for 27 yards. He has nice strength, size (6-foot-0, 216) and vision, but he doesn't quite have top-end speed (4.6). Ball security has been a concern, too.

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Still, Johnson was a productive collegiate player, at least for one season (1139 rush, 30 REC, 17 TDs), and he has a decent opportunity ahead. He could be looking at something like a 10-15 touch workload against a not-so-intimidating opponent. The Titans currently rank 26th in the league against the run, allowing 136.8 rushing yards per game. In Week 7, assuming Johnson is still in backfield mix, he'll get Cleveland, a team allowing 5.1 yards per carry and 152.5 per game.

So if you're involved in a league where medium-volume RBs from bad teams are worth rostering, then Johnson is your man. He's available in 89 percent of Yahoo leagues, which means that most of you can take a flier. It reeks of desperation, sure, but we've all been there.