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3 reasons Dion Lewis’ fantasy football outlook is worse than you think

By Michael Moraitis

NASHVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 6: Dion Lewis #33 of the Tennessee Titans runs downfield against the Jacksonville Jaguars during the first quarter at Nissan Stadium on December 6, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 6: Dion Lewis #33 of the Tennessee Titans runs downfield against the Jacksonville Jaguars during the first quarter at Nissan Stadium on December 6, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images) /
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Dion Lewis will take a backseat to Derrick Henry in 2019.
NASHVILLE, TN – DECEMBER 6: Derrick Henry #22 of the Tennessee Titans celebrates a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Nissan Stadium on December 6, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images) /

Less involvement on the ground

After Titans running back Derrick Henry roasted opposing defenses in the last four weeks of 2018 to the tune of 585 yards and seven touchdowns (RB1 from weeks 14 through 17 in PPR), it’s not looking good for Lewis to get much involvement on the ground in 2019.

Through his first 12 games, Lewis averaged 11.3 carries per game, and totaled double-digit totes in seven of those contests in what was a timeshare with Henry. By comparison, Henry averaged 10.7 carries per game in his first 12 games.

In the four weeks after, Lewis took a backseat to Henry and averaged just five totes per contest, with one double-digit carry game that happened in a blowout win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 14. Lewis had zero carries in a do-or-die Week 17 game against the Indianapolis Colts.

In that same span, Henry averaged 21.8 carries per game to finish off his first 1,000-yard season.

That kind of drastic change in usage was a tough pill to swallow for fantasy owners, as they saw Lewis compile just nine catches for 52 yards through the air to close out the season. In the last four weeks of 2018, Lewis finished as RB43.

With the Titans looking to sport a run-first offense and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith talking Henry up during the offseason, the Alabama product is the favorite to lead the backfield in carries by a large margin and be a workhorse back this season.

That’s a serious blow to Lewis, who will have limited opportunities to be a productive fantasy asset as it is.

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