Lions running back D’Andre Swift is an absolute must-start in fantasy vs. the Vikings

With a nice outing in Week 13 as reinforcement, Lions running back D’Andre Swift is a must-start in fantasy for Week 14.

For much of the season, when he has played, Lions running back D’Andre Swift has been a boom-or-bust option for his fantasy managers, who of course expected more based on invested draft capital.

But Swift has been getting healthier, not even carrying an injury designation for games lately, and in Week 13 against the Jaguars it showed. He led the Lions backfield in snaps (51 perent), carries (14) and targets (six), which yielded 111 total yards and a rushing touchdown.

Swift has scored in six of his nine games this season. Now he’s lined up for heavier workload, and as Michael F. Florio of NFL Network said, as I paraphrase, if Swift is getting 20 opportunities a game, he’s a fantasy starter.

Swift popped back up on Wednesday’s practice report limited an ankle injury. But there shouldn’t be too much worry over his status for Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.

Fantasy Football: D’Andre Swift is a must-start vs. Vikings in Week 14

For the season as a whole, the Vikings are in the bottom half of the league in fantasy points allowed to running back (Yahoo!, 0.5-point PPR). But shifting to full PPR, and admittedly skewed by a big receiving game from Tony Pollard in Week 11, they have allowed the second-most fantasy points to per game to running backs over the past month. Five running backs have posted at least 16 full PPR points in that last four games, with six touchdowns between them. Three have topped 100 total yards.

Minnesota has also allowed the sixth-most receptions (73, 6.1 per game) and the fifth-most receiving yards (573; 47.8 per game) to running backs this season. Over their last four games, they have allowed 27 receptions to running backs with four backs having at least five.

Be sure to keep an eye on the practice reports regarding Swift and the apparent resurfacing of an ankle injury. But as long as he’s good to go, he’s a lock for fantasy lineups with a path to finishing as a top-5 to top-10 fantasy running back in Week 14.