Andre Ellington (RB, ARI) - Waiver Wire Pickups

Analysis: I mentioned Ellington last week as someone to keep an eye on in the event he could win the confidence of his coaching staff over struggling teammate Rashard Mendenhall. He took yet another step towards accomplishing this in Week 5 by tallying 52 yards on just 7 carries. He also had an additional 31 yards on 4 receptions. He managed to put up another respectable day in spite of playing second fiddle to Mendenhall who under-performed yet again. Rashard managed only 43 yards on 17 touches, adding 7 yards on 2 catches. Ellington faces a potentially daunting opponent away at San Francisco in Week Six, but the Niners haven’t been nearly as stout against the run this year. The Cardinals coaching staff have said they plan to use a snap count with Ellington to protect the relatively small back, but if Ellington continues to be more than twice as productive as Mendenhall, they won’t be able to stick to it. Week Six could provide even more evidence that Ellington should be the starter going forward should San Francisco manage to bottle up the struggling Mendenhall who is averaging just 3.2 YPC this season compared to Ellington’s 6.7.