The Cincinnati Bengals have AJ Green back at practice after he sat out and he is ready to start in Week 3 for Andy Dalton. Jeremy Hill remains a good fantasy football option despite his fumbles last week and that could make Giovani Bernard a solid sleeper moving forward for Marvin Lewis as a one-two punch at running back.
AJ Green is dealing with a knee issue and while the injury is considered minor, Green was out of practice on Wednesday. According to Pro Football Talk, Green was back as a full participant on Thursday and he is ready to start in Week 3 against the Ravens. Green had a strong game last week and had his first touchdown of the season and the Bengals are happy that their $60 million man is healthy and not seriously injured.
The Bengals are 2-0 this season and they can really push the Ravens down if they win, as Baltimore is 0-2 already this year. The Bengals come in after getting a win against the Chargers, but that game saw Jeremy Hill fumble a couple times and he ended up getting benched in favor of Bernard. Some fantasy owners were worried that Hill could lose some carries to Bernard moving forward, but head coach Marvin Lewis said he wasn't "worried" about the fumbles becoming an issue moving forward.
Hill did fumble five times last year and dropping two in one game is not a good development, but offensive coordinator Hue Jackson said to the Cincinnati Enquirer that Hill will be "put back in." Hill emerged last season as the number one running back over Bernard and while he had some fumbling problems last week, fantasy owners should be confident in starting him against the Ravens, who have struggled on defense after losing Terrell Suggs for the season.
Hill was a strong rookie last season with 1124 yards rushing and nine touchdowns and he averaged over five yards per carry. Hill has been off to a slow start due to getting benched in that last game, but he has 102 yards on 29 carries and he should get a chance to add to that this weekend. Bernard is a solid handcuff and he also has proven to be a worthy PPR league option, as he is great at catching balls out of the backfield.
Last season Bernard had 43 catches and this season he has nine in two games while rushing for 186 yards on 28 carries. The bulk of that came last week when Bernard had 123 rushing yards on 20 carries while coming in for Hill. Green only has eight catches for 108 yards and 1 TD this season in two games, but he remains the best fantasy start option for the team when healthy. Green missed three games last season and still finished with over 1000 yards and he will be looking to get back onto that pace this week with Dalton.
