Former San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore has put up over 1,200 total yards in each of the past nine seasons. He's averaging a ridiculous 4.5 yards per attempt throughout what has been a Hall of Fame-worthy career. Now on the Indianapolis Colts, the 32-year-old Gore is looking to continue his extensive streak of top-end production. He's also attempting to slay the narrative that running backs on the wrong side of 30 soon hit the wall.
When looking at Gore's fantasy potential in 2015, the first thing we must recognize is the level of competition he's going up against. Remember, over the past three seasons Gore had to line up against NFC West defenses six times per year. The onus is now on what are weak AFC South defenses to stop him.
And in reality, it makes a huge difference.
Since 2013 (NFC West Opponents, Per Game) | Rush | YDS | AVG | TD | FPPG |
| 15.1 | 61.2 | 4.1 | 3 | 8.07 |
These are not numbers indicative of a running back worth a darn in the fantasy world. In fact, Gore has tallied a total of 183 rushing yards in his last four regular season matchups against the Seattle Seahawks. This is one of the reasons why simply need to grade NFC West offensive players on a completely different scale than the rest of the NFL. Simply put, playing 38 percent of your games against teams from that division will have a major fantasy impact.
Now let's check in on how Gore has done against the rest of the NFL during this span.
Since 2013 (Outer-Division Opponents, Per Game) | Rush | Yards | AVG | TD | FPPG |
| 17.5 | 75.0 | 4.3 | 10 | 11.29 |
Just so you know: Gore's average of 11.29 fantasy points per game against non NFC West opponents would have made him the seventh-best fantasy running back over the past two seasons. He came in at 17th overall this past year and 13th overall back in 2013. Don't tell us that the strength of schedule doesn't matter.
For those who have rostered Gore over the years, the best-case scenario was a move to the NFC South, where he will be going up against three lackluster defenses.
Here are the stats each of the AFC South teams outside of Indianapolis have yielded to fantasy running backs last year.
AFC South Fantasy Defenses vs. RB's in 2014 (Per Game) | Team | Rush | Yards | AVG | TD | Ranking | FPPG |
| Jaguars | 27.0 | 109.8 | 4.1 | 0.88 | 27th | 21.09 |
| Titans | 28.3 | 124.3 | 4.4 | 1.06 | 30th | 22.27 |
| Texans | 22.7 | 92.9 | 4.1 | 0.31 | 13th | 16.14 |
And now a look at the NFC West from a year ago:
NFC West Fantasy Defenses vs. RB's in 2014 (Per Game) | Team | Rush | Yards | AVG | TD | Ranking | FPPG |
| Rams | 22.6 | 87.7 | 3.9 | 0.50 | 8th | 14.73 |
| Cardinals | 20.3 | 82.9 | 4.1 | 0.50 | 5th | 14.36 |
| Seahawks | 19.8 | 69.8 | 3.5 | 0.44 | 2nd | 13.56 |
Want some even better news? Indianapolis will be taking on the NFC South this upcoming season, which is yet another indication that Gore will have some favorable matchups
NFC South Fantasy Defenses vs. RB's in 2014 (Per Game) | Team | Rush | Yards | AVG | TD | Ranking | FPPG |
| Falcons | 23.7 | 98.1 | 4.2 | 1.19 | 31st | 22.68 |
| Saints | 23.4 | 111.4 | 4.8 | 0.88 | 29th | 22.21 |
| Buccaneers | 24.9 | 99.1 | 4.0 | 0.81 | 25th | 19.63 |
| Panthers | 21.3 | 93.3 | 4.4 | 0.69 | 16th | 16.84 |
With an ADP at the top of the fourth round (17th among running backs), Gore is going to be an absolute value in standard 12-team re-draft leagues. Everything is in place for him to have a huge season. He finally possesses a consistent throwing quarterback under center, has weapons on the outside, and won't be facing stacked boxes for the first time in his career. Adding to this is the fact that he's going to be facing one of the easiest schedules for a legitimate fantasy running back in the NFL.