There is no thrill as great as putting your faith in a 32-year-old running back who has 2,479 career carries to his credit. That's what I plan on doing with Frank Gore on Sunday.
The Colts enter Week 4 ranked fourth in Adjusted Rushing NEP per play. I had to double check this just to make sure I hadn't made an error in data transfer, but that is, in fact, the case. The top rusher on their team in terms of Rushing NEP is, naturally, punter Pat McAfee at 2.97, but Gore has 2.21 Rushing NEP on his 37 carries. Old man can still get the job done.
You could point to the first two games of the season to question a selection of Gore. In those, he combined for 88 yards on 23 carries and no touchdowns. However, the Colts were trailing for a good chunk of both of those games. They trailed in Week 3, as well, but Gore was able to turn 14 carries into 86 yards and 2 touchdowns. It'll be interesting to see what he can do in a game in which the Colts are 10-point favorites.
I'm not sure if Gore's still got it. He's very much on the wrong side of the aging bell curve of NFL running backs. But he certainly still had it last year, when he finished the season with performances of 158 and 144 rushing yards respectively. Those were two of the six games in which he rushed for at least 80 yards. Over the 49ers' 8 wins, Gore averaged 85.75 rushing yards per game. If you gave him opportunity, he could still get the job done. Here's to hoping he can do so again this year.