Transcription
Much, much easier to rank these running backs in week nine than what you add in the literal hell that was week eight. S tier, you already know you start them regardless of where we rank them. Jonathan Taylor, great match up against the Steelers. Um, McCaffrey favored over the Giants, averaging 24 and a half points per game. And I guess you could maybe say Bijan Robinson is actually closer to being an A tier running back this week than what you have with the S tier. Bijan very disappointing this past week with only five and a half points. And the Atlanta Falcons project to score about seven points fewer this week than the Colts and the Niners. I mean, it doesn't really matter where we rank Bijan. He's at three regardless whether he's an S tier or an A tier.
Now, going over to Jahmyr Gibbs. Gibbs coming off a massive game in week seven where he scored about 37 points, but again, you are relying on the big plays for Jahmyr Gibbs. He's averaging about 14.9 carries per game, about four targets per game, but he's only had two games this season with more than 20 opportunities. But the Lions are favored by about eight and a half points in this contest and they do project to be one of the highest scoring offenses on the week.
Now, Devin Singletary actually has decent projections here if you are looking at this matchup against the Baltimore Ravens. The over/under of this game is about 51.5 points. While yes, the Ravens are favored by about 7.5. Realistically, what we can say is, "Oh, okay, well, um, Singletary's going to get there regardless as a receiver." I mean, he's sitting there right now this season with a total of 6.3 targets per game. And if we go and look at the projections that you currently have on Underdog Fantasy, they have him higher or lower 61.5 rushing yards, higher or lower 30.5 receiving yards.
If we look at what they have with Derrick Henry, Derrick Henry currently is actually projected worse off than Singletary despite being a 7.5 point favorite. Henry's at higher or lower 15.25. 25 fantasy points on Underdog Fantasy. He's the RB19 in points per game so far this season. But a big thing with that for Derrick Henry is clearly this is an offense that struggled with no Lamar Jackson, and this team projects to win this game heavily against the Dolphins, and you want Derrick Henry in those environments in which they're going to be able to run the ball over and over and over again.
Now, of course, if you wanted to check out either of those higher or lowers on Underdog, the link's always in the description in the comment section. If you use code FLOCK when you sign up to Underdog Fantasy, you're going to get a $100 added to your account after you play your first five. Plus, you'll get a free Devin Singletary pick, higher or lower, half a total yard for that Thursday night game and free questions that you can ask me in the live streams that I'm live streaming every single day until the end of the season answering your questions.
Now, the Green Bay Packers project out extremely well against the Carolina Panthers as well. I really need a good game from Josh Jacobs this week so I can move to seven and two with my own fantasy team. But right now, you actually have the spread in this game at about 12.5 points. So, realistically, they're going to be able to run the ball over and over and over again. And I believe the only offense that projects to score more points than the Green Bay Packers is currently the Baltimore Ravens. And then also what you have with the Los Angeles Rams, the spread on this game as well is massive where you do have the Rams favored by about 14 points. And for that reason, despite Kyren Williams obviously averaging much fewer points per game than James Cook, than Javonte Williams so far this year, I am going to give Kyren a massive bump in these rankings because we should just expect this team to be able to run the ball consistently in the second half and put a ton of points on the board.
Then James Cook will be our next option with James Cook. Yes, he is a dog in this game. And what we had seen in the past, of course, is games in which the Buffalo Bills lose, you have a very disappointing day for Cook himself. Like we go back to week five, James Cook had 4.9 points. In week six, James Cook had 8.7. It's also a tough matchup going up against Kansas City Chiefs, just being a running back. We saw what Jalen McKinnon did last week, but realistically, you're starting James Cook regardless.
And then Javonte Williams in a really good situation here where you do have this game with a pretty large over/under and the Dallas Cowboys are favored with an implied team total about 28.5 points. So Javonte looks like an auto start even in a game in which the Dallas Cowboys offense collapsed this past week. Javonte still scored 18 fantasy points.
Now moving over to DeAndre Swift. DeAndre Swift, um, very easily a running back that you can jam in in this matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals. Right now, the over/under of this game is about 52.5 points. And I think this speaks to exactly how bad this Cincinnati Bengals defense truly is. And DeAndre Swift is averaging about 16 points per game so far this season. And then looking at Chase Brown, Chase Brown has been much, much, much, much worse than any other running back that we've talked about in this video where Chase Brown's only averaging 12 points per game up until this point. Now, with that being said, you have an implied team total of 25 points here for the Cincinnati Bengals. And in this matchup at home against the Chicago Bears, it projects to be one of the highest scoring games of the week.
Then Austin Ekeler has decent projections here against Jacksonville. You have an implied team total of 21.5 points, which is much higher than what we are used to for the Raiders. I don't know if this is due to us getting Brock Bowers back in this offense. I don't know if this is due to the offensive line being a little bit healthier, but regardless, Ekeler is probably a running back that you just have to go ahead and start where he is averaging about 19 opportunities a game so far this season and the offense looks to be better.
And then with Zamir White, um, I don't know if Josh Jacobs is going to play this week. That is going to be something to monitor. Obviously, Zamir White was a must-start running back this past week against the Minnesota Vikings because you had no Jacobs. Obviously, we know that you have no Najee Harris. You have no Aaron Jones. So, just everything is going to be funneled through them. In this matchup against the Tennessee Titans, the Los Angeles Chargers are heavy, heavy favorites. So, realistically, they're going to run the ball over and over again.
Uh, Travis Etienne is a running back that I have on my fantasy team. Typically, he would be my running back three behind Saquon Barkley, but he's having to fill in at RB2 this week. I like the matchup against the Raiders. You are three-point favorites, but Travis Etienne has had fewer than 10 points scored in his previous three games, so I'm 100% becoming more concerned about Travis Etienne in the future.
Then going over and looking at Jaylen Warren. Um, Jaylen Warren this past week gave you 16 opportunities against the Packers. The week prior he gave you 21. The week before that he gave you 13. So since he's returned from injury, he is averaging about 16 opportunities a game. This matchup against the Indianapolis Colts is one that has a pretty high over/under of about 50 points. But you do have the Colts favored in this game. So the expected game environment will be that the Pittsburgh Steelers are having a drop back to pass. But Jaylen Warren does still get used as a receiver, so that's just fine.
And then Tyjae Spears was super surprised to see this. Y'all know what we had been saying is, "Oh, the Giants, they project out as a borderline bottom five offense every single week. Thought they were going to get better as time goes on." So, I was saying they're probably going to be a bottom 10 offense. Well, this week they have an implied team total of 23 points here against the Niners. The spread on this game's only two and a half. Now, of course, the Niners have a ton of defensive injuries, but realistically, I mean, the Giants should be capable moving the ball down the field, and the only competition that you have with Tyjae Spears is actually going to be Devin Singletary now that you have no Cam Akers.
Now, moving over to J.K. Dobbins. Um, this is a really tough matchup that you have going up against the Houston Texans. Like, Houston is actually one of the best defenses in the NFL, and this is causing the Denver Broncos to have an implied team total of only 19 points. So with that in mind, not super excited about Dobbins.
Then Woody Marks will be our next option in this same game. Um, Woody Marks' overall usage is trending in the right direction where two weeks ago against Seattle, he had 15 opportunities. This past week against the Niners, he has an additional 15 opportunities. He's getting used as a receiver as well. So, um, with Woody Marks, I definitely think that he is playable. They are actually favored in this matchup against the Denver Broncos. Now, of course, I will say this game does have a pretty low over/under, so don't expect too many points scored.
Then, David Montgomery will be our next running back. I'm David Montgomery, you're going to always get the random rushing touchdown when you're not expecting it. But this game against the Minnesota Vikings, the Lions are favored by about eight and a half points. The Lions do project to be one of the highest scoring offenses in the league. So they should be able to run the ball over and over again.
Then Rico Dowdle as our next running back. We are getting statements coming out of Carolina saying, "Oh, Rico Dowdle is going to be expanding his role." I don't exactly know how true this is. So, we are going to have to go ahead and continue to monitor the Rico Dowdle and the Carolina Panther projections because this is a really tough matchup against the Green Bay Packers where they are about 12.5 point dogs. So, it may be tough for them to go out there and run the ball.
Then, Kenneth Walker in a 50/50 backfield split. Now, he's playing at Washington. We do not know at this time if you are going to have Jaden Daniels good to go. Right now, the spread in this game is actually about three points with the Seattle Seahawks favored. So, I'm assuming that means sportsbooks are projecting us to have no Jaden Daniels, but they told us at the beginning of last week that we should expect Lamar Jackson to be back last week. Clearly, he wasn't. So, we are just going to have to stay on our toes with this ranking. Um, I will say for me personally, I am hoping that Jaden Daniels comes back in week 10 instead of week nine because I would have to play Jaden Daniels in week nine if he came back.
Now, the New England Patriots continue to see more athleticism, specifically with Rhamondre Stevenson than Trevion Henderson. Trevion continues to look like the better running back, but they keep on throwing Rhamondre Stevenson out there. He's had at least 14 opportunities, three games straight. He is continuously seeing 70 plus percent of the snaps. And this New England Patriots offense is great. And they're heavily favored here by almost a touchdown going up against the Atlanta Falcons. So, Rhamondre, he is startable if you needed him.
Um, I'm going to throw Kareem Hunt here at RB24. I don't exactly know what to expect with this Isiah Pacheco injury. I'm going to rank it as if Pacheco is going to miss right now, but obviously this will be something I have to keep you updated with as the week goes on. So, just make sure you are subscribed to the channel. Now, I personally have a lot of Kareem Hunt in Underdog baseball drafts. Was taking him in round 18 consistently. So fingers crossed that we get a couple more usable weeks from him. But the thing that I am worried about is Rashaad White coming in here and having some work. Like so far this season, you've actually only had double-digit opportunities in three games for Kareem Hunt.
Now Alvin Kamara is washed. Alvin Kamara is not good. Whether you want to blame it on the offense, whether you want to blame it on Kamara, well, it doesn't matter what you blame it on. He is sitting with a career-low yards per carry. 4.7 yards per target is significantly lower than any point that we have seen in his nine-year career. His 3.9 targets per game, lower than any mark we've seen in his nine-year career. His 3.4 receptions per game, lower than any mark we've seen in his nine-year career. He's running just as many routes as ever. Maybe Taysom Hill checks the ball down a little bit more, but he hasn't done anything with it. And this matchup against the Los Angeles Rams is one in which you actually do have horrible projections for the New Orleans Saints where they project to not only be the lowest scoring offense in the league, but by a decent little margin here as well.
Now, our next option is going to be Aaron Jones. Um, with Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason, I still expect them to be in a running back by committee, but I'm going to be expecting that we get Aaron Jones with the third down work and we have Jordan Mason with the first and second down work. And in this matchup against the Detroit Lions, you probably want the pass-catching running back instead.
Then going over and looking at Chuba Hubbard. Hubbard's been playing more than Rico Dowdle over the past two weeks. But again, this coaching staff came out early in the week and they essentially said, "Yeah, we know that Rico Dowdle's been better. We wanted to give um Chuba Hubbard the respect of going back to him after the injury," which is completely understandable. U but yeah, they're kind of throwing in the towel on the Chuba Hubbard experience, it seems.
Um, Zack Charbonnet is averaging 10 fantasy points per game in comparison to Kenneth Walker at 10.7. Neither running back looks startable outside of the other guy getting injured and then obviously you could see him turning into a league winner. And then we had Jalen McKinnon as somebody that you probably needed to be benching this past week just because it was a really tough matchup that you had going up against the Kansas City Chiefs and you had them as massive dogs with no Jaden Daniels. If Jaden Daniels plays, you very easily could see the Commanders win this game. And if that were to occur, Jalen McKinnon's going to move up these rankings a dramatic way, which you'll see on flockfantasy.com, as well as with the flex rankings that are going to be dropping on this channel on Friday. So, just make sure you're subscribed and you will see them.
Then going over to Bam Knight, it's going to be difficult for me to rank Bam Knight right now just because we don't know really what this backfield's going to look like. They cut Michael Carter, then resigned Michael Carter to put him on the practice squad. If it's really just Bam Knight and Dermot K. Carter, we're probably going to move Bam Knight up these rankings, but that will be something that we need to continue to update.
Then Tony Pollard, Tyjae Spears back-to-back. I'm dealing with a decent amount of by-weeks this week. So, honestly, in my league, I may have to start Tony Pollard. Um, they are like 10-point dogs here against the Los Angeles Chargers. Tyjae Spears at this point looks like the more talented running back between the two. So, I am putting Tony Pollard into my own lineup. Honestly, just kind of sending up a hope and a prayer that I'm going to be able to get a total of 10 fantasy points. Like I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.
And then Tyler Allgeier, Bijan Robinson. Realistically, will probably move Bijan Robinson up these rankings. Um, my actually, we just can't. The thing is, Dobbins is very clearly still the starting running back here in the short term. And if we're looking at what we have here when it comes to the matchup again, the Houston Texans have one of the best defenses in the league. Texans are favored in this game and you have an implied team total of only 19 points for the Denver Broncos.
Now our F-tier running backs, we are going to have Trevion Henderson. Trevion Henderson continues to be the better running back between him and Rhamondre Stevenson from a per-opportunity perspective, but it continues to not matter as Mike Vrabel just looks over at Trevion Henderson and goes, "Hey, you remember the Gatorade for Rhamondre this week?" Okay, cool. Make sure you're staying on the sideline. And when he comes off the field, you hand him that bottle. Like, I, I don't know what has to happen for us to see more Trevion and less Rhamondre.
Now obviously this ranking with Rashaad White is under the assumption that we have no Isiah Pacheco. If Pacheco were to play, then Rashaad White is not startable under any circumstances. And then Nick Chubb will be our last running back here. Um, I think do we have Nick Chubb on my team? I think I dropped Nick Chubb earlier in the season. Maybe we traded Nick Chubb because realistically, I mean, sitting here and looking at Chubb versus Tony Pollard, they don't seem that far apart. Yeah, I guess I dropped Nick Chubb. I traded Nick. He's not on my team anymore. So, um, realistically, I wouldn't advise anybody to start Nick Chubb because you do have more touches going over to Woody Marks. Woody Marks is the receiving back as well. So, just more of an interesting play. And this matchup against the Denver Broncos has a really low over/under. But, I think that's all I got for you.
Of course, if you wanted to go out there and check out any of those projections, whether that's higher or lower on Devin Singletary, 16.5 points, higher or lower on Derrick Henry, 15.5, you can find that link to Underdog Fantasy in the description as well as the comment section. Underdog Fantasy is the number one sports app in the app store. It's been that way for about the past month because they're available in almost every state. And when you sign up with code FLOCK, you're going to get the best promos in the industry, which include a $100 added to your account after you play your first five, a free Devin Singletary pick, higher or lower, half a total yard for that Thursday night game, and free questions that you can ask me in the live streams. And I'm live streaming every single day until Christmas answering your free questions. But I think that's all I got for you. I really appreciate you and really hope I get to see you out in the live stream later.