Transcription
Couple injuries have actually shaken up the running back rankings rest of season. S tier has a new member. We are going to be putting Jir Gibbs right behind Jonathan Taylor and McAffrey. Now, of course, Jir Gibbs comes out with a 55-point bomb this week. We have seen massive games from Jonathan Taylor this season, but Taylor hasn't hit the 50-point bomb mark. Um, Christian McCaffrey has not scored 40 points in a game.
Now, with that being said, these other running backs have had a much higher floor than Jamir Gibbs so far this season, where both of these other running backs are averaging over 25 points per game. Gibbs is at 23 and a half. If you look at the games going forward for Jir Gibbs, you have some tough matchups. He has to play the Packers this week. He has to play the Rams in week 15, but then you have easy matchups like the Dallas Cowboys in week 14.
Now, moving over to A tier, we are going to have Devon Aan leading us off. So, Aan dealt with a back injury in week 11, but here he gets the nicely timed week 12 buy. So, we're going to assume that Achan's good to go through the rest of the season. And if you look at his schedule in particular, he's about to get to play the Saints, the Jets, the Steelers, the Cincinnati Bengals, and then the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in fantasy football championships. So, the schedule is phenomenal.
Going over to Bejon Robinson. Um, yes, the offense is worse now that you have Kurt Cousins rather than Michael Penn. Hopefully, Drake London coming into this offense actually does make this a little bit better. And Bejian Robinson does have a tough schedule going into the future. He's still averaging over 20 points per game, still averaging five and a half targets per game and almost 80 rushing yards. So, he's still a top five elite-level running back, but I do think you have to make an argument that he's no longer an S-tier player.
Now, moving over to our next running back, we are going to have James Cook. Um, with Cook much better in games in which the Buffalo Bills win. I think that's been obvious so far this season. He was able to overcome a Bills loss against the Houston Texans this past week in week 12. Obviously, this Bills offense looked absolutely horrendous this past Thursday night, but I'm still a believer that this is a good team going into the future. However, James Cook is going to have some tough matchups. He's going to have to play against the Cleveland Browns in week 16, the Eagles in week 17, and the Patriots in week 15.
Now, Rico Dattle has not played yet. I will say that in the games in which he has been the starting running back for the Panthers, he has scored 32 and a half, 34, 28, 15, and 15 fantasy points. Expectations for him right now on Underdog Fantasy are high or lower 15.75 fantasy points. And Christian McCaffrey is high or lower 20.05 if y'all want to check those out for Monday night. Links in the description. It's in the comment section for Underdog Fantasy. It's available in almost every single state. And if you use code flock after you play your first five bucks, you'll get $100 added to your account. And on top of that, you'll get free questions for the live streams we're doing every single day until Christmas. And you're going to be able to get a gimme Christian McCaffrey pick. Higher, lower, half a total yard for the game tonight as well.
Now, Josh Jacobs is going to be our next running back. Now, I have Jacobs on my own fantasy team, so I may be very biased here, but keep in mind, they had him as a game-time decision in week 12. He came out and he already told us he's not missing the Thanksgiving game. So, I'm assuming that he is going to be okay going into the future. Now, I will say it's not like all these matchups are great. I mean, you have to play against the Denver Broncos in week 15. Now, luckily for me, looks like I'm going to have the buy in week 15, so I just have to worry about the week 16 and week 17 matchups. Um, but ultimately, receiving role, good running back, good offense, not much to question.
Javvante Williams actually comes through and gets you 20 carries against the Philadelphia Eagles. But the holdup that we're going to have here potentially is yeah, have not had 20 receiving yards in a game for Javvante Williams since week two. Like the targets have been there, like he is sitting here averaging about three and a half targets per game. But the receiving volume has just been non-existent. I mean, he has averaged about 10 fantasy points per game over the past three weeks, but he is still sitting here with 80-plus percent of the snaps every single week and every single carry. Now, he does have some tough matchups upcoming, like the Chiefs in week 13 and the Minnesota Vikings in week 15.
Now, Saquon Barkley will be the running back two on my own fantasy team. Saquon Barkley has one game this season scoring 20 or more fantasy points. It has been a rough run to say the least. It has not been great. Um, Saquon does see a season-high eight targets this past week, 52 receiving yards. He had seven receptions and that's a Philadelphia Eagle career-high for Saquon Barkley. Um, the issue is the big plays aren't there. They haven't been there all year. He's averaging 3.7 yards per attempt, which is the lowest mark of his NFL career. And we've had the offensive line injuries.
Now, Kairen Williams will be our next running back. If you're going to look at Kairen coming off a gross game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but it wasn't really a football game, right? So, I'm not going to sit here and cry that he only scored five and a half fantasy points. He's still the running back that's getting the touchdowns at the goal line. He's still the running back that has the receiving role. And this is still a very, very good offense.
Now, moving over to Derrick Henry. Derrick Henry is in what is believed to be a great offense. But honestly, I got to move Derrick Henry up just because if you go ahead and you look at Derrick Henry's schedule, he gets to play against the Cincinnati Bengals this week. We'll probably be a borderline top sixish running back in my rankings and then in two weeks from now, he gets to play against the Cincinnati Bengals again. So, schedule looks pretty good for Derrick Henry. Week 16 against the Patriots, week 17 against the Green Bay Packers will be a little bit tough. Um, he does have multiple rushing touchdowns this past week, back-to-back games with 20 fantasy points. And what's actually surprising is he's had three games straight with at least two receptions.
Now, moving over to our next running back, we are going to have Bucky Irving. Now, they have told us that Bucky Irving is good to go. They have said that Bucky Irving is going to be playing this week. Do you believe them? I don't know. But now all of a sudden after Bucky Irving misses the past eight weeks, this Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense may be without Baker Mayfield. And this may go from being an above-average offense to one of the worst offenses in the NFL. So, while Bucky may be coming back, he may be coming back to a very bad squad. Obviously, we're going to have to continue to give you injury updates as the week goes on. I'll be live streaming every single day giving you those injury updates. Just make sure you are subscribed.
Now, Chase Brown will be our next running back. Chase Brown's been a top 12 running back in fantasy for four weeks straight. And what's happened over the past three weeks? Oh, you've had no Sam Perine. No Sam Perine has led to Chase Brown having a much larger workload than he did previously, especially as a receiver where over the past three weeks he is sitting here with 26 total targets. You're about to get Joe Burrow back in this offense. This offense about to be a hell of a lot better. Um, he's been great.
Now, Trevon Henderson this week with Raadre Stevenson back in. He only scores 11.1 fantasy points in a really good matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals. Obviously, that is frustrating, but Trevian does have the vast majority of the backfield. Really, the only thing that's frustrating with her is they trust her more in pass protection. So, her is the guy out there on third downs.
Now, Amari and Hampton, I may actually move ahead of Trevon Henderson if we get positive practice reports for Amari and Hampton on Wednesday and Thursday. We have not seen Amari and Hampton play since week five. But the two games that we had from Aari and Hampton before he went down with an injury, he had scored 25 and 27 and a half fantasy points. Now, the upcoming matchups, he will get the Raiders this week. Great spot. He gets the Eagles in a tough matchup week 14, the Chiefs in a really tough matchup week 15. Then he has a great matchup against the Dallas Cowboys in week 16, and then a tough spot against the Houston Texans. Um, he was working out on the sideline of practice back in week 11 before the buy for the Chargers. So, the hope is obviously he is back after the by-week.
Now, moving over to our next running back, we are going to be looking at Travis ETN. Um, ETN had a couple concerning things happen as of late. One, two weeks back, Breece Hall took the work at the beginning of the game, and then at, I don't know, practice this week, he was wearing the non-contact jersey. Scares a lot of people, but frankly, it doesn't matter. He goes out there and he crushes. And I feel like a complete idiot because after the buy-week for ETN, I actually traded him away because I was concerned that Breece Hall would expand his role. And since then, ETN has scored at least 15 fantasy points in every single game. And he's had a couple good matchups coming up. One game against the Titans, one game against the Jets, and he's had at the very minimum at least 19 opportunities every game since the buy.
Now, Bree Hall is the running back that I essentially traded Travis ETN for, and I don't feel great about it. I mean, ultimately, if we are looking at Bree, yes, he comes through, he scores 14 fantasy points this past week. I mean, right now, he's averaging three and a half targets per game. He's averaging about 14 points per game. But again, the issue is this is just an absolute garbage, garbage offense. At least we get to see him play against the Miami Dolphins in week 14.
And then with our next name, Quinn Sean Judkins. Um, Judkins got banged up this past game. He was able to go back out there, making this ranking under the assumption that Judkins is a-okay, 100% going into the future. Um, but even if that is the case, he's the first and second down running back on a very bad football team and a very bad offense.
Now, RJ Harvey will be our next player. With Harvey, I'm making this ranking under the assumption we do not get JK Dobbins in through the rest of the season. What we saw against the Kansas City Chiefs in week 11 is RJ Harvey was the starting running back and he was no, no bueno. But we just saw Jonathan Taylor be the starting running back against the Chiefs and he was also a no bueno. Um, but Harvey had 61% of the snaps. I don't think he's going to be an every-down player, but I think he'll be getting 15-plus opportunities in a good offense.
Now, Jaylen Borin is maybe a little bit low for people in these rankings because I know whenever I said that I think Kenneth Gainwell deserves more opportunities in this offense, every time he's got on the field, he's looked great and he's had two games better than anything Jaylen Warren's done in his NFL career. People went to the comment section. They said, "Mason, you don't know ball. Jaylen Warren's amazing." And Kenneth Gainwell's not. Okay. Well, I'm sitting here looking at this and, uh, I don't see how y'all are coming to that conclusion. Jaylen Warren so far this season, 4.3 yards per attempt. Just going through and looking at what he's giving you, you're getting no real big plays. The dude has yet to crack 20 fantasy points in any game so far this season. He just gets volume after volume after volume and you get a floor, but you have no ceiling whatsoever. Like again, Gainwell split the backfield 50/50 with him this past week at least snap-wise, and he comes through and he has a better performance. Like Gainwell just looks like the more efficient back overall. Now, obviously, I expect that Jaylen Warren continues to be the starting player here, but the holdup for me is just going to be the fact that, um, Gainwell splitting it now 50/50.
Now, our next name is going to be Ashton Genty. With Genty, it's impossible for me to rank him with the ankle injury right now. He's, in my opinion, a very talented running back. I think that it is, um, good that the Raiders fired Chip Kelly. This looked like the worst offense that I've ever seen in my entire life. Um, so you would want to say Ashen Gindy's freed, but now all of a sudden he has to play against the Denver Broncos, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Houston Texans in back-to-back weeks. So, it's going to be a tough spot. I will update this ranking when we get an update with his ankle injury. I just have no information on that right now.
Now, Kenneth Walker is going to be our next running back. Kenneth Walker trending in the right direction for sure, but still, he's had one game with 20 fantasy points this year and he's still pretty close to splitting this backfield 50/50 with Zack Charbanet, but it is very much encouraging to see him have a season-high four targets this past week.
Now, Trey Benson is our next running back. With Benson, he was at practice all of week 12. Seems like we're going to be getting him back in week 13. Fingers crossed he comes in to save my underdog season. But if we're looking under the hood, he has to play against the Rams and then the Houston Texans in weeks 14 and 15.
Now, DeAndre Swift looks like he may be losing his job to Kyle Manungai. Um, I don't know, maybe this is an overreaction here. Also, you have really tough matchups for DeAndre Swift coming up. His next four games include the Eagles, the Packers, the Browns, and then the Packers. So, if you have brutal matchups and you're now splitting this backfield 50/50, it's going to be tough for me to just call DeAndre Swift a must-start player the way he was early in the year.
Now, Aaron Jones has not scored more than 15 points this season. Aaron Jones does look like he's the starting running back with a receiving role for the Minnesota Vikings. But here's the thing. If we have to knock Bree Hall for being on the Jets, we have to knock Quinn Sean Judkins for being on the Browns, we definitely have to knock Aaron Jones for being on the Minnesota Vikings, who look like they are just as bad, if not a worse offense than those other two at this point. I don't think they're worse, but you get the idea. Um, and Aaron Jones, I don't think, is as talented as these other running backs. I don't think he has the same big-play upside.
Now, going over to our next tier, we are going to have Woody Marx. Now, it is not the fault of Woody Marks that he is stuck behind a garbage offensive line. I would love to have him a lot higher than this because ultimately the volume is there. He's had at least double-digit carries in every single game since the buy. He's playing way more snaps than he's than I ever thought he would. But what's weird with Woody Marks is in college he profiled to be more so like a receiving back that now all of a sudden's coming through and is kind of getting phased out as a receiver here in Houston.
Now moving over to our next name, we are going to be looking at Tyrone Tracy. Um, Tyrone Tracy plays the majority of the snaps here for the New York Giants. Tyrone Tracy at the same time looks like he is seeing the majority of the carries, seeing the majority of the targets. He's running pretty much all the routes. But the holdup I'm going to have with Tyron Tracy is you're in a bad offense. You're a bad running back. You still have to go through your bye-week. You have to play the Patriots this next week. And at the same time, Devin Singleary has a role as the goal-line player.
Now, David Montgomery is completely getting phased out of the Detroit Lions offense. And by completely, I mean somewhat. Um, I still think that he is a running back that gives you the elite ceiling if Jamir Gibbs were to go down, but he can't even crack 10 fantasy points with a healthy Jir Gibbs at this point.
Now, our next name will be Zack Charbanet. Charbanet, very similar to David Montgomery, and that you're never really starting him. But I got to give him some respect in these rankings because if you were to get an injury to the player in front of him, he turns into a league winner.
Now, Kyle Manungai is closing the gap here with DeAndre Swift. 100% looks like he can be a startable running back going into the future. Um, he's had three touchdowns in the past three games. Um, the holdup I'm going to have again will be the fact that it is just going to be a really tough schedule going forward and Kyle Manungai doesn't have a great receiving role.
Now, Kenneth Gainwell will be our next running back. With Gainwell, he's only had double-digit carries twice this season, but despite that, he's, I don't know, had two games with 30 fantasy points, almost scored 20 points this past week. He had two touchdowns get called back. If those stood, like he would have came through and he would have dropped what, 33 fantasy points. So, I think he's going to continue to have a role here with the Pittsburgh Steelers. And if you were to get an injury to Jaylen Warren, he probably turns into a must-start name.
Now, going over to our tier of handcuff running backs, I'm going to put Shawn Tucker at the top because we've seen the upside with Shawn Tucker. And technically, we don't know if Bucky Irving is 100% playing this week. And then I'm gonna have Kamani Vidal right next to Shawn Tucker for the same reason because we don't know if Amari Hampton is for sure playing this week. Then we're going to throw Alvin Kamara here. I just simply don't know if Alvin Kamara is, um, gonna play again this season. The thing is as well with Alvin Kamara is the dude scored a 100 fantasy points this year and we're in week 13. So, honestly, I'm moving Alvin Kamara even lower than this. It's obviously the injury, but on top of that, like, why would you ever start him even if he was healthy? Like I would put Emanuel Wilson ahead of him because we know if Josh Jacobs does miss this next week, Emanuel Wilson is an auto-start. Um, Devin Neil at this point, I think we got to rank over Alvin Kamara because I'd be surprised if Kamar plays this next week and maybe Devin Neil has some upside here. He actually had seven targets this past week, which, it's crazy to say, but Alvin Kamara had not had a game this season with seven targets.
Then Kareem Hunt needs to be here at the top of the handcuff running backs as well because, um, again, Isaiah Pacheco's injured for the time being and Kareem Hunt's coming off a game where he just had 30 opportunities.
Then going over and looking at Raheem Mostert. I'm going to be ranking him here with the hope that, I don't know, the Raiders offense can do something with no Chip Kelly. Maybe Chip Kelly is just the worst offensive coordinator the NFL has ever seen. Um, but again, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt because I have no idea what the status is with Ashton Genty. If Gent is good to go, Mostert, it's not worth the roster spot. I will talk about this more in the waiver wire video tomorrow when we have more injury news. So, just make sure you're subscribed.
And then our next running back's going to be Tyler Allgeier, Raadre Stevenson. We can throw Deon Singleary, Blake Corum all in here as well as running backs that you're never starting outside of, if the guy were to go down in front of them, then all of a sudden you could put them in. But I think that's all I got for y'all. I really appreciate you. Hope I was able to help you out in some way. Of course, if you want to go check that out with the Rico Dattle higher, lower 15.25 fantasy points. Christian McCaffrey higher, lower 20.05. Underdog Fantasy is available in almost every single state. You can find that link in the description. You can find it in the comment section. Code Flock will give you $100 added to your account after you play your first five. And on top of that, you'll be getting a gimme Christian McCaffrey pick. Higher, lower, half a total yard in that Monday night game. And you'll be getting free questions that you can ask me in the live streams. And we're live streaming every single day until Christmas.