Running backs remain king in fantasy football. While it seems like there are more elite quarterbacks and wide receivers than ever before, the number of consistent, reliable running backs is dwindling. This makes it all the more important to find value in running backs in fantasy football. To help you with that, each week I’ll take a look at a few backfields that stand out based on recent trends or new information we’ve learned.
Week 10 saw a mixed bag of running back situations around the NFL. There were a few rookies starting to earn more work, a few running backs picking themselves back up from injury and a veteran deferring calls for a shared workload.
Without further ado, let’s dive into my top backfield takeaways for this week.
Denver Broncos
I am pleasantly surprised. After claiming last week that Audric Estimé would get more work for the Broncos, Sean Payton actually backed it up. Estimé led the Broncos by far against the Chiefs, with 14 carries to Jaleel McLaughlin’s two and one to Javonte Williams. Estimé also played 26 snaps on the season, which was more than Williams and McLaughlin combined. This was a bit of an odd situation as McLaughlin started the game for the Broncos and Williams was also used on the team’s first drive, but Estimé essentially saw all the work after putting together two explosive runs late in the first quarter. This indicates that the Broncos may be riding the hot hand on a weekly basis based on who looks best early on, but I still think this bodes well for Estimé.
Estimé should be the top waiver priority this week, even if his usage isn’t a forever change. It’s extremely rare to find the RB1 on a team this late in the season without an injury, making Estimé a huge potential value if he continues to see this kind of volume. His lack of involvement in the passing game limits his ceiling a bit, but I would still easily spend 15-20% of my FAAB budget on him as he could become a solid RB2 for your team.
In the meantime, I’d avoid starting Williams in the coming weeks, as he could very well be the team’s second or even third running back for the remainder of the season, and the Broncos offense isn’t nearly productive enough to produce multiple fantasy-relevant support backs. .
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Los Angeles Chargers
Gus Edwards returned from a five-week stint on injured reserve and had a fairly productive day. He ran for 55 yards on 10 carries, returning to his usual impressive yards-per-carry numbers after a slow start to the year. Neither Edwards nor JK Dobbins had a particularly notable fantasy day, especially as third-string running back Hassan Haskins scored a one-yard touchdown. Unfortunately, it looks like fantasy darling Kimani Vidal has been sidelined with Edward’s back; Vidal was a healthy scratch this week.
Going forward, I’ll be keeping a close eye on the Chargers’ goal-line carry distribution specifically. If Edwards, who was excellent as a closer last year, starts eating into Dobbins’ short-yardage work, it would create a pretty confusing fantasy situation. Although Jim Harbaugh has made a point of labeling the Chargers as a run-first team, they have quietly been one of the toughest offenses in recent weeks, ranking third in terms of offense as of Week 5 neutral downward strike rate.
I’m not sure both Dobbins and Edwards can co-exist as reliable fantasy assets. For now, I would continue to start Dobbins as he has a more established body of work this year, but I also think he is a sell-high trade candidate due to the impending use of Edwards. Edwards is certainly worth an extra waiver this week.
Pittsburgh Steelers
After being hampered by a knee injury early in the season, it appears Jaylen Warren is finally healthy and getting more involved in the Steelers offense. Warren saw a career-high 14 carries on Sunday, which he converted into a respectable 66 yards. He added two catches for 29 yards through the air. Warren has averaged 14 touches per game over the past three weeks, which feels like a steady number that we can expect him to continue doing for the rest of the year.
Warren’s fantasy value clearly has a hard ceiling, as Najee Harris is still unquestionably the RB1 in Pittsburgh. Harris ranks eighth in the NFL in carries and has received nearly every touch at the goal line, and you can continue to rely on him as an RB2. However, I think Warren is relevant in fantasy as a depth piece/Fringe FLEX starter, as he is one of the more efficient running backs in the NFL and should benefit from the overall increased ceiling of the Steelers offense with Russell Wilson under center . Warren may have been dropped onto your waiver wire by a frustrated manager (he’s included in only 51% of Yahoo leagues), so be on the lookout for him.
Arizona Cardinals
Trey Benson had another promising performance for the Cardinals, running 10 times for 62 yards. He was more effective than James Conner on the ground, with 29 more yards on 2 fewer carries. Conner still appears to be in no danger of losing his role as a starter, as he got all the goal-line work and had a productive day as a receiver.
That said, Benson has flashed in back-to-back games, and I expect him to continue to slowly reduce Conner’s workload after the Cardinals’ bye week. You can continue to treat Conner as a weekly top-15 player for now, but Benson’s impressive play shouldn’t go unnoticed.
Buffalo Bills
I’ve been hyping Ray Davis a lot this past week, but that may have been a little premature. Davis was barely involved in the Bills offense during their win over the Colts, with just three carries for six yards. I was optimistic that Davis might get some work late since the Bills were up by two scores the entire fourth quarter, but he ended up playing just 11 snaps total. James Cook, on the other hand, has been quite productive and currently ranks as the RB8 in fantasy football.
The Bills have a tough schedule ahead of them, playing the Chiefs, 49ers, Rams and Lions over the next five weeks. So I doubt they’ll appear in game scripts that get Davis involved too much, meaning he’ll likely just be a bench stock in fantasy football for the rest of the year.
