With the largest parts of the offseason behind us, we now look at which teams have the most exciting backfields for fantasy football heading into next year. The sky appears to be the limit for some while others have created a crowded environment. Here’s five situations to target.
Five Exciting Backfields for Fantasy Football
Atlanta Falcons
This backfield receives an upgrade with the potential RB1 in fantasy this year. While Allgeier showed some promise last year, Bijan Robinson is in another tier. Think of all the upside that Cordarrelle Patterson had and add more explosiveness to that.
Of the past eight running backs first off the board in the draft, with the exception of the two who had their seasons cut short due to injury, all of them went over 1,000 yards. They all scored upwards of seven touchdowns on the ground as well as having over 200 carries. Two of them even had over three hundred carries. There is no doubt there will be plenty of work for Robinson.
Robinson is a great scheme fit as this team made sure to run the ball last year. They finished first in attempts, third in yards, and fourth in yards per carry. Arthur Smith had his bell cow in Tennessee in King Henry, look for him to use Robinson in a similar fashion.
Houston Texans
Many projected a higher draft pick being dedicated to this backfield. But with the draft over, it looks to be Pierce’s job with little competition. Only adding Singletary should help secure Pierce’s role as the lead back in this offense.
The Texans were bottom of the league last year in almost every category when it came to running the ball. With a rookie quarterback and defensive minded head coach look for them to make ball control more of a priority. The upgrades made throughout the rest of this team should help keep them from desperation mode as well allowing them to run more.
Houston’s angriest runner should look to get a bump in his workload and look for him to make the most of it. We’ve seen how effective angry runners can be in the AFC South. While the addition of Singletary may limit his pass catching upside, he still gets to prove himself as the leader of this backfield.
New England Patriots
This offense was a circus last year but the one bright spot seemed to be Stevenson. Once he garnered more touches he flourished and became the one positive thing from this offense. The ‘Patriot way’ generally doesn’t have a feature back, but this is a new era in Patriot football.
Stevenson biggest weakness last year was his turnovers, the biggest of which came in the infamous lateral in the Las Vegas game. As he has more experience in this offense and now has the confidence of the coaching staff, look for him to cut down on his mental errors.
The rest of the division got a lot stronger offensively this offseason. Belichick knows that his best bet of winning games is through ball control and keeping these opposing offenses on the bench. Enter in a competent offensive coordinator and Stevenson should have a jump in production.
Buffalo Bills
James Cook was buried on a depth chart with Devin Singletary and Zach Moss last season. While both are no longer on the team there has been a few depth pieces added but no one that will challenge Cook for carries.
James Cook will finish as the RB _ this season pic.twitter.com/mHDHgc9NYe
— FF Mike Kash (@FFMikeKash) May 11, 2023
Buffalo needs to do something different in order to get past the early rounds of the playoffs. Most likely that will mean relying more on the run game during the regular season and saving Josh Allen for the playoffs. While he is always prone to vulture a goal line carry or two they may have him reel that in this year and let James cook (no pun intended).
James Cook entered the league overshadowed by his older brother Dalvin. As he enters this season as the unquestioned RB1 in his backfield he has a chance to outdo him this season. They look to be giving the reigns to Cook to help alleviate pressure off Josh Allen.
Philadelphia Eagles
D’Andre Swift gets exactly what he needs with a new opportunity in Philadelphia. If the signing of Montgomery wasn’t enough to show the team in Detroit had lost faith in him, drafting Gibbs was. Now he’s a part of one of the most exciting backfields for fantasy football in 2023.
This team uses a plethora of running backs on top of using their quarterback in the run game as well. His usage may not be that of a bell cow but it doesn’t need to be. Only garnering forty percent of the rushing attempts last year he still finished as the RB20.
For whatever reason it wasn’t meant to be for Swift in Detroit but now both get a fresh start. Swift now plays with some of the best surrounding cast in his career which will create more opportunities for him. The Eagles were top five in both attempts and yards in the run game last year as well as first in touchdowns. The change will be highly beneficial for Swift.
