With a third of the season officially gone, teams have dealt with injuries, surprises, and shake-ups. Certain running backs have underperformed, leading to a changing of the guard for some teams. These are some fantasy backfields to keep an eye on.
Fantasy Backfields To Keep An Eye On
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Last season, Rachaad White was an extremely high-usage running back, seeing 272 carries and hauling in 64 receptions. This made him a solid RB2 in fantasy, but there were concerns coming into this season. White averaged just 3.6 yards per carry, making him one of the least efficient running backs in the NFL.
The Bucs used a fourth-round pick on Bucky Irving, and he has been an essential piece in the offense immediately. White has also been dealing with a foot injury that kept him out of last Sunday’s game against the Saints. It also opened the door for Sean Tucker, who responded with a monstrous 34.2 PPR fantasy point performance. Tucker won’t be usurping White or Irving in the pecking order, but Todd Bowles said he earned more touches.
The fact that the Bucs rushed for 277 yards as a team without White is quite eye-opening. Now, they won’t score 51 points every game, but White was already trending down before this game. White and Irving remain in the RB3 range, but as things stand, Irving is the more desirable fantasy asset.
New York Giants
The New York Giants offense has been hugely dependent on Malik Nabers this season, especially in the passing game. Nabers has been out for two weeks with a concussion, forcing the Giants to go in a different direction. Devin Singletary is the RB1 and has averaged a solid but unspectacular 11.8 fantasy points per game.
Singletary has been dealing with a groin injury, which has kept him out for the past two weeks and may be even longer. Luckily for the Giants, they may have stumbled into something special with Tyrone Tracy Jr. Tracy started his college career as a wide receiver, only becoming a running back in his senior year at Purdue, where he thrived.
His receiver background makes him an obvious pick for PPR leagues, and his skillset and size are different enough from Singletary that he’ll have a role in this offense even when Singletary returns. Singletary is a solid NFL running back, but Tracy looks like he could be a game-breaker. Don’t be surprised if he’s the Giants RB1 by the end of the season.
Cincinnati Bengals
Having lost Joe Mixon in the offseason, the Bengals signed Zack Moss from the Colts and were expected to give Chase Brown a more prominent role. Moss dominated the work in the early weeks, but it hasn’t taken long for the Bengals to realize that Brown is the better player. Brown averages 5.5 yards per carry to Moss’ 3.6 and has four touchdowns to Moss’ three on fewer touches.
Brown is by far the more explosive runner and player, including in the receiving game. He’s a better fit in this Bengals offense with playmakers all over the field. Moss will still have a role as more of a bruising, between-the-tackles running back, but Brown has earned more touches weekly.
Cleveland Browns
The most complicated fantasy backfield in the NFL belongs to the Cleveland Browns. The Browns have been a mess all season, and the running back room is no exception. Jerome Ford deputized well for Nick Chubb last season after Chubb’s gruesome injury and came into the season expecting to shoulder the workload.
Ford has seen the most volume out of the Browns backfield, but the production hasn’t been there. He’s only scored one touchdown and is yet to see more than 12 carries in a game. His receiving upside has kept his value afloat as a flex option, but he left last Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury and is now week to week.
Chubb will likely make his season debut this week but will undoubtedly be on a snap count. That means the Browns will turn to D’onta Foreman and Pierre Strong Jr. for the next few weeks as Ford is sidelined and Chubb ramps up to a full workload. The three-way split makes it difficult to have any of these backs down as reliable fantasy starters until Chubb proves that he is fully healthy. The state of the Browns as a whole also means that this is a team to stay away from in fantasy.
Main Image: Stephen Lew – USA Today Sports
