NFL week 14 gives fantasy managers one final chance to see players in action ahead of the fantasy football playoffs. Whilst many will be stressing over clinching a currently undecided playoff spot, there will be just as many fantasy managers watching Redzone with their feet up this coming Sunday .With question marks surrounding a number of running back situations across the NFL, here are the fantasy outlooks of five split backfields for week 14 and beyond.
Fantasy Football Playoffs Preview: Deciphering Five Split Backfields
Assessing Five Split Backfields Ahead of the Fantasy Football Playoffs
Pittsburgh Steelers
Jaylen Warren has shown flashes of what he can bring to an offense in recent weeks. Though his rushing opportunities have remained modest, the third-year back has seen consistent use in the passing game.
His rushing and receiving numbers alone have resulted in, at best, low-end RB2 finishes so far. That may sound great, but the Steelers face the Eagles, Ravens and Chiefs over the fantasy football playoffs. Warren’s best fantasy finish of the year came in week 12 against the Browns, and was due to his sole touchdown of the season.
Meanwhile, Najee Harris’ opportunities on the ground have remained impressive, and comfortably set him apart from Warren.
That consistent floor of carries is what makes Harris a safe, if unspectacular option with a daunting fantasy playoff schedule. Warren, on the other hand, is a more volatile flex play for the fantasy football playoffs.
Both players, however, should be playable this weekend against a Browns defense giving up five yards per carry over their last five games.
Carolina Panthers
Chuba Hubbard, despite some horrendous game scripts, has been one of the best values in fantasy football this year.
Hubbard ranks 13th among all running backs in fantasy, but finished 59th at the position in week 13. That is, in no small part, down to the presence of rookie Jonathon Brooks, who had nine touches to Hubbard’s 12, including all three running back targets.
Not only did Brooks take 100% of the receiving work, he also took the only two running-back carries inside the Tampa Bay ten yard line. Hubbard’s 12 carries against the Buccaneers was the fewest he’s had since week two, and he hadn’t gone without a target since week seven.
Though Brooks wasn’t fantasy relevant, the fact that he took such important touches away from Hubbard, in just his second appearance after a long-term injury, is significant.
Unfortunately, the Panthers play the Eagles in week 14, in a game that could get out of hand early. Whilst it will still be intriguing to see how the opportunities are split on Sunday, it’s difficult to read too much into a blowout.
If the work continues to be split, both players should be playable in week 15, when they face a Dallas run defense allowing the second-most yards per attempt in the league over their last five games (tied – Cleveland, Carolina).
The games get progressively harder throughout the fantasy playoffs, with Carolina then facing Arizona and Tampa Bay in weeks 16 and 17. This evolving backfield should continue to be monitored on a weekly basis moving forward.
Denver Broncos
Perhaps the most frustrating backfield for fantasy managers recently, has been the Denver Broncos backfield.
Javonte Williams was having an inconsistent year already as the clear lead back, before being abruptly shelved in favor of Audric Estime in week ten, without warning. Since then, neither Williams or Estime have reached double-digit carries in any of their last three games.
Now, after week 13, a third party is threatening to take over. Jaleel McLaughlin carried the ball 14 times for 84 yards against the Browns on Monday night, leading to his inclusion in this week’s waiver adds article.
Whilst Sean Payton has proven himself hard to trust for fantasy managers, McLaughlin’s heavy workload on Monday wasn’t completely random. With both Williams and Estime failing to impress in recent weeks, McLaughlin took seven carries for 44 yards in week 12. It’s very plausible, perhaps even likely, that McLaughlin has simply won the starting job outright over the last two weeks.
With Denver facing three bottom-half run defenses (in yards allowed per attempt – last five games) over the fantasy football playoffs, McLaughlin may be getting hot at just the right time. The team is on bye this week, however, so fantasy managers trying to sneak into a playoff spot will need to look elsewhere in week 14.
Cleveland Browns
The Browns backfield has been hard to trust in recent weeks, as neither Nick Chubb or Jerome Ford have been thriving on the ground.
Chubb has seen fairly consistent usage since returning from his career-threatening knee injury, but has only topped 3.25 yards/carry on one occasion. The veteran back has been much more fantasy relevant over the last two weeks though, due to finding the end-zone three times.
Ford, on the other hand, has averaged 4.62 yards/carry over his last two games, though his targets dropped to just one in both. It will be interesting to see if that differential in rushing efficiency had anything to do with the workload split on Monday night.
For the first time since Chubb’s return, he had the exact same number of carries as Ford, who had previously ceded most of the rushing work to his fit-again teammate. The game against Denver did turn into a more aggressive, back-and-forth affair. Jameis Winston finished with 58 pass attempts, which has only been matched once this year, and Kirk Cousins needed overtime to do it.
The safe bet, would be that Monday’s game script just didn’t suit Chubb, and that he will dominate rushing work again when the team face Pittsburgh this weekend. If he does maintain his lead-back role, Chubb should be considered a low-end RB2/flex for the fantasy football playoffs, with touchdown upside.
Ford, despite showing more explosiveness, will need to see a greater workload before he could be considered trustworthy in fantasy. The Steelers have given up 4.8 yards/carry over their last five games, the fifth most in the league. If Ford continues to play second fiddle to Chubb this weekend, he probably isn’t worth considering when it matters most.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Few players have disappointed in fantasy more than Travis Etienne this year, whilst few have looked like better values than Tank Bigsby did after week five.
However, outside of his two RB1 finishes in weeks five and seven, Bigsby’s best fantasy week was against the Packers in week eight, when he ranked 30th among all running backs (half-ppr). In week 13, Bigsby and Etienne both had three carries before Houston took a 0-6 lead. After that point, Etienne out-carried Bigsby 12-4, likely due to the former’s prowess in the passing game. If Jacksonville continue to fall behind in games, this could continue to be an issue for Bigsby.
Jacksonville has a points differential of -62 over their last five games, the worst in the league over that stretch.
Bigsby missed the Jaguars’ week 11 loss to the Lions with an ankle injury and it’s possible that the second-year back is still recovering from that injury. The team has made it clear that they like him, so much so that he looked to have usurped Etienne earlier in the year, but he just hasn’t produced of late.
Both Etienne and Bigsby have the talent to produce for your fantasy team down the stretch, but both need to show signs of life this weekend against the Titans. The Jaguars play the Titans again in week 17, so fantasy managers should get some answers ahead of the fantasy football playoffs.
Etienne appears to have the upper hand for now, and could serve as a desperate flex option this weekend, whilst Bigsby will need to do more before being considered playable in fantasy.
Main Image:
