0:00It's a great day to break down my week nine fantasy football running back rankings. Going to be going RB1 all the
0:05way through RB48. Talking through the matchup, the good, the bad, if you should be starting him, and everything in between. At the end of each tier, I'm
0:12going to be going through a bigger picture question as well, talking through the best overall game environments this week, what defenses
0:17may be particularly good against rushing versus receiving running backs, and of course, making sure we keep those benches good and filled with
0:23high-quality, high-upside, handcuff running backs. So, appreciate you guys tuning in as always, and accordingly, let's get after it with RB1, Mr. Jahmyr
0:30Gibbs. Set up to smash against Miami, obviously. Again, like we just saw him go off against the Vikings, all right?
0:36So, matchups don't really matter for the guy, but just to put some context into how freaking amazing Gibbs has been this
0:41year, guys. The only running backs to play at least six games ever in the history of professional freaking football, okay? To score more PPR points
0:49per game than what Gibbs is doing right now, 2000 Marshall Faulk, 2002 Priest Holmes, 2006 LaDainian Tomlinson, 2001 Marshall Faulk, and 2019 Christian
0:58McCaffrey. That's it. Pretty special.
1:01RB2, I'm going Kenneth Walker against the New York Jets. Been a little down recently, all right? 57, 84 scoreless yards, but come on, we're still looking
1:09at probably the single toughest human being to tackle in the entire NFL one-on-one, Kenneth Walker. He'd be in the final four, minimum, right? Look,
1:18set up as a 9.5 home favorite against the Jets, I'm just not too worried about it. Kenneth Walker is still my RB2. RB3,
1:26I'm going Bijan Robinson. Madrid-themed game, 9:30 a.m. Make sure you wake up early and get those minds and fantasy lineups, right? Against a Cincinnati
1:33Bengals defense that really had no answer for even Tony Pollard and company last week. So, they've been better with Dexter Lawrence in the middle more weeks
1:40than not this year, but again, similar to Kenneth Walker, I'm not thrilled about some of the recent returns from Bijan. We've actually seen him go 89
1:47long cold touches since his last trip to the end zone. And I also don't love the passing chops going on, guys. Not that
1:53he can't be a great receiver, he is a great receiver, but we actually saw him have 26.9 PPR points from in two games
2:01with Cooper Rush. Just 24.4 in the following 6 weeks with Michael Penix under center. So, again, very very bad performance from Michael Penix in the
2:09rain last week. And you know what might make a little bit easier, man? Dump the ball down to your freaking stud running
2:14back every once in a while. So, either way, expecting better good times better times I should say than recent weeks for
2:19Bijan in Madrid.
2:21RB4, I'm going with the hopefully healthy recording this late on Tuesday, Christian McCaffrey going up against the Raiders, guys. He's followed up last
2:27season's monster touch total with 20.6 PPR points per game, more than any running back not named Jahmyr Gibbs and Kenneth Walker. So, CMC really has look,
2:36I would say more efficient at least on the ground than he did last year. And man, this match up really is of the
2:40hydrogen bomb versus coughing baby of variety. We're talking about a 49ers offense that ranks third in RB rush yards before contact per carry, a good
2:47measure I like to use for offensive line play. Not perfect, but again, what is with any single stat when we're trying
2:52to look at 11 on 11 tackle football, all right? Come on, it's tough. So, bear with me here. Raiders defense though,
2:58dead last by a really big margin. So, we always know with CMC that you should be able to get there through the air. Also
3:03think we should be seeing big things on the ground between him and hell, maybe even Keelan Black this week.
3:08RB5, James Cook against the Vikings on Monday Night Football. It's a tough match up for the Bills offense, all right? You know it's also a tough match
3:14up for the Vikings defense, all right? I mentioned the yards before contact stat.
3:18Well, on the offensive side of the ball, James Cook and the Bills far and away the best offense. So, look, I mean Brian
3:24Flores, great coordinator and everything, but I do think maybe we all got a little bit over our skis and continuously hyping this up as just a
3:31juggernaut's juggernaut's second coming of the '85 Bears when other than the Packers in week one, the Lions in week eight, who have they really played out
3:39there? So, Bears in week two, a little bit of weather game. I'm not trying to take away the good games and say look
3:44what they've done otherwise. I know it's an annoying fantasy thing to do, but just look. End of the day, we just saw
3:49the Lions run for what, 230 yards against this defense? I'm not worried about James Cook and company getting it done as long as that neck is okay, all
3:57right? James Cook did fall a little bit weird at the end of last week. It was scary for a moment. He got cleared for
4:02the concussion protocol afterwards, so I'm expecting things to be fine, but guys, between now and Monday night football, you're not going to have to do some
4:09waivers. We're not going to find out if James Cook is practicing until Thursday with the way it works.
4:13If you guys have a bench spot, Raheem Mostert, all right? He would be the guy that everyone's freaking out trying to
4:18rush and get on Thursday if we get an unfortunate DNP for James Cook. Could already be on your bench. We've had two
4:25games, one in week 18 last year, another one I think was week five or week six against the Jets in 2024 without James
4:31Cook, and it was Raheem Mostert getting 23 touches. So, I would not be crossing out James Cook's name and putting Raheem
4:36Mostert here if God forbid Cook misses time, but still would be tough to rank more than 15 16 running backs ahead of
4:41Davis.
4:43RB six, I'm going with Chuba Hubbard against the Broncos. Guys, I had him ranked a little bit lower when I was
4:47initially going through things, but you know, you write out four days of these guys, you start having difference of opinions, you go through more factors
4:53and this and that, and end of the day, this dude has played at least 90% of the team's offensive snaps in two of the
4:58last three weeks. And on the season, he has finished as a PPR RB 10, 11, 12, seven, seven, 30, and most recently six.
5:06So, we have seen him finish outside the top 12 exactly one time all year for those counting at home. Even in a tough
5:12match-up against the Broncos, I do think Chuba has again a big enough role and is just playing well enough in real life to
5:18get the job done.
5:20RB seven, give me Raheem Mostert going up against the Ravens here on Thursday night football. Pending health, all right? I really hope the injury gods
5:27don't finally freaking take away Mostert after we finally got him breaking out, all right? Last seven quarters of football, 246 yards and four touchdowns
5:36for Mr. Mostert. Again, fingers crossed that these ankle and foot injuries aren't too severe. So, it's a short week. I'm hopeful they're just again
5:42being mindful of the workload going to their stud running back, and man, do I mean stud. He has the most carries to
5:48hit at least 15 mph this season while simultaneously ranking first in percentage of carries to get at least three yards after contact. So, the
5:55dude's a home run hitter speed-wise that we finally saw actually hit a home run.
5:59He's really fast, all right? And he finally hit a home run uh last time out, what, 38-yard rush or whatever. He's
6:04also pushing the pile. so great combination. He can catch the football as well. Wheels up here against a Ravens team that again could already be looking
6:11ahead to Cabo in January with the way things are going for them at quarterback. If we do see Touton out of
6:16the picture, again, we're not be crossing him out and putting Chris Rodriguez there, but Rodriguez still available and I believe north of
6:24it's like 75 to 80% of Yahoo leagues right now. And if that's the case, guys, I think I'd still I don't know if I
6:31could get myself to rank Chris Rodriguez ahead of Derrick Henry, who I have a little bit further down this list, but
6:36top 20 for Chris Rodriguez, definitely.
6:39RB, let's see. RB8 now, Bucky Irving.
6:42Welcome to the top eight going against the Chicago Bears on Sunday night football. I mean, this dude has dodged, ducked, dipped, dived, and dodged his
6:48way to 280 total yards in three touchdowns in his last two games. That's not even including that big-time Cowboy performance from, you know, 2 weeks
6:55before that. So, we're talking about the overall RB3 since week five. It is a tough match-up against a Jeffrey Simmons-led Bears defense that looked
7:03way better against the Seahawks, but it's also a Seahawks offense that has really struggled to really open up holes for running backs all year
7:10long. But, yeah, that's that with Jeffrey Simmons, guys. 3 yards per play allowed with Simmons on the field compared to 13.3 with him not on the
7:17field. Freaking crazy. So, look, Bucky though has been so good this season and it's a Buccaneers offense that seemingly now just wants to give him as many
7:24touches as humanly possible. I'm going to ride the wave here, my RB8 ahead of Sunday night.
7:30RB9, I'm going with Kyren Williams against the Commanders guys. And it hasn't been overly pretty these last 4 weeks. In fact, Blake Corum has scored
7:38more fantasy points, I think like 0.6 more than Kyren over these last 4 weeks.
7:41But, you know, even with that in mind, we're still talking about two top 12 running backs league-wide during that period. So, Kyren is still the lead guy.
7:49It's just been situations where the Rams more times than not haven't able to play with the lead. And credit to Corum, he
7:54does rank second in yards per touch this season behind only Jaylen Warren. So, with Kyren Williams again, he's still the running
8:03back, y'all. It's just been situations where they've been able to get a lead, coast away, and give a little bit more
8:07work to Corum than we saw earlier in said, not exactly expecting comeback mode against the Commanders or anything, but on the season, we are talking about
8:14someone who's been a top eight running back overall per game. I'm not going to get to again just overly thinking and I
8:21should say, Kyren Williams is my RB9.
8:24RB10, Jonathan Taylor against the Cowboys, guys. If we had this matchup three weeks ago and I ranked Jonathan Taylor RB2, I think you guys would
8:32probably go, "Yeah, makes sense."
8:34I know it's a weird situation right now.
8:36We got a dud last week, but that dud didn't come because of the Colts saying, "Ah, you know what? We're about to trade
8:44Jonathan Taylor. Better not get him hurt before we do that." He handled eight of the backfield's 11 touches in the first
8:50half and 12 of 16 through the first three quarters of the game. They were just already down five freaking touchdowns against the Jaguars, so they
8:57had to get him out of there. So, we're looking at a Cowboys defense that just made Tyler Allgeier look like a
9:03world beater, okay? I cannot fathom benching Jonathan Taylor against the Cowboys of all defenses, all right? So, it's unfortunate that we're probably not
9:12looking at 30 plus touches, but who knows, man? If the Colts can keep it close, which, you know, pretty much every team has been able to other than
9:18the Tanner McKee-led Eagles, which maybe that is what we should be looking at the Colts as more. Home against the Cowboys, good enough for top 10
9:25treatment for me with JT, even if it is going to be fewer touches than we would otherwise expect.
9:30RB11, the other running back in this matchup, I'm going with Javonte Williams against the Colts. We had his best performance of the year last Monday
9:36against the the Philadelphia Eagles, 6.2 yards per carry, followed by his worst performance against the Cardinals, just 2.3. Watching the Cowboys get bullied in
9:44that, man, just embarrassing stuff from that group. I do think against the Colts defense that the local loss against Tutu Atwell and Chris Rodriguez in their
9:50first game without DeForest Buckner will be a bit of a get-right spot here because, again, Javonte, while it'd be nice to see him flirt with that
9:57higher-end efficiency that we saw him briefly in week seven, he hasn't been very efficient all season long and that hasn't stopped him from returning top 12
10:04fantasy numbers because nobody, not even Josh Allen, has more carries inside the five-yard line, already up to 17 this season for Mr. Javonte. And then finally
10:13guys, last guy in the tier pretty much for the same reasons as Javonte, give me Josh Jacobs as my RB12 here guys. It has
10:19been gross in Green Bay. I get it. This offense in terms of their running backs running back yards after contact per
10:25carry, the Packers rank dead last in the NFL. And before contact, they're 31st, okay?
10:32The offensive line isn't creating holes and the running backs are hardly doing anything to create additional yards relative to the rest of the league, but
10:39we do have Jordan Love slinging the rock all over the field, moving the offense up and down the field, and guess who
10:44they give the ball to inside the 5-yard line, Mr. Josh Jacobs. Throwing 11 receptions for 68 yards and two scores over the last two weeks. You have a
10:52pretty much by all accounts bad real life running back with very fancy friendly volume inside an offense we expect to score points and a match up
10:59that could be a bit of a shootout. So, do I think Jacobs is going to get north of 100 rushing yards? Absolutely not. Do
11:05I think he could fall into the end zone a couple times and return another 20-plus fantasy point performance? As long as the commissioner stays out of
11:12the picture, yes, I do.
11:14Key question for this one guys, want to keep going back to this idea of like who has the best overall game environments
11:18by two factors, all right? The team implied points, which again we can calculate using the spread and game total for every match up to see how much
11:25Vegas thinks each offense is going to score, and also their opponent's fantasy points per game allowed in the position.
11:31So, got a handy dandy graph for you guys. Appreciate the YouTubers hanging out here. Biggest takeaways overall, again, it feels sacrilegious to rank
11:38Derrick Henry as low as I have him, you know, going to make you keep listening.
11:42You'll see how low he is soon, but man, lowest implied team point total with the simultaneous toughest match up on the
11:49slate. It's just so stuff so tough to feel good about Derrick Henry this week.
11:53Other other than him just going superhuman, which let's face it, he has done against the Jaguars a few times during his incredible career. I'm also
11:59not overly enthused about the overall game environments for guys like Saquon Barkley, Breece Hall, Tyler Allgeier, and the Chargers band of mediocre backs.
12:06Meanwhile, Vegas again not expecting too much from this I'm sorry, Vegas is not expecting too much from this Browns offense, but Quishon Judkins guys does
12:14have the single best match up of the week. I did accordingly give him a little bit of a bigger bump up. He is
12:18closer to RB 20 than RB 24 this week.
12:21Best overall situations though, Lions, Cowboys, 49ers makes sense and the Bengals again.
12:28Could this finally be the Chase Brown boom week? I know, I know. We've had the dolphin game. We've had the Titans game.
12:34But just because those didn't work out doesn't mean we couldn't see it go right against the Falcons in Madrid. I'm just
12:40saying, we got the Bengals up there implied to score the third most points of the week and it's a match up against
12:45a very, very bad obviously Falcons defense against the run. So more on that shortly. Finally guys, good offenses with tougher on
12:53paper match ups this week, Chiefs, Rams, Bears, Seahawks, Falcons, Bills and Jaguars. Most of those situations we can feel pretty good about the lead back in
13:00a good offense still finding a way to make it happen in fantasy land. Seahawks is that one exception. As much as I
13:06would like to think that they're going to watch the film and say, "Man, sure looks a lot better than Zach Charbonnet. We should probably feed him
13:12the rock more."
13:14We kind of have three or four years of evidence of the Seattle coaches watching Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet and choosing to still keep him involved. So
13:21a fantasy nerd can dream, but not expecting too many better returns at least in week nine.
13:26Tier two guys, I got RB 2s with an attitude led off by RB 13 Chase Brown against the Falcons in Madrid. This is
13:34it. This is the Chase Brown boom week.
13:3620 plus fantasy points per game this week or we all head to Spain and riot.
13:41Look, it's been rough this year. 130 touches without a 15 plus yard game.
13:46Second place is Kendre Miller at 66.
13:48Brown's also gone 122 long cold touches since his last trip to the end zone despite scoring a really cool contested catch one last week that got called back
13:57by a holding penalty.
13:59I know.
14:00But that's what happened in weeks one through eight. And we're talking about week nine here. It's a great match up against the Falcons defense that's
14:06allowed more fantasy points to the position than anyone other than the Saints or the Panthers. By the way, show some respect NFC South. What are you
14:13guys doing?
14:15This Bengals offense is the number one offense in the league in EPA per play over the last four weeks. And coming out
14:20of the bye, we have seen Samaje Perine less involved than ever. Chase Brown is due for a big play, due for a touchdown
14:27in one of the highest-scoring offenses in the NFL with a great matchup. We are checking every single box we could ask
14:34for. Week nine, Chase Brown boom week.
14:36Heard it here first.
14:38RB 14, I'm going De'Andre Swift, guys.
14:40Going up again against a tough defense in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But we did just see what happened against the Seattle Seahawks. He overcame it with
14:47raw touchdown scoring ability and just, you know, kind of getting the getting the rock inside the 5-yard line, which he's done all season. I mentioned before
14:54Jamaal Williams with 17 carries inside the 5-yard line. De'Andre Swift is second with 15. Has helped him be the NFL's leader in rushing touchdowns with
15:0110 this year. So, averaging a career-low 3.8 yards per carry, I will say this is a ranking if we're going to see Kalenji
15:08Guy back in action, which I am kind of expecting given some of the verbage around him in recent weeks. If we do see
15:14Kalenji Guy continue to be sidelined, I don't know if I can get Swift inside the top five this week, but it'd be pretty close. I think I'd
15:22probably settle in around RB7, RB8, around that Bucky and Tuton territory.
15:28RB 15 for me, let's go to Zonovan Knight guys. Broncos breakout rookie. This dude looked good last week and when you take
15:34away Tyler Badie and R.J. Harvey, all of a sudden he is the clear-cut pass-down back in an offense that, as we've seen
15:40over the years, certainly is no stranger to throwing the rock to their running back. Particularly when Bo Nix isn't all that inclined to be chucking that rock
15:47deep down field. So, look, in the first half last week, it was the Zonovan Knight Coleman show, but not in to an
15:52overwhelming degree, right? 20 snaps to 11 for J.K. Dobbins. The second half, though, 18 snaps for Coleman, just one for Dobbins. So, yeah, did the game
16:02script have a little bit to do with it?
16:03Sure, but man, Coleman looked better and now it's just a situation where going up against a Panthers team that we have
16:09seen allow the second most fantasy points per game to opposing RB's.
16:14I'm not saying Dobbins is going to be a complete afterthought here, but as long as J.T. remains an Indian not in Denver,
16:19Jonah Coleman has the look of an upside RB2 with the potential to soar even higher if this kid keeps playing great.
16:25RB16, I'm going to Rhamondre Stevenson against the Packers, guys. I'm just hoping that he continues to benefit from Drake Maye being, well, Drake Maye like
16:32we've seen out there. So, Patriots offense has been awesome. Only the Bengals have averaged more EPA per play than them over the last month of action.
16:39And while Rhamondre again hasn't been giving us, you know, constant boom games out here and has needed a little bit of
16:43help with taking, you know, receptions, 50 yards to the house right before halftime. Shout out to that amazing play against the Bears.
16:50I would like to think at some point we're going to see this Patriots offense, which is performing again great, get more touches for their
16:56running backs inside the 5-yard line.
16:58Only the Vikings have fewer team RB rush attempts inside the 5. So, again, Vikings, that's because they've been a really bad offense this year. I think we
17:05can agree on that. Patriots, that is something that I will expect to correct itself before too long. So, Green Bay though is tough. They have allowed a
17:12league-low 0.54 RB rush yards before contact per carry this year, but Rhamondre, given things he can do in the pass game as well, still top 16 this
17:20week for me.
17:21And finally, RB17, Derrick Henry, guys.
17:24RB17, Derrick Henry, I don't think those words have ever come out of my mouth in all my years as an alleged fantasy
17:30football expert, but man, they're facing the Jaguars, best defense in the league in fantasy points per game allowed in the position on a Ravens offense implied
17:38to score the fewest points in all of Week 9, quick turnaround on Thursday night.
17:44Look, this offense already went from fifth in EPA per play in weeks 1 through 4 to 29th during the last 4 weeks. That
17:51was with Tyler Snoop Huntley, a former Pro Bowler under center. I just think the floor could be even lower than ever
17:58now. So, maybe the Ravens say, "Hey, we have nobody else to get the ball to.
18:01Let's just feed Derrick Henry 30-plus carries and see what happens." And honestly, that's probably their best chance to win, but in this nightmare
18:08matchup, I just can't get any higher than RB17. It simultaneously feels too low and too high at the same time. I
18:14hope better days are ahead for King Henry, just not exactly, you know, expecting it.
18:19RB18, I'm going with Cam Akers, guys.
18:20We'll see what happens with the hamstring. Allegedly was more of the minor variety and they had the bye week to rest up, but hopefully we do see
18:27Akers at full health because it did feel like a bit of a changing of the guard in this backfield when he torched the
18:32Texans for 124 yards and a touchdown the last time we saw them. So, Tyron Tracy now on IR with a hamstring injury, maybe
18:39we do see Devin Singletary more involved than expected, but they've been pretty reluctant to actually ever give him a true fair shot at getting that future
18:46role anyway. So, with Akers, we're looking at an Eagles defense that has been kind of pushed over over these past 2 weeks against NFC East opponents. I
18:53mean, I don't think it's exactly been a murderers' row of rush offenses yet.
18:57We've seen the Panthers, Cowboys, and Commanders combine for 465 yards against Jalen Carter and this Eagles defense over the last 3 weeks.
19:05RB 19, I'm going with Allgeier against the Lions, guys, and I wanted to rank him higher, but I just got a bad feeling
19:11here that we're going to see the Lions understandably get up against the Dolphins. I don't think that's a hot take, and honestly a Lions defense just
19:18continued to be a bit tough against running backs in the run game specifically. Overall, they've been really good. I mean, only the Bears,
19:25Buccaneers, and Jaguars have allowed fewer fantasy points per game to opposing running backs this year, but Allgeier is just such a zero as as a
19:32receiver, or at least he's being used like one. That's tough to again expect much of a floor here unless he's able to
19:38fall into the end zone. So, overall on the season, guys, 90% of his fantasy production has come from rushing as opposed to receiving. Only Jordan Mason
19:46has a higher discrepancy, hilariously at 100% rushing production this season. So, look, I still think Allgeier is a damn good running back, and we've seen this
19:54Dolphins offense actually play quite a bit better over the last 4 weeks. Just a tough one again, I think stylistically against a Lions defense that's also
20:01playing a bit better over the last month of football.
20:04RB 20, Quinshon Judkins, guys, going up against the nut match up here, New Orleans Saints. Bad, bad, bad defense.
20:13They are dead last in fantasy points per game allowed to running backs this year, and yeah, I think the Falcons or the
20:19Falcons B. Robinsons, you know, combining for five touchdowns or whatever that was uh or six weeks ago, is doing a lot of work there, but man,
20:26pressure rate, yards before contact, either way, it's been a line that's been getting bullied for the large part of the season. Now, can the Browns actually
20:33take advantage of that? Cuz as much as you can say, "Oh, this is a good match up for the Browns offense." You can also
20:38say it's a good match up for the Saints defense, just like we were going over with the Bills and Vikings match up from
20:42before. So, ultimately, only the Ravens, Falcons, Colts, and Jaguars have averaged fewer EPA per play than the Browns over the last four weeks of
20:51football. It's still not a great offense, but D'Onta Foreman 17-plus touches in five of the seven games this year. I think he can fall into the end
20:59zone at least once. I'd be surprised if we're getting triple-digit total yardage or anything, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. D'Onta Foreman RB 20.
21:07RB 21, I'm going with Woody Marks, guys, going against the Chargers here, assuming David Montgomery is still going to be sidelined with that groin injury.
21:13So, honestly, feels a little bit low considering that we've seen Marks have 19, 17, and 20 touches in these three games without Montgomery. Unfortunately,
21:22hasn't found the end zone, but 85, 81, 81 yards hasn't completely killed you out there. And now it's just a situation
21:28where hopefully, we can see C.J. Stroud start getting these running backs some more fantasy-friendly opportunities because the Texans offense kind of
21:35cooking recently. One of the biggest improvements in EPA per play from weeks 1 through 4 to weeks 5 through 8 does go
21:41to the Houston Texans. They were 19th, and now they have been fourth in more recent action. So, Woody is a capable
21:47pass-catcher who maybe they have to lean into more of a Jaylen Nowell, unfortunately, on the IR with turf toe.
21:52Woody Marks for me, again, just tough to rank too low when we know he is the only show in town, even if that show in town
21:57isn't exactly the most fantasy-friendly backfield in the world.
22:01RB 22, give me Blake Corum, guys, going against the Commanders. Already talked quite a bit about him and Kyren Williams and the fact that Corum actually has
22:08outscored Kyren Williams over these last four weeks. Ultimately, though, the answer has just been yes for both these guys scoring among the top 12 running
22:15backs in this stretch of games. So, only Jaylen Warren's averaged more yards per touch than Blake Corum this year. I'm not trying to put down Kyren. He's up
22:22there in that leaderboard as well, but, you know, Kyren fantasy managers, don't be putting down Kyren either. I know it's annoying if you have Kyren
22:28Williams, you don't want Blake Kyren to get the ball but from the Rams perspective, they're doing everything right and really running the hell out of
22:34the ball recently. So, yeah, wouldn't expect the Commanders or Cardinals to be giving the Rams any problems over these next 2 weeks. After their bye, maybe we
22:41start getting more competitive matchups and Kyren truly supplying his top five booms again.
22:46RB 23 Breece Hall at the Chiefs and I don't know if this is 10 spots too low or 10 spots too high because this situation is
22:54just weird. All right? We've seen Breece Hall miss five games with his quad injury, but he's been out there practicing these last 2 weeks.
23:02Had a DMP to start off week seven and then was limited Thursday and Friday, but we had reporters coming out and
23:07saying the way he looked was like he was ready to play. Didn't play. Whatever, got back to practice, it is what it is.
23:14Week eight though, he practices in a limited fashion from Wednesday through Friday, listed questionable.
23:19Still nothing.
23:21But, we also got this kind of weird social post from Breece Hall over on Twitter just talking about things you can control, this and that.
23:29I went to look it back up, I couldn't find it. You know why? Because he deleted his Twitter over the weekend.
23:35Brian Windhorst meme Why would he do that?
23:40Lot of chatter. Lot of chatter on some of these running backs. Jonathan Taylor in the trade talks, maybe Breece Hall in
23:45the trade talks.
23:47Braelon Allen has the second most rushing yards in the NFL behind only Bug Irving since he took over as a starter
23:53in week four.
23:55Maybe the Jets decide that someone else should have 45 million reasons to feature Breece Hall instead.
24:02I don't know. Aaron Glenn came out and said, "We want good football players.
24:06Breece Hall is a good football player.
24:07Why would we get rid of him?" Okay.
24:10It's tough to know what's going to happen here and accordingly, I'm considerably ranking this because if Breece Hall remains sidelined, how? Give me Braelon.
24:21I rank him ahead of Derrick Henry. God, just continuing to looking at Derrick Henry down. I have Braelon up there RB
24:2517.
24:27It's not a good match up.
24:29Chiefs second fewest RB rush yards allowed before contact.
24:34>> [sighs and gasps] >> I'm giving Breece a little bit of benefit of the doubt here. I'm not so sure I should.
24:40RB 23 Gap still might be too wide. I just don't know how they go back to Breece 70 80% snaps given how well Breece has
24:47played as a rusher.
24:49Cuz Breece can do the receiving thing, all right?
24:52Just tough. Just tough. RB 24 Saquon Barkley in a revenge game special against the New York Football Giants.
24:58He's at 23 touches and he's turned them into 125 total yards and a pair of touchdowns over his last 2 weeks on
25:04freaking 20 or sorry 32 total snaps, right? He had 10 snaps in week seven all the way up to 22 in week eight. We just
25:11cannot feel great about that particularly with him not even being on the injury report last week. Normally it'd be like, well, he was listed as
25:17questionable then he wasn't then all of a sudden he had the full-time role. Just not a situation we're seeing. So, I'm
25:22worried we just continue to see this snap count be an issue and this off has not exactly doing many favors. Maybe
25:28Saquon can just continue to be great for a drive or two, find his way into the end zone, and give us RB2 production.
25:34Right now RB24 feels about as high as I can go.
25:37Key question for this tier guys, wanted to go through and look at some of the differences in fantasy points for game
25:42allowed to running backs from a rushing and receiving perspective, okay? I know generally we're throwing out the overall numbers in here. People have lives,
25:48things they got to get to. But with this handy dandy chart, shout out to media, I was able to actually go through and look
25:53at again which groups have been bad everywhere like the Falcons, the Cowboys, the Packers, the Colts, but also ones who have been more so bad
26:00versus rushing running backs compared to the passing running backs. Those defenses, Panthers, Raiders, and the Chargers. And in that situation I do
26:08wonder if we're maybe and we as in me not counting on JK Dobbins as much as we should be. Will we see again this
26:14Broncos team run away with this game against the against the Panthers? That's where I am a little bit worried, but if
26:19they do, you know, Dobbins did have I think a three-game streak of scoring touchdowns prior to last week and as much as we did see Melvin Gordon take
26:26over in the second half, maybe it could be more 60/40 in a more neutral game script. So, JK Dobbins is someone I do
26:31have my eye on, but the biggest takeaway I have here, guys, is the work the 49ers have done as against receiving running
26:38backs, all right? This is probably the biggest discrepancy that we see.
26:4149ers this year, third stiffest test for running backs on the ground, but they have allowed the second most PPR points through the air, okay? And that takes us
26:49right into our RB 25. Uh no, not quite.
26:52Just missed it. Anyway, RB 25, Tyler Allgeier. RB 26 and RB 27, though, Asim Achane and Mike Washington. That's what I'm talking about with the 49ers. We'll
27:00get back to Allgeier in a second, but with Asim Achane, guys, he's been the receiver here.
27:06All right? That's been Asim Achane's world.
27:09He has averaged, not averaged, he's scored more PPR points from receiving than Justin Jefferson this year.
27:16And shout out to Jacob Gibbs, who tweeted that fantastic stat. And you guys should give him a follow cuz he's a
27:20cool dude and does a lot of great stuff on social media.
27:23Parker Washington's only got 1.8 more PPR points than Achane as a receiver.
27:29Which is important because we just saw what happened last week, all right? 25 carries for Mike Washington.
27:34Didn't do anything with them. 3.3 yards per carry. Zero tackles avoided on the ground. But you know what? Achane wasn't doing anything with his carries. You
27:41know why? Because they're playing behind a piss-poor offensive line.
27:46I don't think it's either running back's fault. But I'm also not going to sit here and annoy Mike Washington as a
27:51better player because he's been a slightly better rushing the football than Achane in a horrific situation.
27:56When Achane's been a hell of a lot better receiver and presumably is still playing through quite a bit of pain. So,
28:01ultimately, this stat blew my mind.
28:04Raiders running backs this year have the third most carries inside the 5-yard line.
28:10And they've scored tied for the third fewest touchdowns with two. They have converted two of 17 carries inside the 5-yard line into touchdowns this year,
28:18guys. The opportunity's been there. The offensive line has not helped them out.
28:22Maybe Asim Achane and Mike Washington just both suck at football. Maybe they suck at life. Maybe don't lobby is the answer here. Achane returned touchdown
28:29last week. I don't believe those things.
28:31To be clear, I do think that in a very tough call, cuz we don't know what's in Clint Kubiak's mind. We don't know if
28:38it's going to revert back to Gentry this week and if it was just a matter of him talking that smack to the Jets last week
28:42that got him doghoused or if it was just again some inefficiency and he finally made the switch to Washington. We don't
28:48know and we won't know until the game comes around.
28:51But, given the matchup factor, the receiving versus the rushing that we just talked about with the 49ers, that's why I'm giving Gentry the lean for this
28:58week.
28:59Back to Tyler Allgeier, RB 25. Last man standing in Arizona. Unfortunately, Jeremiah Love on IR with a high ankle sprain. Get better soon, rook. And then
29:07Bam Knight probably out with a concussion. Again, been one of these things where this year I've been surprised to see so many guys have a
29:12concussion on one Sunday and then make it back out for the next, but assuming he's out of the picture and James Conner
29:18is as well, like my god, James Conner, hold up today's newspaper or something, bro. Hope you're okay. Have not heard from you.
29:24It should be the Tyler Allgeier show, but how much is that worth in this matchup? You know, we just talked about
29:30how low Derrick Henry ranks and how is it that different for Tyler Allgeier, man?
29:35We get the Seahawks this week. Vegas has us a bottom two scoring offense. I don't blame them. I would, too.
29:42After the Seahawks, it's the Rams and the Chiefs.
29:45Tyler Allgeier, look look who I have him with, you know.
29:48Woody Marks, Saquon, Quintez Cephus, Jordan Wilkins. Like these are starting running backs with very big problems in terms of their offensive environment, all right? Throw
29:58in the tough matchup against the Seahawks, I would not call Tyler Allgeier a must-start running back. If you got him, you need a flex, okay, I get it. Just
30:05too many issues with the offense. Also, Tyler Allgeier, let's face it, awesome game against the Cowboys. Get in line type of deal, you know.
30:12I'm tired of freaking out about performances against the Cowboys. We see this at every single position for the better part of the
30:18last, you know, 14 months on this planet. Great game. Congrats to anyone who had the balls to start Tyler Allgeier last week. We're facing a real
30:27NFL defense now. RB 25 for me.
30:31RB 28. Give me Kenneth Gainwell going against the Bears, guys. I got some fun stats for you here. Ke'Shawn Vaughn, leader among all running backs in
30:38explosive rush rate this year, fifth in tackles avoided per carry, third in percentage of carries of three plus yards after contact, fourth in rush
30:46yards over expected per carry. This dude is balling. Unfortunately, he also leads all running backs in rush attempts without a rushing touchdown this year at
30:5358. I think facing the Bears will probably force the Buccaneers to run a 21st century offense and not have 50 freaking
31:02rush attempts between their two running backs. That said, Ke'Shawn is playing well enough that maybe he does complicate things a little bit with
31:07Bucky. So, I'm giving him I'm giving the Buccaneers a little bit of benefit of the doubt, but this is the point in the
31:12rankings, man, where it does start to get a little bit rough.
31:16RB 29, I'm going with Braelon Allen. I already kind of talked through with him versus Breece Hall, but yeah. I mentioned that percentage of three
31:22percentage of carries of three plus yards after contact. I prefer using that over yards after contact itself because I just think that gives you a better,
31:29you know, idea for the stat actually.
31:31It's not like you break a tackle at the line of scrimmage and then run for 50 yards. That's great you did that, but
31:36when I think of yards after contact, I'm thinking of pile pushes, okay? On the season, 50% of Braelon Allen's carries have
31:44produced three plus yards after contact.
31:45That's tied for the fifth highest mark in the league. Breece Hall, dead last at 21%. So, we all have eyes, so does Frank Reich,
31:52presumably. I think we see Braelon really eating into the early down short yardage work, but Breece in the pass game. Answer to which one you really
32:00want to start on the road in Kansas City, maybe just no.
32:03RB 30, I'm going with Rachaad White against the Rams. I don't want to be the annoying fantasy guy who's like, "Oh,
32:08yeah, takeaways, good plays, and what did he really do for you out there?" I'm just saying if you did not make it to
32:13the end of that atrocity of a Sunday Night Football game, you might have not realized that the only reason why Rachaad White's day was saved was
32:20because basically after the Commanders stopped the Eagles on fourth and 25, effectively ending the game, they kept the starters out there to go ahead and
32:28get the three score lead, and that involved three straight carries for Rachaad White that covered 34 yards and a short touchdown really iced things.
32:35So, we did not get the same big role we had before the bye. It was a 69% snap rate in week six and only a 47% snap
32:43rate here in week nine. Maybe losing Darrynton Evans leads to more of a featured role, but I don't know cuz Austin Ekeler was a lot more involved
32:50out here and who knows in Washington.
32:52Man, they always pull up the next running back and make things more of a committee. So, it's a Rams defense with Aaron Donald
32:58could be welcoming back Myles Garrett against RotoWire's 26th ranked offensive line. I'm not playing Rashaad White if I can help it. RB 31, Alvin Kamara against
33:06the Browns. Somehow the RB 26 in PPR points per game this year and the mainstream media is silent about it, but
33:13yeah, I get it. It's just a matter of receiving upside, but if we're going to be expecting something in the Saints
33:18offense behind RotoWire's 28th ranked offensive line, it probably should be through the air. So, still going to be a three-back committee, but you know, 63%
33:25of Kamara's production through the air.
33:27I think he can keep on keeping on as at least a mid-tier RB3 this week against the Browns.
33:31RB 32, RB 33, I got you Darrian Price and Zach Charbonnet, okay? The rookie led the way in snaps, 48% versus 36%,
33:39designed rush attempts, 59% versus 35%, and routes, 41% versus 26% last week. He also looked much better with his touches. Will that matter for the
33:48Seattle Seahawks coaches who again continued to force-feed Zach Charbonnet even with the Super Bowl MVP on their roster? I don't know, probably not. We
33:57also have DeeJay Dallas eating in just enough to be annoying and still keep this as a three-back committee as well.
34:02All that said, the matchup is brilliant, guys. Going up against the Cardinals at home, big-time favorites. It would make sense if these guys could probably each
34:11fall into the end zone at least once assuming Jaxon Smith-Njigba gives them permission.
34:16RB 34, RB 35, I got Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason. Speaking of annoying three-back committees now, rather inexplicably, DeeJay Dallas playing more snaps than Jordan Mason
34:26last week. None of these guys receiving 40% of the offensive snaps. The offense has sucked largely all season long and you can say they're playing their
34:33defense to strengths, but you know what also helps a defense? Actually having an offense score points and putting them in a position where they can really pin
34:40their ears back and not just have to go out there and win every single game out there. So, again, mentioned this earlier
34:45with the Patriots, but the Vikings, league low two RB rush attempts inside the 5-yard line this season. This is a situation I really want to be able to
34:53avoid if at all possible.
34:55RB 36, if he is back and healthy, Kalif Raymond on a guy against the Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football, had 150 yards
35:01and two touchdowns last time we saw him.
35:03It was more of a 60-40, even 55-45 at times split, still in favor of DeAndre Swift. But, Raymond had at least a game
35:10or two where he had the hot hand and accordingly Ben Johnson fed him. So, I will I could see myself squeezing this a
35:16lot as early as week 10 or I guess it'd be week 11. I think the Bears have a bye coming up here, but, you know, just a
35:21thing where first game back in a tough matchup against Vita Vea and company, don't want to get too carried away with
35:26who is still the RB2 in Chicago.
35:29Key question now, guys, top low-owned handcuff running backs that you guys can be stashing on your bench, okay? So, I'm looking at guys who are rostered in at
35:37least I should say are available in at least 75% or more of Yahoo leagues. That does not include Chris Rodriguez, Seth
35:43McGowan, Mike Washington, and Kahlil Black. So, if those guys are out there, you should definitely do yourself a favor and go pick them up. Samaje
35:49Perine, 21% rostered, the next man up behind Chase Brown in case anything happens there. Two straight back Emmet Johnson's at 19%, Devin Singletary 17%,
35:58Raheem Mostert 6%, Raheem Mostert 4%, Austin Ekeler, Tyler Goodson, and Sione Takitaki, the Lions' backup running back, all under 2%. So, among this
36:06group, Emmet Johnson deserves to be the first guy talked about. He's been on all the waiver wire articles for good reason. Unreal performance in week
36:14eight. Just realize that we're still looking at a guy who's had six or fewer touches in all but one game. Maybe that
36:20amazing game does lead to more touches, but we still got Kenneth Walker to try to get past. I'd be very surprised if we
36:26see Emmet Johnson consistently providing flex value, but as tier handcuff, absolutely.
36:32If you can't get Emmet Johnson, I do think Raheem Mostert is probably the move. We'll see what happens with Skylar Thompson. It didn't sound like his
36:39injury was that severe. I just think there's a fun opportunity here with Raheem Mostert where people are going to I think not worry about the James Cook
36:46thing on the waiver wires, and then it's going to be Wednesday and when you can just add the guy and not have to worry
36:51about it. And if we see James Cook practice on Thursday, great, no problem.
36:54Drop him and go pick up someone else again, but man, it's going to be a rush to get to your phone and pick up Raheem
36:59Davis on Thursday if we see that opening week James Cook DNP. You could be the scholar that already has him on your
37:05bench.
37:06Tier four guys, desperate times call for desperate measures, last kind group here. But yeah, Emitt Johnson, RB 37. He has avoided 22 tackles on 34 touches
37:16this season.
37:17I'm sure you can hear that and know it's insane, but here's how insane it is.
37:21Jonathan Taylor, 23 tackles avoided on 169 touches. Derrick Henry has 21 on 170. James Cook, amazing James Cook, 23 tackles avoided on 150 touches.
37:32This is nothing folks, man. And look, again, just mentioned it, he's had six or fewer touches in all but one game
37:38this year. But if you're ever going to give a guy more touches for a great performance, surely you think Emitt Johnson has earned that. Even making
37:44plays out there on special teams as well. So, good match up against the Jets, where again, if we see the Chiefs
37:48fulfilling their prophecy as big time nine point favorites, running away with this game, we'd think Emitt Johnson can get some extra touches there in the
37:54fourth quarter.
37:56Similar sentiment for our next two guys, RB 38 Ke'Shawn Black, RB 39 Chris Rodriguez. Again, just buying into really good offenses and good teams
38:04overall in smash match ups against the Raiders and Ravens respectively. RB 40, I got JK Dobbins against the Panthers.
38:10Very much riding the same thing here, a number two running back in a spot where yeah, the match up is good against the
38:15Panthers, and we could see the Broncos perhaps building a lead and running away with this one. I'm just less confident in the Broncos actually doing that
38:21compared to the Chiefs, the 49ers, and the Jaguars. RB 41, Seth McGowan against the Cowboys. Maybe the Colts' future starting running back, people are
38:29whispering. We'll see what happens there. I will say if you guys listened to the Sunday Night Show review, first of all, thank you. Next Gen Stats, I
38:36love you guys. They update though, their ball carrier speeds, fastest ones throughout the season, actively throughout game day. I don't know if
38:42there's a conspiracy going on with Next Gen, and maybe the White House is getting involved as well, but what we did see initially was McGowan having a
38:4928-yard kick return, I believe, where he eclipsed 22 mph. It's no longer there.
38:54So, I don't know if it was a game day glitch, a missed queue, or something even bigger. But, yeah, either way, Seth
38:59McGowan still the next man up in Indy, just not expecting a ton other than the other than him facing the Cowboys.
39:05RB 42, Kendre Miller, 13 22 10 opportunities last three games. Just again, a situation where Saints offense not exactly been killing it.
39:14Alvin Kamara is still plenty involved, but even if they do get down to the 1-yard line, we maybe got C.J. Donaldson
39:19or you get the Tyler Shough touchdown push.
39:21RB 43, Devin Singletary 77 69 total yards these last 2 weeks. The problem is just always expecting the receiving stuff when, you know, Hiro Fan and Kacy
39:30Camp and they go back and forth. I have a hard time believing Devin Singletary of all people is going to be the one
39:35actually getting, you know, a cemented receiving role. But, as I mentioned before, perfectly fine handcuff to keep on your bench.
39:42RB 44 and RB 45, Omar Manning and Keaontay Ingram and Keaontay Vidal.
39:46Insultingly low ranks for the Chargers running backs. Would love to be proven wrong. Please, fellas, score your first touchdown as an offense since October
39:5511th.
39:57Can you realize that? It's It's November 3rd.
40:00Many of us voted today. I'm recording this on Tuesday, you know.
40:06October 11th, zero touchdowns.
40:09Shameful.
40:10Shameful, Chargers. Be better. RB 46, Devin Singletary against the Eagles.
40:15Again, we'll see what happens with Cam Akers' health, but 10 3 5 and 8 touches for Singletary this year. I do think it'll be a Cam Akers
40:22show, health permitting. RB 47, Austin Ekeler didn't have any catches last week. I just have low expectations for this Commanders offense as a whole,
40:29going up against the Rams. And then finally, RB 48, Samaje Perine against the Falcons in Madrid. Just nine total touches in two games coming out of the
40:36bye. Chase Brown boom week, I can feel it. Anyway though, guys, that's going to wrap up this video. I appreciate you
40:43guys tuning in. If you liked the video, please like the video. And that subscribe button always does help as well. We'll be back tomorrow with wide
40:48receivers and tight ends and some injury goodness on Friday. So, hope the fancy squad is 8 and 0, but if you're 0 and 8,
40:54America loves a comeback and you know, if you are 0 and 8, maybe like saying an extra prayer to the fancy gods could not
40:59hurt. But, anyway guys, appreciate you tuning in as always. I'm Ian Harrison.
41:03Until next time, take care everybody.
