Despite it being this late in the fantasy football season, we're still having to sift through a handful of backfields on a weekly basis to see where the usage goes. Some of that is impacted by injuries — both players exiting and players returning. Let's dive into some key backfield splits and go over running back touches to see if we can gather some useful info to help us ahead of the fantasy playoffs.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Player
Touches
Total Yards
Touchdowns
Bucky Irving
17
81
1
Rachaad White
5
29
0
Sean Tucker
2
0
0
We got Bucky Irving's long-awaited return to the backfield for the Bucs in Week 13 versus the Cardinals. Irving had missed the past seven games for Tampa Bay while nursing foot and shoulder injuries. The lead back didn't miss a beat, getting the type of volume we had grown accustomed to prior to his injury. He finished with 61 yards on 17 carries and one touchdown, also grabbing two catches for 20 yards. The 19 touches were obviously encouraging, and we saw both Rachaad White and Sean Tucker go back to their secondary roles.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWhite and Tucker combined for seven touches and 29 total yards (22 receiving yards went to White on three catches). The wind was taken completely out of the sails of Tucker managers. It now seems like forever ago when Tucker went for 33 fantasy points in Week 11 against the Bills.
Here's the full breakdown of the RB usage for Tampa Bay via Michael F. Florio:
Tucker isn't viable at all in fantasy anymore. He's maybe worth stashing in deeper formats, given Irving is a risk of re-injury. But it would take just that to move Tucker back into consideration for your lineup. He's going to be a trendy drop candidate this week. White is merely a backup with some PPR value; he did run more routes than Irving, which is notable. But Irving should dominate the touches and go back to being a weekly RB2.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCarolina Panthers
Player
Touches
Total Yards
Touchdowns
Rico Dowdle
20
79
0
Chuba Hubbard
19
124
1
Stranger Things is on my mind since I've been rewatching the new Season 5 episodes over and over. With that, the Panthers' backfield may get flipped upside down after this week. We had all somewhat written off Chuba Hubbard this season with how well Rico Dowdle was playing. We saw a huge shift in Week 13 in Carolina's surprising win over the Rams.
While the carries were almost even, the more productive back was Hubbard rather than Dowdle, who had 18 carries for 58 yards to Hubbard's 17 for 83. The Panthers' game plan was clear: run the ball to keep Los Angeles' passing game off the field. The strategy was mostly successful and it helped that QB Bryce Young made a handful of amazing plays.
Hubbard finished with a season-high 19.4 fantasy points thanks to two catches — one of those a 35-yard touchdown. While Dowdle is clearly still involved, this is the healthiest Hubbard has looked since the first few weeks of the season. We also know the Panthers' commitment to Hubbard contract-wise and what he means in the locker room. This feels like a bit of a pendulum swing, where this could become more of a 50-50 split. We're going to have to rethink how we approach this backfield, though the Panthers are on bye in Week 14.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn Week 15 versus the Saints, the script screams run, run, run! Hubbard moves back into flex consideration while Dowdle gets a knock down to low-end RB2 or RB3 territory.
Los Angeles Rams
Player
Touches
Total Yards
Touchdowns
Kyren Williams
13
72
1
Blake Corum
7
81
1
The upset that the Rams suffered on Sunday had more to do with the defense than the offense not showing up. Though, Matthew Stafford threw two INTs, which wasn't ideal for the offense's overall production. But let's talk about the running game. Kyren Williams was forced to exit in the second quarter briefly with an ankle injury. Blake Corum ended up scoring a TD in that small window and finished with seven carries for 81 yards. He also had a 34-yard rush, which helped pad his stats a bit.
Williams was able to return and finished with 13 carries for 72 yards and a TD. Still, you see Corum breathing down Williams' neck like he has all season. But this situation shouldn't be impacted much by the box score. It has more to do with whether or not this ankle injury will become a thing for Williams. If that's the case and Williams misses some practice time this week, head coach Sean McVay may game-plan to get Corum more involved. It's been a (mostly) steady 60-30 split for the two backs this season. Maybe we see something closer to 50-50, which would make Corum a worthy flex play in deeper formats. As long as Williams is active, though, he's still a solid RB1/2.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementKansas City Chiefs
Player
Touches
Total Yards
Touchdowns
Kareem Hunt
15
80
0
Isiah Pacheco
5
33
0
The Chiefs fell to the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, 31-28, and we saw the return of RB Isiah Pacheco. Kareem Hunt had taken on most of the backfield work with Pacheco sidelined the past three games. Hunt still led the way with 15 touches to just five for Pacheco. We also saw Hunt play 64% of snaps while Pacheco was only in on 30% (6% went to rookie Brashard Smith). Hunt would finish with 80 total yards while Pacheco had just 33. Smith didn't get a touch.
This feels like a scenario where the Chiefs wanted to ease Pacheco back into action a bit. Plus, Hunt has just flat-out been a more reliable back this season. Smith has been the best receiving back among Kansas City's contingent this season, so it was a bit surprising to see him banished to the bench in a high-scoring game.
The Chiefs don't have a favorable schedule for RBs the rest of the season and it's tough to trust Hunt or Pacheco outside of a flex play, really. Hunt will be TD-dependent while Pacheco will need to get the touch volume to be viable in fantasy again.
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