If you’re reading this column, congratulations. It’s Week 13 of the NFL season, and you’re still engaged and looking for a competitive edge, which probably means you’re still alive for the fantasy playoffs. Either that or you’re a seriously diehard fantasy fanatic. Either way, you deserve some props!

As I mentioned in last week’s roundup, we’ve reached the point of the season where there’s little reason to roster low-upside RBs and WRs who will never make it into your starting lineup now that the bye weeks are over. Assuming your starting lineup is in decent shape, the best use of bench spots for the stretch run is handcuffs and high-upside stashes who could serve as insurance or upgrade your starting lineup if they pan out. 

While it is worth having a good WR on your bench and sometimes even worth handcuffing your QB or TE, you should be particularly interested in stashing guys at the running back position, where injuries are common, and opportunity is (more than) half the battle.

With that in mind, we’re going to shake things up for this post-Thanksgiving edition of the Running Back Roundup. Rather than our usual team-by-team deep dive, this week’s Roundup will rank the best RB stashes based on plausible upside. We’re looking for RBs who are one injury, suspension, or benching away from getting a heavy workload, and who have the talent and/or favorable team context to take advantage of it.

What we’re not talking about here are situations like New Orleans, Atlanta, and Minnesota, where there are two RBs that are every-week starters (or close to it). We’re looking for the diamonds in the rough, so we’ll limit these rankings to players who are owned in less than 50% of Yahoo leagues.

In case you’re wondering, David Johnson (57% owned) doesn’t quite make the cut, but I’d recommend rostering him for another week if possible, while we wait to get more clarity on his recovery and the Cardinals’ longshot playoff hopes. Then if/when he is definitively ruled out for the rest of the season, you can drop him for someone else on this list.

On to the rankings.

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Austin Ekeler
Marlon Mack
Matt Breida
James Conner

This quartet is the ultimate group of high-upside stashes. All four have youth and limitless potential on their side. They’re all also the clear-cut backup to their respective starters, who have concerns related to being injury-prone (Melvin Gordon and Carlos Hyde), old (Frank Gore), or overworked (Le’Veon Bell). Ekeler and Conner have the best team contexts, but Mack and Breida could eventually be given a shot at lead back duties with their teams out of playoff contention.

All but Conner have a bit of short-term flex appeal, although playoff-caliber fantasy teams should be able to do better. The key here is plausible upside, and these guys have it.

Devontae Booker
Aaron Jones
T.J. Yeldon
Chris Ivory

These backs all have a path to being impact players, but they also have some roadblocks. Booker could be the Broncos’ most-talented back, and his usage is trending up a bit, at least compared to his competition. But the Denver three-man backfield remains messy, and the offense as a whole is struggling badly.

Jones has had a couple of big games this year as the lead back, and the Packers may have the incentive to bring him back quickly if they remain in playoff contention. But his return timeline is uncertain, and he may not return to a starting role if Jamaal Williams or Ty Montgomery play well in his absence.

Yeldon and Ivory have both had their moments when given an opportunity in Jacksonville’s RB-friendly offense, and Leonard Fournette does not appear to be fully healthy or productive. But Fournette looks determined to play through his ankle injury, and it’s difficult to say whether Yeldon or Ivory would be the bigger beneficiary if the Jaguars were forced to shut Fournette down.

Damien Williams
Rod Smith
Charcandrick West
Wayne Gallman
Chris Carson
Lance Dunbar
Malcolm Brown
Corey Clement
Travaris Cadet

This is the last tier of RBs with a path to a big-time fantasy impact that isn’t too convoluted. Williams and Smith have both been getting plenty of snaps and have each shown that they could be quite useful if given lead back duties. But they would likely need injuries to Kenyon Drake and Alfred Morris, respectively, for that to happen. Unfortunately, Williams is the one who is hurt right now, and even if Smith overtook Morris, he would be no use in Week 16 when Ezekiel Elliott returns.

West is interesting as the second-string RB in an Andy Reid offense known for heavily utilizing its lead back. But Kareem Hunt’s struggles are not likely to get him benched, and the Chief’s overall offensive dysfunction limits the upside of all their RBs. It’s also not a total slam dunk that West would be featured over Akeem Hunt if something were to happen to Kareem Hunt.

Gallman has established himself as the second-string back behind Orleans Darkwa and is even making it something of a timeshare. But the Giants’ poor team context limits Gallman’s upside, and the upcoming schedule isn’t pretty, particularly in Weeks 15 (PHI) and 16 (@ARI).

Carson is in a similar boat to Aaron Jones. He’s shown earlier in the year that he can be an impact player, but his injury timeline is uncertain at best, despite reports he could soon return to practice. It’s also fair to question whether any running back can succeed behind the porous Seattle offensive line that we’ve seen in recent weeks, which is why Jones is the preferable add.

Dunbar and Brown are both names to file away as the backups to heavily-used bell-cow Todd Gurley in the Rams’ explosive offense. Both first need to get healthy — it sounds like Dunbar is slightly closer to returning than Brown — and then one of them needs to establish himself as the clear handcuff. If that happens, that back will move up a few spots in the rankings.

Clement has had a couple of big games already and plays for one of the best offenses in football. But the Eagles backfield is incredibly messy; they are having trouble finding carries for Jay Ajayi, let alone Clement. Clement would be a flex consideration if either Ajayi or LeGarrette Blount were out of the picture, but he would likely need to overtake both of them to be a true fantasy difference-maker.

Cadet is my favorite deep, deep sleeper stash. It looks like he has overtaken Mike Tolbert as the number two RB for a Buffalo offense that is always in the top half of the league in rushing. LeSean McCoy has been quite durable over his career, but he has suffered some injuries over the years, and the chance of injury is always there for RBs who are seeing 20+ weekly touches.

Matt Forte
Mike Davis
Buck Allen
Jamaal Charles

These backs have a bit of opportunity or upside, but not both. Now that he’s healthy, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Forte lead the Jets backfield in touches in any given week. But Bilal Powell and Elijah McGuire aren’t going away, and Forte’s days as a bell-cow back are almost certainly over.

Davis may well get another chance to be the Seahawks’ lead back if he returns in Week 13, but that role is unlikely to translate into major fantasy value. Seattle ranks 20th in the league in rushing, and that is almost entirely due to Russell Wilson’s scrambling abilities. Davis is the preferred stash to J.D. McKissic in non-PPR formats, but neither stands a great chance of being a difference-making pickup. Chris Carson is higher on this list — despite his injury uncertainty — because he’s the only Seattle back who has proven he can produce in this offense.

Allen has been a serviceable RB when given a chance this season, but if he were going to truly explode, it would have happened by now. Instead, he’s been overtaken by Alex Collins on early downs, and now by Danny Woodhead on passing downs. An injury to either might get him back in the flex conversation, but even then he likely wouldn’t be a terrific option while splitting work in a subpar Baltimore offense.

Charles has looked like the Pro Bowler of old at times this season, but unfortunately, those flashes of upside have been few and far between. The Broncos decision to switch offensive coordinators did not interrupt the trend of phasing Charles out of the game plan, and it seems like something would need to happen to both Booker and C.J. Anderson in order for Denver to give Charles double-digit touches.

Gio Bernard
Byron Marshall
J.D. McKissic
Tarik Cohen
Theo Riddick
Alfred Blue
Jonathan Stewart
Jacquizz Rodgers
Peyton Barber
Jalen Richard
DeAndre Washington
Terron Ward

This is the best of the rest. Bernard, Marshall, McKissic, Cohen, Riddick, Blue, and Stewart are all firmly established as the second-string RBs on their respective teams, but they mostly lack upside. Bernard, Marshall, McKissic, Cohen, and Riddick are passing-down specialists who are unlikely to inherit a bell-cow role even if an injury should befall their teams’ starters. Blue and Stewart, meanwhile, are touchdown-dependent plodders who probably wouldn’t put up big numbers even if given 20+ carries.

Rodgers and Barber may have some opportunity following Doug Martin’s concussion, but they will likely split early-down work if Martin sits, with Charles Sims maintaining his passing-down role. The Bucs’ inept offense also severely limits their upside.

Richard and Washington are stuck in the same situation they’ve been in for most of the season: sharing the scraps left behind by Marshawn Lynch. Lynch has been playing better lately, and we’ve already seen that neither Richard nor Washington is a reliable starter when Lynch misses time.

Ward is a handcuff to both Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, but he won’t see enough work to matter in fantasy leagues unless both of them miss time simultaneously.

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Andrew Seifter is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Andrew, check out his archive and follow him @andrew_seifter. window.PLAYERCARDS_CONFIG={affiliateCode:”fpros_cards”};