Week 7 is in the books, and it’s time to take stock of the crazy week we just experienced. What better way to do that then with a retrospective of the top stories from fantasy’s favorite position – the running back. Each Wednesday, we’ll look back on studs, busts, breakouts, timeshares, situations to monitor, and all things RB from the past week.
So settle in, partner. It’s time to saddle up for the RB Roundup. Yeehaw.
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Stud of the week: Jeff Wilson (SF) 31.0 fantasy points
With Raheem Mostert on the shelf and Jerick McKinnon relegated to the sidelines for some reason, Wilson was San Fran’s workhorse in Week 7, rolling for over 100 yards and three scores. He injured his ankle on the final touchdown of the day and has been placed on IR.
Jeff Wilson with his 3rd TD of the game. Leaves the game after rolling his L ankle 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/G0B4iuSaFe
— OurSF49ers (@OurSf49ers) October 25, 2020
Bust of the week: Ezekiel Elliott (DAL) 5.6 fantasy points
Zeke provided a major stinker Sunday, turning 13 touches into 51 scoreless yards and failing to score for the second week in a row. Dallas is certainly in a tailspin, and the team may be running out Ben DiNucci at QB this week. That may be bad news for Zeke, as the Eagles would likely focus on stopping the run. For what it’s worth, Zeke has averaged 222/103 in six career games against Philly.
Breakout of the week: Antonio Gibson (WAS) 18.8 fantasy points
Gibson rocked the Cowboys for 20/128/1 Sunday, easily besting his previous career high in carries (13) and setting a new career high in rushing yards.
Antonio Gibson with the LeBron powder toss after scoring on the Cowboys 🔥
(via @thecheckdown) pic.twitter.com/S4cwLWC9an
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) October 25, 2020
Surprise of the Week: Wayne Gallman (NYG) 13.9 fantasy points
After Devonta Freeman made an early exit against Philadelphia, Gallman stepped up with 10/34/1 and 5/20 to provide a solid line for fantasy managers. It’s unclear if Gallman or Freeman will be the lead back in Week 8, but neither offer much appeal against a formidable Buccaneers defense.
I saw this tweet yesterday, and it really got me thinking about the state of the running back position in fantasy this season.
Running back is a fantasy wasteland like I have never seen it heading into Week 8
— Patrick Daugherty (@RotoPat) October 27, 2020
Typically the powerhouse position above all others, running back has been a mess this season mainly due to injuries, but some surprises have come our way as well. So instead of the usual three-player highlight, I’ll give an overview of the running back position as it stands through the mid-point of the fantasy regular season.
Injuries
Injuries have been a major theme across all positions this season, though the running back position has been especially hard. Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley, Nick Chubb, Dalvin Cook, and Austin Ekeler were all among the top-12 backs in preseason rankings, and each of them has missed at least one game thus far. For Cook, it’s been just a single-game absence, but McCaffrey hasn’t played since Week 2, Barkley is out for the season, and Chubb and Ekeler haven’t played since Week 4.
If we dive into the top-24, Kenyan Drake, Miles Sanders, Le’Veon Bell, and Raheem Mostert have (or will miss) multiple games. Among backs ranked in the preseason top 24, six have already spent time on or have recently been added to IR – McCaffrey, Barkley, Chubb, Ekeler, Bell, and Mostert. That’s an insane amount of injuries, and the revolving door of backs on the weekly leaderboard has caused some interesting scoring declines.
Through Week 7 of 2019, the top-12 RBs averaged 119.7 fantasy points. This year, that number has declined to 108.6, a pretty significant discrepancy. Only six of the top-12 backs drafted in 2020 are among the top-12 at their position through Week 7 (Kamara, Henry, Zeke, Cook, CEH, Jones). The waiver wire continues to be a fantasy manager’s best friend this season.
Backups
Backups have been a crucial component of any successful fantasy team this season. Just ask Jeff Wilson, Jamaal Williams, Giovani Bernard, Carlos Hyde, Boston Scott, and Wayne Gallman. They all finished in the top-15 at RB in Week 7. Incredibly, Wilson is a third-string back who saw his number called and got injured himself Sunday. Gallman also stepped up as the backup to Devonta Freeman – a free-agent add after Saquon Barkley went down.
WENTZ TO BOSTON SCOTT FOR THE LEAD WITH 40 SECONDS LEFT 😱
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/lDrubfpYSr
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 23, 2020
Finally, Carlos Hyde had a big night against Arizona and looked like a sure thing to start for Seattle in Week 8 after Chris Carson got injured in that contest. Hyde is dealing with a hammy issue right now, and Travis Homer is banged up on top of that. Seattle may be down to one healthy back in Week 8 – DeeJay Dallas. Even the most bold preseason fantasy predictions didn’t include Dallas assuming a workhorse role, even for just one week.
Carlos Hyde walking the tight rope for the score 🤯 @elguapo @Seahawks
📺 #SEAvsAZ on NBC pic.twitter.com/I5IbJXU2Gz
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) October 26, 2020
Surprises
There are surprises every year in the world of fantasy football, and this year is no exception. As of Week 8, James Robinson, Mike Davis, and Ronald Jones are all among the top-12 at their position. Robinson has been the biggest surprise of the season, as he’s taken the fantasy world by storm since ascending to the No. 1 backfield role for Jacksonville. J-Rob has averaged 17.2 fantasy points per contest (sixth among RBs) and sits third behind only Alvin Kamara and Derrick Henry in total season fantasy points. As long as the injury bug doesn’t bite, there’s no reason to believe he falls out of the top-12.
James Robinson dives for the pylon! His second TD of the game. #DUUUVAL
📺: #JAXvsLAC on CBS
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/nCwBl54Akc pic.twitter.com/raxCIfCRsx— NFL (@NFL) October 25, 2020
Mike Davis has easily been this year’s fantasy MVP, and there’s talk that he’ll continue to get playing time even when Christian McCaffrey makes it back to the field. Amazingly, Mike D is second among RBs with 37 receptions, trailing only Alvin Kamara (46). He’ll likely have one more week as the top back, when Carolina faces Atlanta on TNF. He should be a top-tier RB1 in that one.
Expectations were mixed for D’Andre Swift and Antonio Gibson heading into the season, but despite rocky starts from both, it appears their time has come. Over the last three weeks, Swift has racked up a 27/165/3 line on the ground and an 11/58/1 line through the air. The coaching staff still has him splitting time with Adrian Peterson, so he actually has room to score more fantasy points if given the workload he deserves.
D’Andre Swift is heating up🔥🔥🔥
— PFF College (@PFF_College) October 25, 2020
Gibson is another guy puzzlingly splitting time in the backfield, though his timeshare isn’t with a future Hall of Famer. His is with J.D. McKissic. Until Week 7, Gibson had split time with JDM, ceding plenty of passing work. That changed against Dallas, as Gibson steamrolled the Cowboys to the tune of 20/128/1. He saw only one target, but the touches were extremely encouraging for his ROS outlook.
The back that no one saw coming was Myles Gaskin. Currently the RB24, Gaskin has averaged 18 touches and 87 total yards per contest this season as Miami’s clear lead back. He’s scored just once this season on 109 touches, so there’s a chance for him to be even better if he can find the end zone with more regularity. He should continue to be a weekly RB2/flex moving forward.
Quick Hitters
- Kareem Hunt, Alvin Kamara, Aaron Jones, Derrick Henry, Dalvin Cook, and Todd Gurley are all tied for most RB touchdowns this season, with seven apiece. Hunt leads all RBs with four receiving touchdowns.
- Through six games, Derrick Henry is on pace for 381 carries this season.
- Among 11 RBs with at least 100 carries this season, Josh Jacobs has the fewest rushing yards (394) except for David Johnson (392). Encouragingly, he’s already racked up 18 receptions through just six games, two shy of the 20 he snagged as a rookie.
- David Montgomery is averaging just 3.6 yards per carry, but he’s kept his value up through receptions. Tied for seventh among RBs, Monty has 25 receptions this season, matching the number he snagged in 2019.
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Zachary Hanshew is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Zachary, check out his archive and follow him @zakthemonster.
