Fantasy Football Position Battles: Gus Edwards, J.K. Dobbins, Kimani Vidal

For fantasy football managers, the running back position has been increasingly difficult to gauge over the years. With the workhorse RB role being nearly extinct, NFL backfields are more ambiguous than ever.

Long gone are the days when most teams would head into offseason with a predetermined starter. Nowadays, teams are insistent on having these players earn their respective roles through training camp performance.

2024 Position Battles to Monitor: Running Backs

It has never been more important for fantasy managers to keep a close eye on offseason speculation, especially regarding the RB position. Those that accurately predict the touch distribution of NFL backfields will have a distinct edge over their league mates.

Kyren Williams‘ stellar 2023 season is a great example of this. Towards the tail end of training camp last year, rumors emerged that Williams had earned a sizeable workload in the Rams backfield. Many Cam Akers truthers, who held on to earlier reports about the latter being this team’s RB1, chose to ignore the speculation.

Those who payed close attention to the training camp buzz likely benefitted from Williams’ elite RB production on a weekly basis. Those who dismissed them likely dropped Akers mere weeks after investing mid-round draft capital on him.

Below is an NFL backfield with major uncertainties regarding volume distribution. Fantasy managers should keep a close eye on beat reporters’ comments about these situations.

Gus Edwards, J.K. Dobbins, Kimani Vidal (LAC)

The off-season appointments of HC Jim Harbaugh and OC Greg Roman all but confirm that the Chargers will be a run-centric offense in 2024. There is no doubt that there will be plenty of carries to be had in this backfield. That being said, there is ongoing uncertainty about how the volume will be allocated amongst this team’s three main RBs: Gus Edwards, J.K. Dobbins and rookie Kimani Vidal.

Edwards put together a very pedestrian performance as Baltimore’s lead back in 2023. According to PFF, he finished the season averaging 2.71 yards after contact per carry and earned an elusive rating of 32.3. These are hardly impressive metrics. To his credit, Edwards proved that he can withstand a heavy workload as the RB1 on a high-powered offense. The same cannot be said about the other RBs on this depth chart.

Dobbins has always been an efficient producer out of the backfield. His career 5.8 yards per carry and 3.29 yards after contact per carry (per PFF) are notable. Dobbins’ issue remains his inability to stay healthy. His season-ending Achilles injury in week 1 of the 2023 season was particularly demoralizing. The Chargers will be well aware of these injury woes and likely limit his workload as a result.

The true wild card in this backfield is Vidal. The Chargers selected the Troy standout in the sixth round of the most recent NFL draft. While sixth-round draft capital is far from encouraging, Vidal’s statistical profile is great. Per PFF, he earned an elusive rating of 116.3 and accumulated 81 missed tackles forced in his final collegiate year.

All things considered, Edwards is likely to play a significant role as an early down back. Dobbins will mostly be restricted to a pass-catching, change-of-pace role in the offense. If Vidal shows promising signs in the offseason, he may eat into the workload of these veteran RBs. It’ll be especially important to monitor the camp speculation about the rookie.