James White Week 13 Outlook -

By Mike Tagliere (FantasyPros), Thu, Dec 3rd 2020, 10:40am EST

Despite the fact that Harris has been a very good running back on the ground, we were reminded why it's tricky to evaluate him last week. Since taking over the starting job, Harris has averaged 13.8 carries per game. Heck, let's pretend that number has been 16.0 just for this exercise. He's failed to receive a target in four of the last five games, so we can't count on that. Even if Harris gets 16 carries and averages a rock-star-like 5.0 yards per carry, he ends the game with 80 yards. If he doesn't score, he's not getting into startable territory, especially in PPR formats. The Chargers have allowed 1.0 rushing touchdown per game this year, which is tied for 15th. Going back to what we were just talking about, the Chargers have allowed 4.98 yards per carry, which is the third-most in the NFL. So, that 5.0 yards per carry I mentioned was very relevant. There have been nine running backs who've totaled at least 61 yards on the ground against them. Harris should be considered an RB3 right now who's extremely touchdown dependent because of how little he's used in the passing game. As for White, he could have a decent outlook in this game. Running backs have been targeted 22.7 percent of the time against the Chargers, which ranks as the second-highest mark in the NFL. We were hoping that with Rex Burkhead out of the lineup that we'd see more targets for White, and we got them in Week 11 when he saw nine of them, but he followed that up with just one target last week. Fortunately, he snuck into the end zone twice on just five carries, which is something we'll likely never get again, as White had just eight rushing touchdowns over the course of his 86-game career coming into that game. We need the passing game usage, so Week 12 was certainly a letdown. White should be considered a high-end RB4 in fantasy right now who apparently has a lower floor than we thought with Burkhead out of the lineup.