November 26, 2025 • 30 mins
Chris Welsh, Pat Fitzmaurice, and Andrew Erickson are breaking down Week 13’s biggest running back ranking differences, engaging in debates, and highlighting the expert consensus for Week 13
Don't miss our deep-dive into this week's rankings, must-start options, and value plays to dominate your fantasy matchup!
Timestamps: (May be off due to ads)
Intro - 0:00:00
Pristine Auction Giveaway - 0:02:45
RBs 1-12 - Saquon Barkley RB9 - 0:02:03
TreVeyon Henderson RB10 - 0:05:30
Travis Etienne RB14 - 0:07:40
R.J. Harvey RB19 - 0:10:56
Bucky Irving RB21 - 0:13:39
Quinshon Judkins RB21 - 0:17:12
FantasyPros Premium - 0:19:49
D’Andre Swift RB26 - 0:20:26
Kenneth Gainwell RB28 - 0:24:19
Devin Neal RB32 - 0:26:10
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, friends, and welcome into Fantasy Pros, the Fantasy Football Podcast.
This is the Week thirteen running back Ranks episode, the
Thanksgiving Day Week, the Black Friday, whatever, it is, just Sunday,
It's just Week thirteen. It's pre playoffs. The playoffs are
almost here. We got to win. Every question I see
is this is a must win. So this is a
(00:20):
must watch show. We've got Andrew Erickson and Pat Fitzmorris,
I'm Chris Welsh, and we're gonna be breaking down all
of the Week thirteen running backs. FITZI, however, will you
sort out the mess when injuries are bringing players back?
Couple that are going to be out, There are some
potential waiver wire running backs that might have some functioning here.
(00:41):
And on top of it, fits there are like three
different days of games between Thursday, Friday and Sunday and Monday,
so there are four So it is no easy task
navigating the running back ranks this week.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Fantasy managers have to keep their head on a swivel
this week and keep checking the Fantasy Pro's news desk
for the latest updates, because there are going to be
like you might want to play Bucky Irving, but you
might not be one hundred percent sure he's coming back.
Now we think he's coming back. He's been practicing for
a couple of weeks. It seems like this is going
(01:14):
to be the week back. But you don't want to
get the rug pulled out from under you. And you
know maybe your best your next best option was playing
on Thursday, and you bypass that. So try to stay
on top of things as best you can, I guess
is the advice, and.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
We will try to help. We're going to talk about
Bucky Irving, Ericson, how we still holding up Ericson and
I are in sitgate here making it through for this week?
Are you ready for running backs? Let's do it all right,
Let's do it nothing else, all right? If you guys
want to follow along fantasypros dot com slash rankings, you
can follow along all week long up until kickoff, as
(01:48):
the rankings will continuously change. But if you want, you know,
knowing that there might be a little bit of difference
on what we talk about when we're doing this versus
where you're at fantasypros dot Com slash rankings, to follow
it all big time for the running backs Week thirteen,
Top twelve Jamiir Gibbs comes in at number one, followed
by Christian McCaffrey, who, by the way, he has got
(02:08):
Cleveland the worst a one star matchup and he's number
two this week Jonathan Taylor, Devon an Chan Bjeon Robinson,
and Derrick Henry. That is your top six seven through
twelve James Cook, Chase Brown, Saekwon Barkley, Treveon Henderson, Kyron Williams,
and Ashton Genty. So what questions can we possibly pop
up when we are getting into this widers? Are this
(02:29):
running back one range?
Speaker 3 (02:30):
You know?
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Are there really questions to be hot? How about Sakwon
Barkley in the overall production bad week last week, Fumble
City great matchup this week is a four star matchup
according to Fantasy Pros, He's got the Bears. He comes
in at number nine. You guys are close in proximity
to the rank. Fitzy, You've got him at nine, Ericson,
you got him at ten. Fitzy, why don't you talk
to us about Saquon Barkley because I feel like he
(02:51):
has been teetering into this range where it's like maybe
he's not a must start anymore. This Matt if this
were the Browns. By the way, if you had the
Christian McCaffrey matchup, kind of think Saquon would be outside
the top twelve and maybe even teetering into the fifteens,
or people might consider benching him. The matchup is really
hard to not play him, though.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Yeah, in guillotine leagues, maybe you could think about not
starting him when it's down to just a few teams
left in Everyone's team is an all star team, so
I want to rank Barkley higher than low end running
back one Against the Bears defense that was missing all
of its starting linebackers last week, all of them and
(03:32):
gave up two hundred and twenty seven yards from Scroonge
to the Pittsburgh running back comboff Jalen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell.
But man, the Eagles running game is just not working
and having Lane Johnson hurt doesn't help at all. Saquan
is averaging three point seven yards per carry this season,
just two point eight yards per carry over his last
three games. That did include some tough matchups against the
(03:55):
Packers and Lions, But last week Saquon had ten carries
for twenty two yards. Again against the Cowboys, whose run
defense is better since the Quinn Williams deal. But come on,
so yeah, it just it hasn't been great for Barkley.
At least they're getting him a little bit involved as
a pass catcher. But I just don't know if there's
top five upside here.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Eckson, there's a little bit. I mean, you're kind of
the anti Barkley guy here, But there's there's that little
narrative you can paint if you would like that. You know,
you come off of this really bad game, inefficient fumble
that you want to come out against a team that
gave up that amount of guards and you want to
bury them with Saquon. You want Saquon to make a
statement coming off of that. That's a narrative that you
can paint. Unfortunately, it really hasn't been something we've seen
(04:37):
a lot out of Saquon. So you've got him at ten,
you got him in the same range. What is your
what's your vibe around Saquon for this week?
Speaker 3 (04:45):
He's a volume play right, gets a lot of carries.
That's kind of it, and that's why I have him
as a low end RB one. He's had good matchups
before and he hasn't delivered top five type of upside,
because that's just not him. This year, like last year,
was a really special season for Saquon bark and this
is just a reminder that it's really hard to repeat
these super special seasons year to ye, especially when you're
(05:05):
coming off the amount of volume that Barkley had last season.
So look, you're starting him still top ten running back
and matchup is divine against the Bears. But is he
gonna win your week? I think the sample size of
this year says no, He's gonna be solid, maybe fifteen
twenty points. Good, good effort, but not the same guys
last year as a rusher.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Running back ones. When we're talking about the these are
kind of vibe checks, you know, because they are RB one,
So it's like, what is the general consensus around the
The other one we'll talk about is Travion Henderson. So
Remindre came back. The fear was instilled in some of us,
and it was kind of all for not We saw volume.
I think it was twenty one touches overall for Trevion
looked good. Remindre got some you know, snap usage. I
(05:48):
think it was like half of what Travion did and
he was out there. This matchup this week is phenomenal
against the Giants. The Giants are a team that you
want to play against. Your running back just had volume
when the other guy came back. All systems seem to
be really positive and a go.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
Though.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
To me, there's like a little Mike Rabel on my
shoulder that's just like remondering, you know, like it's gonna happen,
Like I feel like it can go out there, but
it was kind of killed for this past week. So
you guys both have him Travion better than the RB
ten ecr ericson why don't we start with you? What's
your overall? It's the vibe check again around Travion for
this week.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
So Travion got compared to a certain running back that
just played the New York Giants coming out of Ohio State.
His name is Jamior Gibbs and he's still running for
more yards against the New York Giants. Who's got more juice?
Safe Barkley or Travon Henderson. A Travion Travon Henderson. That's
why I'm starting tom over say one.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
I love it, Fitzy, what do you think Travion Henderson?
Are you the same. Are you gonna start Travion over Barkley?
Speaker 2 (06:47):
I have Hemden had about this. They're next to each
other in my rankings right now. I've got Barkley ranked
higher because I if we know that maybe even just
one of the Bears missing linebackers is coming back this week,
that'll be enough for me to push Barkley below Traveon Henderson.
The only thing is that I think Ramandre Stevenson could
(07:07):
eat into Henderson's workload more than anyone's going to eat
into Barkley's workload. And now we didn't really see Henderson
take a big bite out of it last week, but
maybe it was just kind of a ramp up game
for Stevenson. I don't want to freak out the Travon
Henderson investors. There's no way we're going back to the
old arrangement where it's like romondre playing ahead of Traveon Henderson.
(07:29):
But it's possible he could be a stone in your
shoe if you have Traveon Henderson.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
The stone in the shoe is a perfect example. That
is exactly what Remandre is for sure. All Right, those
are like again a couple of vibe check on the
RB one so let's go to RB two's where there
are some bigger questions. The big board is thirteen through
twenty fourth sor so Josh Jacobs, Trevion Or Travis et
and Rico Dawdle, Brice Hall, Javonte Williams, Jalen Warren. At
(07:56):
nineteen is R J. Harvey, Bucky Irving, quinch On, Jack
Kareem Hunt, ken Walker and Woody Marx. How about Travis
et in there was so much discussion of like Tuton
versus ETN and non contact jerseys and who's practicing all
week long, and then it ended up being a lot
of travis et and some of that may have been
to Tuton's health as well, especially on the snap counts.
(08:18):
He comes in as ECR the fourteen. He has the
best matchup grade. It is a five star matchup rating
according to Fantasy Pros. No one else in this range
has that. And Fitzi you've got him at twelve, Ericson
you've got him at sixteen. So you guys a little
bit on opposite ends between RB one and RB two.
So Fitzy, why don't you kick off the positive front here?
(08:40):
You've got him as a starter, So what do you
think about Eten.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
This week, Well, you mentioned how good the matchup is.
He gets the Titans who are giving up the I
think sixth most fantasy points per game to running backs.
Et and has just been really good for the entire
month of November. He's RB six in half point PPR
fantasy points per game for the month. Think the concern
with Etn earlier this year was that his value was
(09:03):
too touchdown to Pennant and Etn has scored four touchdowns
in November. But Travis Etn is also averaging twenty point
five touches and ninety five point three scrimmage yards per
game this month, so we're getting the volume. We love
the matchup. And you know, even though there was a
little bit of a bacial tootin Uprising a couple of
(09:23):
weeks ago, I think we've seen now that Travis Etn
is the lead running back in Jacksonville.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Erickson, are you no longer to to tooting the horn?
And are you on the Travis Etn train?
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Not entirely getting off the twot in tugboat horn? Because
last week was really weird, right, both guys were dealing
with injuries. One guy's in the non contact in Jersey,
the other guy's not who's healthy, who's not? So I
kind of feel like I was a little bit bamboozled
where you know, Tooton was taken over the backfield two
weeks ago and then they go right back to etn
So are we so like one hundred percent confidence of Nope,
(10:00):
it's gonna be eat no matter what. Like I'm just
pressing pause a little bit there. They like to use
both backs, they like to use two, especially around the
goal line. So look, I think that Eaton's again. I
have him fifteen, so you're still starting him confidently. I
do get some reservations with this Jaguars team playing on
the road in an divisional game, like talking about like
(10:21):
who's gonna lay an egg this week? The Jacksonville Would
anyone be surprised? And they go to Tennessee and Tremor
Lawrence craps the bed Like that's kind of like where
I'm like, Okay, let's not get over our skis here.
Because no team plays more volatile than the Jaguars week
to week. I never bet on their games because I
don't know what team's going to show up. So just
the optics of going on the road against the Titans
(10:41):
team that's played better. Cam Moore has been playing much
better over the last couple of weeks, so that's the
only reason I'm not as high as ECR, but still
a very strong start. But it would not surprise me
if Twton get another week remove from the ankle injury,
if he does get a little bit more run.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
This is one that I was a little surprised about.
It's the RJ. Harvey ranking. He comes in at the
nineteenth running back on ECR, and both of you are
lower than consensus on him, so that one kind of
took me back. Washington. This is a you know, solid
matchup obviously, like the passing side of the game is
a real big benefit. But this team is They're going
to run the ball fifty a twenty one ericson at
(11:16):
twenty two ericson why don't you kick it off? Why
not so high on R. J. Harvey this week?
Speaker 3 (11:23):
It's not that I'm not high. I mean still have
him ranked as a top twenty four running back. Just
a matter of okay, how are the Moroncos going to
attack this Commander's defense? We know that you can throw
really easily on the Commanders. Harvey is the starter with JK.
Dobbins out, and we saw him have pretty encouraging usage
sixty one percent of the snaps in the first game
(11:44):
play without JK. Dobbins. But we know that Sean McVay
or excuse me, Sean Payton likes to use multiple backs.
Even in that game, Jilly mcgofflin scored a rushing touchdown.
Now they didn't play that many snaps him and Tyler Bday,
So I do believe that it's going to be Harvey
as the main guy. So it's really just I just
like a couple of other guys a little bit more
than him. Maybe Rico Dadle is a player that I
could potentially move down a little bit more behind RJ.
(12:05):
Harvey because he's kind of fallen off pretty substantially over
the last couple of games. They're using Chub Hubbard a
little bit more, which I don't like in the Panthers offense.
Is just I think taking a step back a little bit.
So maybe I can move him up a little bit there.
But still only one game sample size of Harvey kind
of being the guy, and it was underwhelming. In a
tougher matchup.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Fits the same thing. I definitely underwhelming I agree, but
you know, kind of the dog in town and it's
just a bad overall defense. I do think the being
able to attack him in the passing game is like
a pretty solid narrative, but I think there's also going
to be involved in the receiving game. So why do
you hate RJ. Harvey even though you're one spot higher
than Erickson?
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Why do you Yeah? So when we last saw the
Broncos before their Week twelve by Harvey did have a
season high sixty one percent snapchair against the Chiefs didn't
really work out. He had eleven carries for thirty yards,
three catches for twenty yards. Sort Of a tough matchup,
but now much better matchup against the Commanders. They're along
the fourth most fantasy points per game the running backs.
(13:07):
Commanders have given up the fifth most rushing yards the
eleventh most receiving yards to running backs. But Ericson sort
of said it. Sean Payton is a He's not a
one running back kind of guy. So sixty one percent
for a snapchair is probably the ceiling or close to
it for R. J. Harvey. We will see Julia McLoughlin,
we will see Tyler Bday. Maybe they do let bo
(13:31):
Nicks try to get right in this match up against
the worst pass defense in the league and go with
a throw a heavy approach.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
All right, let's go to our injured running back section
of the RB twos. So let's start with Bucky Irving,
who comes in with an ECR of twenty one. You
guys are both ranking him higher. So this is I
assume just the assumption that he is healthy. I'm guessing
there's a little bit of like a not I don't
want to call it a three headed monster, but the
(13:59):
NOL like Bucky Irving is not going to be unleashed
here because you guys do have him ranked higher than ECR.
But it's respectively like high teens fifty eight eighteen ericson
at seventeen, so fifty. Why don't you just kick us
off here with your thoughts on Bucky Irving's ability to
play this week and what you think the volume is
going to be as a late teens ranked running back.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
I think he's a terrific player. I want to be
above Consensusadam. The Cardinals are a pretty good matchup. Buccaneers
have a very good offensive line. I know the quarterback situation.
Maybe with Teddy Bridgewater diminishes the touchdown outlook a little bit,
But it also might mean that the Buccaneers run the
offense through their running backs more than they normally would.
(14:39):
So it's possible this is a ramp up week for
Bucky Irving and he's capped at ten to twelve touches,
in which case maybe a mid range RB two ranking
is a little aggressive for him. But I mean, like
it's not on the merits. Bucky Irving is just way
better than Rashad White, And I know a lot of
(15:01):
people are falling head over heels for Sean Tucker buck
Bucky Irving's way better than Shan Tucker too, So if
he's healthy enough to carry the load, he's going to
carry a heavy load unless they want to be really
conservative with him. But I don't know if the Buccaneers
really have the luxury of being conservative since they're fighting
for their playoff lives.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Eric's in the same question on Bucket. I'd assume the
snap should be a little bit smaller, but the percentage
of the snaps that he's out there like he should
touch the ball don't be I would imagine you wouldn't
even be surprised if he got like fifteen sixteen touches
in this game, even if the snap count is low,
and that probably has to be built in a little
bit too, like the range of how you have him ranked.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
I think the upside is just too great to try
to leave him on your bench. We going to be
surprised against the Arizona Cardinals. Walter Nolan just got hurt again.
He's a top five running back if he gets to work.
So I'm not going to pretend I have a crystal ball.
And I know exactly how the Buccaneers are going to
deploy Bucky Irving. But what I do know, based on
what Todd Wowleves has talked about, is they're going to
the hot hand. So if Bucky Irving plays starts cooking,
(16:04):
that boy's gonna eat. Like I feel very confident. So
he is a swing for the fences type of play. Again,
playing anybody off an injury is always gonna carry a
significant risk. You get the Ricky Piersoll thing where you're playing, oh,
there does nothing. So that's something that you need to
evaluate on your own roster. And you say, can I
stomach Oh my god. It was a ramp up period
and they didn't. They gave him the Chris Godam treatment
and he was a total bust. But on the flip
(16:27):
side of the coin, he can be a top five
running back this week. And considering you've made it this
far without using Bucky Irving, you may have some other options.
I think it's hard pressed to find a better upside
option this week than Bucky Irving on your roster. You
want to start Buckey Irving and Justin Jefferson.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
But I know what you're saying, but like when you
say it, immediately, I want to say Justin Jefferson, but
you don't.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Your guy has a top five CEILI and one guy
does it.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
I know, I know, I know, I'm just saying, Like
my instant reaction was like, well Jefferson, But to your point,
Jefferson with the backup quarterback, I know it is Bucky,
it is Bucky, but I wanted to say Jefferson makes
that's theiling mad all right. The other one, Quinchawn Jutkins,
got banged up in this last game. We saw a
bit of Samson. He's easy our twenty one. It's a
(17:16):
favorable matchup against the forty nine ers, but I think
there's an injury tag that has maybe his rank being
a little bit timid, and you guys are on opposite
ends here a bit fits a your like one spot
lower than consensus, ericson you're quite a few spots higher
than consensus. So ericson why don't you kick off your
positive take on Quinnchawn Jutkins.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
I still think it's a pretty good matchup. It's the
forty nine ers. I still don't think that their defense
is this super formidable unit because of all the injuries
that they've had. Being said, he is banged up. Dylan
Santon got more involved and he got some positive coach
bag per the coach Beak Index. After the game, they
were talking about, Yeah, we really like Dylan Sampson, like
we want to get him more involved. So that's always
a concern, especially if they run through a situation where
(17:59):
it's a forty nine are playing in a positive game.
Script is Judkins on the field catching passes? Probably not
so I think that he does come with a bit
of a scarier floor. But I mean, this guy is
everything they want to do in the red zone, Like
it's direction after Judkins, it's we're not throwing the ball,
We're just giving the ball to Judkins. He scored two
rushing touchdowns last week, so I'm trying to capture that.
But I do admit like seeing him in my chair,
(18:21):
it's like Dowdell, Jalen Warren, Harvey Marx, Like I feel
like I could probably shift him around a little bit,
probably bring him down a little bit closer to where
the ECR is, like Harvey versus Judkins. Like when I
look at it again, it's like, maybe I would actually
want Harvey over Judgkins because Harvey has more of a
three down skill set regardless of the game script, where Judkins. Again,
(18:42):
I was lower on Judkins last week, and I was
wrong because he ended up scoring two rushing touchdowns. But
you know, maybe this isn't as favorable as a spot
although the Browns are at home, So I don't know, Like,
what do you think? I mean, you're lower on Judkins
fits so why is that?
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Well, it's hard to rank the guys who are so
touchdown to Pennant Like last year, remember trying to rank
Nick Westbrookakine when he was scoring a touchdown every week
on like two targets, and just like, how can I
keep burying this guy in the rankings when he is
getting into the end zone every week. Obviously, Judkins a
better usage outlook than Nick Westbrook Akine had last year.
(19:18):
But still Judkins has been really touchdown depended. He had
two last week. He has seven touchdowns in ten games
this season, but he's kind of scored them in bunches.
He had that three touchdown game against the Dolphins in
the bad weather in Cleveland like a month ago, and
then two against the Raiders last week. So but since
Week six, quin Shawn Judkins is averaging three point two
(19:39):
yards per carry and has caught five passes for eight yards.
That's the downside we're looking at here, and we know
the Browns are not really a very potent offense all right.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Running back threes or the twenty five through thirty six
is coming up. But first dominate your fantasy football league
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(20:10):
the easiest way to get full access to our fantasy
tools all season long and into the offseason when you're
getting into drafts and everything. So go to fantasypros dot
com slash Premium to get started. Today are running backs
twenty five through thirty six. It starts with Aaron Jones,
DeAndre Swift, Tyrone, Tracy, Kenny Gainwell, come on, ey Vidal,
David Montgomery at thirty, Kyle Mananga at thirty one, Devin Neil,
(20:33):
base Shell, Tuton, Zach Charbonay, Chris Rodriguez, and Sean Tucker.
How about DeAndre Swift? How about DeAndre Swift versus manang
Guy Managai keeps getting those rushing touchdowns. Swift kind of
taken out of the game script. He is ECR twenty six. Fitzy,
you've got him at twenty six. Ericson, you have buried
him at thirty three, Fitsy, why don't you take the
positive run? And I'd love to get your take on
(20:54):
him versus Kyle Manongui. Fyi, this is a bad matchup
against Philly added into all of this.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Yeah, it is a bad matchup for sure. So I've
got Swift running back twenty six and Manonguy running back
thirty three. It's getting hard to get a read on
the Bears backfield. One week it seems like Swift is
the guy. The next week it seems like it's a
split backfield with Swift and Mananguy sort of sharing the work.
(21:22):
Swift has been a little banged up, but it was
still pretty alarming for Swift stakeholders that manang Guy out
snapped Swift thirty five to twenty nine last week and
the Bears went over the Steelers. That was pretty close throughout,
so you couldn't chalk it up to game script, like
the Bears weren't sitting on a big lead or anything
like that. And now, as you said, well, really tough
matchup against the Eagles, and if it's close to a
(21:45):
fifty to fifty backfield split, again, me ranking Swift as
a high end RB three is probably too high. And
I'm just betting that it mostly goes back to Swift,
or at least Swift in the lead and non guy
sort of in relief. Maybe he's the goal line guy.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Yeah, that's the only problem I think kind of exists
with this one. Ericson you are in the negative is
I feel like there's a lot of like if and
butts and candies and nuts and we'd all have a
Merry Christmas type of situation with him. With this situation
of Swift versus Manang Guy and Benaga has kind of
proven to be more of the touchdown equity. You know,
(22:25):
if he's going to be more the goal line guy,
this is a bad matchup if I'm going to bet
on one of these two, especially after the touches this
last week and the goal line, I feel like I
would actually have Manang Guy higher than Swift. But if
you think they're gonna be playing for behind, Swift is
more more of a usage in the receiving game. But
I'm just kind of spouting out here ericson you've got
him at thirty three, so you're really down on Swift.
Are you Minoan guy over Swift in this situation or
(22:47):
don't give me any of them? I am fade Bears backfield.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
Don't want either piece of this. We can get by
with committee backfields in good matchups. See Steelers facing the Bills,
start Keneth gameill this week. Fade the Bearers backfill into oblivion.
I cannot trust the under Swift after fumbled last week
because ben Jon, like, what's gonna happen Ben Johnson give
him two carries after fumbled last week. This is the
issue with Swift. He does this every single year. He
(23:14):
plays really well for like a six week stretch, We're
all convinced, all right, Andre Swift, he's backs catching passes,
looks explosive, and then when the matchups get tougher, he
starts fumbling the ball. They use other guys in the
red zone. To your point, who's more likely to score
a touchdown of gain? If we pull up the betting
pros odds, who has the better odds of scoring a touchdown,
It's probably gonna be calm and ung guy minus one
ten Kalam and un gout score a touchdown and the
(23:35):
under Stift's probably plus money would not make either bet
this week because I don't like the match up. It
gets the Philadelphia Eagles, So I think that this is
a pretty easy fade. That's why I have him outside
by top thirty two running backs because if it's split work,
no volume that you can rely on. Yeah, maybe you
can buy into the game script with Swift catching more passes,
but I mean that wasn't the case last week. So
again the gamestrip was a little bit different. But my
(23:56):
young guy's also eating into some of Swift's routes. That's
been true in the last two weeks. Look, I have
been the number one Swift fader basically all season long,
and at times it's looked really, really bad. But down
this stretch with the upcoming matchups for the Bears, Swift
is going to be a very tough click the rest
of the way with the really tough Bear schedule.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
You mentioned him, Kenny Gainwell. Kenny Ganwell comes in at
twenty eight on ecr fits. You got him at twenty
seven ericson you have him at twenty four. You said,
start Ken Gangwell, So tell us about why we're starting
Kenny Gainwell.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
See Buffalo Bill's run defense that just gets absolutely gash.
I mean even the Texans who can't run on anybody.
What he marks puts up a career high in rushing
yards and would have had a much better day if
could just find his way to get into the freaking
end zone. But Kenneth Gainwell, look, he has a standalone
role alongside Jalen Warren. Kenn Gaan will started last week.
Now that may even because Jalen Warren was coming off
(24:48):
with that injury again, They're gonna both use both guys.
And the thing with Kenneth Gainwell is he is the
receiving back for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and with whether it's
Mason Rudolf Aaron Rodgers, they have no interest in throwing
all downfield. They're like, where's Kenny G. I want to
check it down to my guy, And that just gives
him so much of that just gives him such a
high floor, especially in half PPR and full PPR. So
(25:09):
he should have scored a touchdown last week had he
not got rolled down. I like the one inch yard
line and warned up scoring the touchdown. Soo man. I
liked Kenneth Gainwell a couple of years ago when he
was on the Eagles and I thought he was going
to take over the RB one role and then he
got hurt and then Swift kind of took the job.
But right now it's like, rest of the season, give
me Kenneth Gainwell over Swift.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
I only had the match theme in my head. By
the way, I don't know what Kenny G actually plays,
but that was the trumpet Kenney Gainwell for you, mister
Pat Fitzmorris, are you as a positive take that he's
a must start.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Yeah, I'm pretty positive, not as bullish as Ericson, because
I just I didn't want to go overboard with the
Gainwall ranking after he had Jane I's stay against a
Bear's defense that was playing without all of its linebackers.
But Gainwell has been getting a solid amount of work.
Ericson mentioned the dual run catch usage, and he does
have another pretty favorable matchup against the Bills this week,
(26:07):
so I'm on board. I might have to move him
up a bit, all.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
Right, Final one that we're gonna hit. This was the
popular waiver pick. It is Devin Neil. He is ECR thirty.
You guys are both higher on consensus thirty and twenty eight. Obviously,
Kamara's injury status is up in question kind of regardless,
Neil looks like he's putting in a good positive spot,
but he could be the guy. So, FITZI, what do
you think about Devin Neil for week thirteen?
Speaker 2 (26:32):
So it's interesting with Kamara having the sprain, mcl and
Kendre Miller out for the year, Devin Neil is basically
the only man left standing in the New Orleans backfield.
It's probably gonna be Broncos cast off Audric Estime backing
up Neil this week, but it is possible. The number
one running back in New Orleans is Taysom Hill, and
(26:53):
Taysom Hill did have a team high ten carries for
the Saints last week. Devon Neil had seven. So talk
about stones and shoes for all the people who go
out and spend a bunch of fab money on Devin
Neil this week, Taysom Hill is a potential stone in
your shoe.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Oh Erickson heard Taysom Hill and he just got activated.
Are you activated into the world of Taysom Hill this
week or are you more leaning into Devin.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Taysom Hill gets people so angry. So I'm prepping myself
for a good rant here.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
No. I was on beyond tilt because I had anytime
touchdown Taysom Hill bet and the guy gets like a
thousand opportunities a score, doesn't find the end zone one time,
and I'm like, I got get the notification kimaras out.
I'm like, dude, this is the perfect runout, like Taysom
Hill's gonna score. And then he does like everything in
his power not to find the end zone. So extremely
tilting because now as are gonna be again minus one
ten Taso Hill in time touchdown. That sucks, not fun,
(27:45):
But we'll get more into that the tight end show.
Devin Neil. I think, yes, it's going to be a
dual backfield between Taysom Hill and Neil as terms of carries,
but in terms of targets out of the backfield, Devin
Neil like he's the guy. So I like that in
full PPR, especially if you know the playing on the
road at the Dolphins. You know Miami's defense has been
better the last couple of weeks. We have seen them
(28:06):
giving up some big games to running backs. I wouldn't
necessarily bank on that, just because the Saints aren't an
offense that necessarily takes advantage of, you know, soft matchups.
But that being said, if these Saints find themselves trailing,
then I think you're gonna see a lot of Deviann
Neil catching passes out of the backfield. Last week he
had seven targets I believe, Yeah, seven targets, sixteen percent
target chair, five catches for forty three yards.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
He ran over thirty rounds.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
So I like that a lot from a pass catching standpoint,
You played seventy four percent of the snap so although
Taysom Hill yes probably going to be a thorn in
the side of Devin Neil, especially in the red zone. Hey,
maybe we could have a cake aid to cheer Taysom
Hill passing touchdown to Devin Neil. Everyone's happy.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
That's what I bet it on, keke or pie for
this holiday weekend. All right, there you go. That is
your week thirteen running back rings. You guys want more,
go to fantasypros dot com slash rankings. As always, you
can check out as the consensus rankers pop in. The
ranks will kind of move around all the way until kickoff.
You can check that. Make sure you're logged in on
everything on the Fantasy Pros app to get you prepped,
(29:07):
and just make sure you're subscribed on the YouTube, the twitch,
and the podcast for any of the latest holiday schedules.
Make things a little bit wonky here, but make sure
you'll get notified if you're following all of those apps.
For all the content that we have for Andrew Ericson
and Pat Fitzmorris, I'm Chris Wells. You guys have a
fantastic one and we will talk to you next time
right here on Fantasy Pros.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football podcast.
If you love the show, the best free way to
support us is by leaving a positive review on Apple
podcasts at fantasypros dot com slash review or on Spotify.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Follow us on
Speaker 4 (29:39):
X, Instagram and TikTok at Fantasy Pros, and subscribe to
our YouTube channel at YouTube dot com slash Fantasy Pros
Hello, friends, and welcome into Fantasy Pros, the Fantasy Football Podcast.
This is the Week thirteen running back Ranks episode, the
Thanksgiving Day Week, the Black Friday, whatever, it is, just Sunday,
It's just Week thirteen. It's pre playoffs. The playoffs are
almost here. We got to win. Every question I see
is this is a must win. So this is a
(00:20):
must watch show. We've got Andrew Erickson and Pat Fitzmorris,
I'm Chris Welsh, and we're gonna be breaking down all
of the Week thirteen running backs. FITZI, however, will you
sort out the mess when injuries are bringing players back?
Couple that are going to be out, There are some
potential waiver wire running backs that might have some functioning here.
(00:41):
And on top of it, fits there are like three
different days of games between Thursday, Friday and Sunday and Monday,
so there are four So it is no easy task
navigating the running back ranks this week.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Fantasy managers have to keep their head on a swivel
this week and keep checking the Fantasy Pro's news desk
for the latest updates, because there are going to be
like you might want to play Bucky Irving, but you
might not be one hundred percent sure he's coming back.
Now we think he's coming back. He's been practicing for
a couple of weeks. It seems like this is going
(01:14):
to be the week back. But you don't want to
get the rug pulled out from under you. And you
know maybe your best your next best option was playing
on Thursday, and you bypass that. So try to stay
on top of things as best you can, I guess
is the advice, and.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
We will try to help. We're going to talk about
Bucky Irving, Ericson, how we still holding up Ericson and
I are in sitgate here making it through for this week?
Are you ready for running backs? Let's do it all right,
Let's do it nothing else, all right? If you guys
want to follow along fantasypros dot com slash rankings, you
can follow along all week long up until kickoff, as
(01:48):
the rankings will continuously change. But if you want, you know,
knowing that there might be a little bit of difference
on what we talk about when we're doing this versus
where you're at fantasypros dot Com slash rankings, to follow
it all big time for the running backs Week thirteen,
Top twelve Jamiir Gibbs comes in at number one, followed
by Christian McCaffrey, who, by the way, he has got
(02:08):
Cleveland the worst a one star matchup and he's number
two this week Jonathan Taylor, Devon an Chan Bjeon Robinson,
and Derrick Henry. That is your top six seven through
twelve James Cook, Chase Brown, Saekwon Barkley, Treveon Henderson, Kyron Williams,
and Ashton Genty. So what questions can we possibly pop
up when we are getting into this widers? Are this
(02:29):
running back one range?
Speaker 3 (02:30):
You know?
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Are there really questions to be hot? How about Sakwon
Barkley in the overall production bad week last week, Fumble
City great matchup this week is a four star matchup
according to Fantasy Pros, He's got the Bears. He comes
in at number nine. You guys are close in proximity
to the rank. Fitzy, You've got him at nine, Ericson,
you got him at ten. Fitzy, why don't you talk
to us about Saquon Barkley because I feel like he
(02:51):
has been teetering into this range where it's like maybe
he's not a must start anymore. This Matt if this
were the Browns. By the way, if you had the
Christian McCaffrey matchup, kind of think Saquon would be outside
the top twelve and maybe even teetering into the fifteens,
or people might consider benching him. The matchup is really
hard to not play him, though.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Yeah, in guillotine leagues, maybe you could think about not
starting him when it's down to just a few teams
left in Everyone's team is an all star team, so
I want to rank Barkley higher than low end running
back one Against the Bears defense that was missing all
of its starting linebackers last week, all of them and
(03:32):
gave up two hundred and twenty seven yards from Scroonge
to the Pittsburgh running back comboff Jalen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell.
But man, the Eagles running game is just not working
and having Lane Johnson hurt doesn't help at all. Saquan
is averaging three point seven yards per carry this season,
just two point eight yards per carry over his last
three games. That did include some tough matchups against the
(03:55):
Packers and Lions, But last week Saquon had ten carries
for twenty two yards. Again against the Cowboys, whose run
defense is better since the Quinn Williams deal. But come on,
so yeah, it just it hasn't been great for Barkley.
At least they're getting him a little bit involved as
a pass catcher. But I just don't know if there's
top five upside here.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Eckson, there's a little bit. I mean, you're kind of
the anti Barkley guy here, But there's there's that little
narrative you can paint if you would like that. You know,
you come off of this really bad game, inefficient fumble
that you want to come out against a team that
gave up that amount of guards and you want to
bury them with Saquon. You want Saquon to make a
statement coming off of that. That's a narrative that you
can paint. Unfortunately, it really hasn't been something we've seen
(04:37):
a lot out of Saquon. So you've got him at ten,
you got him in the same range. What is your
what's your vibe around Saquon for this week?
Speaker 3 (04:45):
He's a volume play right, gets a lot of carries.
That's kind of it, and that's why I have him
as a low end RB one. He's had good matchups
before and he hasn't delivered top five type of upside,
because that's just not him. This year, like last year,
was a really special season for Saquon bark and this
is just a reminder that it's really hard to repeat
these super special seasons year to ye, especially when you're
(05:05):
coming off the amount of volume that Barkley had last season.
So look, you're starting him still top ten running back
and matchup is divine against the Bears. But is he
gonna win your week? I think the sample size of
this year says no, He's gonna be solid, maybe fifteen
twenty points. Good, good effort, but not the same guys
last year as a rusher.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Running back ones. When we're talking about the these are
kind of vibe checks, you know, because they are RB one,
So it's like, what is the general consensus around the
The other one we'll talk about is Travion Henderson. So
Remindre came back. The fear was instilled in some of us,
and it was kind of all for not We saw volume.
I think it was twenty one touches overall for Trevion
looked good. Remindre got some you know, snap usage. I
(05:48):
think it was like half of what Travion did and
he was out there. This matchup this week is phenomenal
against the Giants. The Giants are a team that you
want to play against. Your running back just had volume
when the other guy came back. All systems seem to
be really positive and a go.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
Though.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
To me, there's like a little Mike Rabel on my
shoulder that's just like remondering, you know, like it's gonna happen,
Like I feel like it can go out there, but
it was kind of killed for this past week. So
you guys both have him Travion better than the RB
ten ecr ericson why don't we start with you? What's
your overall? It's the vibe check again around Travion for
this week.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
So Travion got compared to a certain running back that
just played the New York Giants coming out of Ohio State.
His name is Jamior Gibbs and he's still running for
more yards against the New York Giants. Who's got more juice?
Safe Barkley or Travon Henderson. A Travion Travon Henderson. That's
why I'm starting tom over say one.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
I love it, Fitzy, what do you think Travion Henderson?
Are you the same. Are you gonna start Travion over Barkley?
Speaker 2 (06:47):
I have Hemden had about this. They're next to each
other in my rankings right now. I've got Barkley ranked
higher because I if we know that maybe even just
one of the Bears missing linebackers is coming back this week,
that'll be enough for me to push Barkley below Traveon Henderson.
The only thing is that I think Ramandre Stevenson could
(07:07):
eat into Henderson's workload more than anyone's going to eat
into Barkley's workload. And now we didn't really see Henderson
take a big bite out of it last week, but
maybe it was just kind of a ramp up game
for Stevenson. I don't want to freak out the Travon
Henderson investors. There's no way we're going back to the
old arrangement where it's like romondre playing ahead of Traveon Henderson.
(07:29):
But it's possible he could be a stone in your
shoe if you have Traveon Henderson.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
The stone in the shoe is a perfect example. That
is exactly what Remandre is for sure. All Right, those
are like again a couple of vibe check on the
RB one so let's go to RB two's where there
are some bigger questions. The big board is thirteen through
twenty fourth sor so Josh Jacobs, Trevion Or Travis et
and Rico Dawdle, Brice Hall, Javonte Williams, Jalen Warren. At
(07:56):
nineteen is R J. Harvey, Bucky Irving, quinch On, Jack
Kareem Hunt, ken Walker and Woody Marx. How about Travis
et in there was so much discussion of like Tuton
versus ETN and non contact jerseys and who's practicing all
week long, and then it ended up being a lot
of travis et and some of that may have been
to Tuton's health as well, especially on the snap counts.
(08:18):
He comes in as ECR the fourteen. He has the
best matchup grade. It is a five star matchup rating
according to Fantasy Pros. No one else in this range
has that. And Fitzi you've got him at twelve, Ericson
you've got him at sixteen. So you guys a little
bit on opposite ends between RB one and RB two.
So Fitzy, why don't you kick off the positive front here?
(08:40):
You've got him as a starter, So what do you
think about Eten.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
This week, Well, you mentioned how good the matchup is.
He gets the Titans who are giving up the I
think sixth most fantasy points per game to running backs.
Et and has just been really good for the entire
month of November. He's RB six in half point PPR
fantasy points per game for the month. Think the concern
with Etn earlier this year was that his value was
(09:03):
too touchdown to Pennant and Etn has scored four touchdowns
in November. But Travis Etn is also averaging twenty point
five touches and ninety five point three scrimmage yards per
game this month, so we're getting the volume. We love
the matchup. And you know, even though there was a
little bit of a bacial tootin Uprising a couple of
(09:23):
weeks ago, I think we've seen now that Travis Etn
is the lead running back in Jacksonville.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Erickson, are you no longer to to tooting the horn?
And are you on the Travis Etn train?
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Not entirely getting off the twot in tugboat horn? Because
last week was really weird, right, both guys were dealing
with injuries. One guy's in the non contact in Jersey,
the other guy's not who's healthy, who's not? So I
kind of feel like I was a little bit bamboozled
where you know, Tooton was taken over the backfield two
weeks ago and then they go right back to etn
So are we so like one hundred percent confidence of Nope,
(10:00):
it's gonna be eat no matter what. Like I'm just
pressing pause a little bit there. They like to use
both backs, they like to use two, especially around the
goal line. So look, I think that Eaton's again. I
have him fifteen, so you're still starting him confidently. I
do get some reservations with this Jaguars team playing on
the road in an divisional game, like talking about like
(10:21):
who's gonna lay an egg this week? The Jacksonville Would
anyone be surprised? And they go to Tennessee and Tremor
Lawrence craps the bed Like that's kind of like where
I'm like, Okay, let's not get over our skis here.
Because no team plays more volatile than the Jaguars week
to week. I never bet on their games because I
don't know what team's going to show up. So just
the optics of going on the road against the Titans
(10:41):
team that's played better. Cam Moore has been playing much
better over the last couple of weeks, so that's the
only reason I'm not as high as ECR, but still
a very strong start. But it would not surprise me
if Twton get another week remove from the ankle injury,
if he does get a little bit more run.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
This is one that I was a little surprised about.
It's the RJ. Harvey ranking. He comes in at the
nineteenth running back on ECR, and both of you are
lower than consensus on him, so that one kind of
took me back. Washington. This is a you know, solid
matchup obviously, like the passing side of the game is
a real big benefit. But this team is They're going
to run the ball fifty a twenty one ericson at
(11:16):
twenty two ericson why don't you kick it off? Why
not so high on R. J. Harvey this week?
Speaker 3 (11:23):
It's not that I'm not high. I mean still have
him ranked as a top twenty four running back. Just
a matter of okay, how are the Moroncos going to
attack this Commander's defense? We know that you can throw
really easily on the Commanders. Harvey is the starter with JK.
Dobbins out, and we saw him have pretty encouraging usage
sixty one percent of the snaps in the first game
(11:44):
play without JK. Dobbins. But we know that Sean McVay
or excuse me, Sean Payton likes to use multiple backs.
Even in that game, Jilly mcgofflin scored a rushing touchdown.
Now they didn't play that many snaps him and Tyler Bday,
So I do believe that it's going to be Harvey
as the main guy. So it's really just I just
like a couple of other guys a little bit more
than him. Maybe Rico Dadle is a player that I
could potentially move down a little bit more behind RJ.
(12:05):
Harvey because he's kind of fallen off pretty substantially over
the last couple of games. They're using Chub Hubbard a
little bit more, which I don't like in the Panthers offense.
Is just I think taking a step back a little bit.
So maybe I can move him up a little bit there.
But still only one game sample size of Harvey kind
of being the guy, and it was underwhelming. In a
tougher matchup.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Fits the same thing. I definitely underwhelming I agree, but
you know, kind of the dog in town and it's
just a bad overall defense. I do think the being
able to attack him in the passing game is like
a pretty solid narrative, but I think there's also going
to be involved in the receiving game. So why do
you hate RJ. Harvey even though you're one spot higher
than Erickson?
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Why do you Yeah? So when we last saw the
Broncos before their Week twelve by Harvey did have a
season high sixty one percent snapchair against the Chiefs didn't
really work out. He had eleven carries for thirty yards,
three catches for twenty yards. Sort Of a tough matchup,
but now much better matchup against the Commanders. They're along
the fourth most fantasy points per game the running backs.
(13:07):
Commanders have given up the fifth most rushing yards the
eleventh most receiving yards to running backs. But Ericson sort
of said it. Sean Payton is a He's not a
one running back kind of guy. So sixty one percent
for a snapchair is probably the ceiling or close to
it for R. J. Harvey. We will see Julia McLoughlin,
we will see Tyler Bday. Maybe they do let bo
(13:31):
Nicks try to get right in this match up against
the worst pass defense in the league and go with
a throw a heavy approach.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
All right, let's go to our injured running back section
of the RB twos. So let's start with Bucky Irving,
who comes in with an ECR of twenty one. You
guys are both ranking him higher. So this is I
assume just the assumption that he is healthy. I'm guessing
there's a little bit of like a not I don't
want to call it a three headed monster, but the
(13:59):
NOL like Bucky Irving is not going to be unleashed
here because you guys do have him ranked higher than ECR.
But it's respectively like high teens fifty eight eighteen ericson
at seventeen, so fifty. Why don't you just kick us
off here with your thoughts on Bucky Irving's ability to
play this week and what you think the volume is
going to be as a late teens ranked running back.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
I think he's a terrific player. I want to be
above Consensusadam. The Cardinals are a pretty good matchup. Buccaneers
have a very good offensive line. I know the quarterback situation.
Maybe with Teddy Bridgewater diminishes the touchdown outlook a little bit,
But it also might mean that the Buccaneers run the
offense through their running backs more than they normally would.
(14:39):
So it's possible this is a ramp up week for
Bucky Irving and he's capped at ten to twelve touches,
in which case maybe a mid range RB two ranking
is a little aggressive for him. But I mean, like
it's not on the merits. Bucky Irving is just way
better than Rashad White, And I know a lot of
(15:01):
people are falling head over heels for Sean Tucker buck
Bucky Irving's way better than Shan Tucker too, So if
he's healthy enough to carry the load, he's going to
carry a heavy load unless they want to be really
conservative with him. But I don't know if the Buccaneers
really have the luxury of being conservative since they're fighting
for their playoff lives.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Eric's in the same question on Bucket. I'd assume the
snap should be a little bit smaller, but the percentage
of the snaps that he's out there like he should
touch the ball don't be I would imagine you wouldn't
even be surprised if he got like fifteen sixteen touches
in this game, even if the snap count is low,
and that probably has to be built in a little
bit too, like the range of how you have him ranked.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
I think the upside is just too great to try
to leave him on your bench. We going to be
surprised against the Arizona Cardinals. Walter Nolan just got hurt again.
He's a top five running back if he gets to work.
So I'm not going to pretend I have a crystal ball.
And I know exactly how the Buccaneers are going to
deploy Bucky Irving. But what I do know, based on
what Todd Wowleves has talked about, is they're going to
the hot hand. So if Bucky Irving plays starts cooking,
(16:04):
that boy's gonna eat. Like I feel very confident. So
he is a swing for the fences type of play. Again,
playing anybody off an injury is always gonna carry a
significant risk. You get the Ricky Piersoll thing where you're playing, oh,
there does nothing. So that's something that you need to
evaluate on your own roster. And you say, can I
stomach Oh my god. It was a ramp up period
and they didn't. They gave him the Chris Godam treatment
and he was a total bust. But on the flip
(16:27):
side of the coin, he can be a top five
running back this week. And considering you've made it this
far without using Bucky Irving, you may have some other options.
I think it's hard pressed to find a better upside
option this week than Bucky Irving on your roster. You
want to start Buckey Irving and Justin Jefferson.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
But I know what you're saying, but like when you
say it, immediately, I want to say Justin Jefferson, but
you don't.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Your guy has a top five CEILI and one guy
does it.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
I know, I know, I know, I'm just saying, Like
my instant reaction was like, well Jefferson, But to your point,
Jefferson with the backup quarterback, I know it is Bucky,
it is Bucky, but I wanted to say Jefferson makes
that's theiling mad all right. The other one, Quinchawn Jutkins,
got banged up in this last game. We saw a
bit of Samson. He's easy our twenty one. It's a
(17:16):
favorable matchup against the forty nine ers, but I think
there's an injury tag that has maybe his rank being
a little bit timid, and you guys are on opposite
ends here a bit fits a your like one spot
lower than consensus, ericson you're quite a few spots higher
than consensus. So ericson why don't you kick off your
positive take on Quinnchawn Jutkins.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
I still think it's a pretty good matchup. It's the
forty nine ers. I still don't think that their defense
is this super formidable unit because of all the injuries
that they've had. Being said, he is banged up. Dylan
Santon got more involved and he got some positive coach
bag per the coach Beak Index. After the game, they
were talking about, Yeah, we really like Dylan Sampson, like
we want to get him more involved. So that's always
a concern, especially if they run through a situation where
(17:59):
it's a forty nine are playing in a positive game.
Script is Judkins on the field catching passes? Probably not
so I think that he does come with a bit
of a scarier floor. But I mean, this guy is
everything they want to do in the red zone, Like
it's direction after Judkins, it's we're not throwing the ball,
We're just giving the ball to Judkins. He scored two
rushing touchdowns last week, so I'm trying to capture that.
But I do admit like seeing him in my chair,
(18:21):
it's like Dowdell, Jalen Warren, Harvey Marx, Like I feel
like I could probably shift him around a little bit,
probably bring him down a little bit closer to where
the ECR is, like Harvey versus Judkins. Like when I
look at it again, it's like, maybe I would actually
want Harvey over Judgkins because Harvey has more of a
three down skill set regardless of the game script, where Judkins. Again,
(18:42):
I was lower on Judkins last week, and I was
wrong because he ended up scoring two rushing touchdowns. But
you know, maybe this isn't as favorable as a spot
although the Browns are at home, So I don't know, Like,
what do you think? I mean, you're lower on Judkins
fits so why is that?
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Well, it's hard to rank the guys who are so
touchdown to Pennant Like last year, remember trying to rank
Nick Westbrookakine when he was scoring a touchdown every week
on like two targets, and just like, how can I
keep burying this guy in the rankings when he is
getting into the end zone every week. Obviously, Judkins a
better usage outlook than Nick Westbrook Akine had last year.
(19:18):
But still Judkins has been really touchdown depended. He had
two last week. He has seven touchdowns in ten games
this season, but he's kind of scored them in bunches.
He had that three touchdown game against the Dolphins in
the bad weather in Cleveland like a month ago, and
then two against the Raiders last week. So but since
Week six, quin Shawn Judkins is averaging three point two
(19:39):
yards per carry and has caught five passes for eight yards.
That's the downside we're looking at here, and we know
the Browns are not really a very potent offense all right.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Running back threes or the twenty five through thirty six
is coming up. But first dominate your fantasy football league
with Fantasy Pros Premium. The playoffs are almost here, and
guess what you can get available three six months when
you deposit and place your first wager on our partner sportsbooks.
That is the Fantasy Pros Premium product when you do so,
and it can carry you through the playoffs. This is
(20:10):
the easiest way to get full access to our fantasy
tools all season long and into the offseason when you're
getting into drafts and everything. So go to fantasypros dot
com slash Premium to get started. Today are running backs
twenty five through thirty six. It starts with Aaron Jones,
DeAndre Swift, Tyrone, Tracy, Kenny Gainwell, come on, ey Vidal,
David Montgomery at thirty, Kyle Mananga at thirty one, Devin Neil,
(20:33):
base Shell, Tuton, Zach Charbonay, Chris Rodriguez, and Sean Tucker.
How about DeAndre Swift? How about DeAndre Swift versus manang
Guy Managai keeps getting those rushing touchdowns. Swift kind of
taken out of the game script. He is ECR twenty six. Fitzy,
you've got him at twenty six. Ericson, you have buried
him at thirty three, Fitsy, why don't you take the
positive run? And I'd love to get your take on
(20:54):
him versus Kyle Manongui. Fyi, this is a bad matchup
against Philly added into all of this.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Yeah, it is a bad matchup for sure. So I've
got Swift running back twenty six and Manonguy running back
thirty three. It's getting hard to get a read on
the Bears backfield. One week it seems like Swift is
the guy. The next week it seems like it's a
split backfield with Swift and Mananguy sort of sharing the work.
(21:22):
Swift has been a little banged up, but it was
still pretty alarming for Swift stakeholders that manang Guy out
snapped Swift thirty five to twenty nine last week and
the Bears went over the Steelers. That was pretty close throughout,
so you couldn't chalk it up to game script, like
the Bears weren't sitting on a big lead or anything
like that. And now, as you said, well, really tough
matchup against the Eagles, and if it's close to a
(21:45):
fifty to fifty backfield split, again, me ranking Swift as
a high end RB three is probably too high. And
I'm just betting that it mostly goes back to Swift,
or at least Swift in the lead and non guy
sort of in relief. Maybe he's the goal line guy.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Yeah, that's the only problem I think kind of exists
with this one. Ericson you are in the negative is
I feel like there's a lot of like if and
butts and candies and nuts and we'd all have a
Merry Christmas type of situation with him. With this situation
of Swift versus Manang Guy and Benaga has kind of
proven to be more of the touchdown equity. You know,
(22:25):
if he's going to be more the goal line guy,
this is a bad matchup if I'm going to bet
on one of these two, especially after the touches this
last week and the goal line, I feel like I
would actually have Manang Guy higher than Swift. But if
you think they're gonna be playing for behind, Swift is
more more of a usage in the receiving game. But
I'm just kind of spouting out here ericson you've got
him at thirty three, so you're really down on Swift.
Are you Minoan guy over Swift in this situation or
(22:47):
don't give me any of them? I am fade Bears backfield.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
Don't want either piece of this. We can get by
with committee backfields in good matchups. See Steelers facing the Bills,
start Keneth gameill this week. Fade the Bearers backfill into oblivion.
I cannot trust the under Swift after fumbled last week
because ben Jon, like, what's gonna happen Ben Johnson give
him two carries after fumbled last week. This is the
issue with Swift. He does this every single year. He
(23:14):
plays really well for like a six week stretch, We're
all convinced, all right, Andre Swift, he's backs catching passes,
looks explosive, and then when the matchups get tougher, he
starts fumbling the ball. They use other guys in the
red zone. To your point, who's more likely to score
a touchdown of gain? If we pull up the betting
pros odds, who has the better odds of scoring a touchdown,
It's probably gonna be calm and ung guy minus one
ten Kalam and un gout score a touchdown and the
(23:35):
under Stift's probably plus money would not make either bet
this week because I don't like the match up. It
gets the Philadelphia Eagles, So I think that this is
a pretty easy fade. That's why I have him outside
by top thirty two running backs because if it's split work,
no volume that you can rely on. Yeah, maybe you
can buy into the game script with Swift catching more passes,
but I mean that wasn't the case last week. So
again the gamestrip was a little bit different. But my
(23:56):
young guy's also eating into some of Swift's routes. That's
been true in the last two weeks. Look, I have
been the number one Swift fader basically all season long,
and at times it's looked really, really bad. But down
this stretch with the upcoming matchups for the Bears, Swift
is going to be a very tough click the rest
of the way with the really tough Bear schedule.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
You mentioned him, Kenny Gainwell. Kenny Ganwell comes in at
twenty eight on ecr fits. You got him at twenty
seven ericson you have him at twenty four. You said,
start Ken Gangwell, So tell us about why we're starting
Kenny Gainwell.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
See Buffalo Bill's run defense that just gets absolutely gash.
I mean even the Texans who can't run on anybody.
What he marks puts up a career high in rushing
yards and would have had a much better day if
could just find his way to get into the freaking
end zone. But Kenneth Gainwell, look, he has a standalone
role alongside Jalen Warren. Kenn Gaan will started last week.
Now that may even because Jalen Warren was coming off
(24:48):
with that injury again, They're gonna both use both guys.
And the thing with Kenneth Gainwell is he is the
receiving back for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and with whether it's
Mason Rudolf Aaron Rodgers, they have no interest in throwing
all downfield. They're like, where's Kenny G. I want to
check it down to my guy, And that just gives
him so much of that just gives him such a
high floor, especially in half PPR and full PPR. So
(25:09):
he should have scored a touchdown last week had he
not got rolled down. I like the one inch yard
line and warned up scoring the touchdown. Soo man. I
liked Kenneth Gainwell a couple of years ago when he
was on the Eagles and I thought he was going
to take over the RB one role and then he
got hurt and then Swift kind of took the job.
But right now it's like, rest of the season, give
me Kenneth Gainwell over Swift.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
I only had the match theme in my head. By
the way, I don't know what Kenny G actually plays,
but that was the trumpet Kenney Gainwell for you, mister
Pat Fitzmorris, are you as a positive take that he's
a must start.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Yeah, I'm pretty positive, not as bullish as Ericson, because
I just I didn't want to go overboard with the
Gainwall ranking after he had Jane I's stay against a
Bear's defense that was playing without all of its linebackers.
But Gainwell has been getting a solid amount of work.
Ericson mentioned the dual run catch usage, and he does
have another pretty favorable matchup against the Bills this week,
(26:07):
so I'm on board. I might have to move him
up a bit, all.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
Right, Final one that we're gonna hit. This was the
popular waiver pick. It is Devin Neil. He is ECR thirty.
You guys are both higher on consensus thirty and twenty eight. Obviously,
Kamara's injury status is up in question kind of regardless,
Neil looks like he's putting in a good positive spot,
but he could be the guy. So, FITZI, what do
you think about Devin Neil for week thirteen?
Speaker 2 (26:32):
So it's interesting with Kamara having the sprain, mcl and
Kendre Miller out for the year, Devin Neil is basically
the only man left standing in the New Orleans backfield.
It's probably gonna be Broncos cast off Audric Estime backing
up Neil this week, but it is possible. The number
one running back in New Orleans is Taysom Hill, and
(26:53):
Taysom Hill did have a team high ten carries for
the Saints last week. Devon Neil had seven. So talk
about stones and shoes for all the people who go
out and spend a bunch of fab money on Devin
Neil this week, Taysom Hill is a potential stone in
your shoe.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Oh Erickson heard Taysom Hill and he just got activated.
Are you activated into the world of Taysom Hill this
week or are you more leaning into Devin.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Taysom Hill gets people so angry. So I'm prepping myself
for a good rant here.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
No. I was on beyond tilt because I had anytime
touchdown Taysom Hill bet and the guy gets like a
thousand opportunities a score, doesn't find the end zone one time,
and I'm like, I got get the notification kimaras out.
I'm like, dude, this is the perfect runout, like Taysom
Hill's gonna score. And then he does like everything in
his power not to find the end zone. So extremely
tilting because now as are gonna be again minus one
ten Taso Hill in time touchdown. That sucks, not fun,
(27:45):
But we'll get more into that the tight end show.
Devin Neil. I think, yes, it's going to be a
dual backfield between Taysom Hill and Neil as terms of carries,
but in terms of targets out of the backfield, Devin
Neil like he's the guy. So I like that in
full PPR, especially if you know the playing on the
road at the Dolphins. You know Miami's defense has been
better the last couple of weeks. We have seen them
(28:06):
giving up some big games to running backs. I wouldn't
necessarily bank on that, just because the Saints aren't an
offense that necessarily takes advantage of, you know, soft matchups.
But that being said, if these Saints find themselves trailing,
then I think you're gonna see a lot of Deviann
Neil catching passes out of the backfield. Last week he
had seven targets I believe, Yeah, seven targets, sixteen percent
target chair, five catches for forty three yards.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
He ran over thirty rounds.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
So I like that a lot from a pass catching standpoint,
You played seventy four percent of the snap so although
Taysom Hill yes probably going to be a thorn in
the side of Devin Neil, especially in the red zone. Hey,
maybe we could have a cake aid to cheer Taysom
Hill passing touchdown to Devin Neil. Everyone's happy.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
That's what I bet it on, keke or pie for
this holiday weekend. All right, there you go. That is
your week thirteen running back rings. You guys want more,
go to fantasypros dot com slash rankings. As always, you
can check out as the consensus rankers pop in. The
ranks will kind of move around all the way until kickoff.
You can check that. Make sure you're logged in on
everything on the Fantasy Pros app to get you prepped,
(29:07):
and just make sure you're subscribed on the YouTube, the twitch,
and the podcast for any of the latest holiday schedules.
Make things a little bit wonky here, but make sure
you'll get notified if you're following all of those apps.
For all the content that we have for Andrew Ericson
and Pat Fitzmorris, I'm Chris Wells. You guys have a
fantastic one and we will talk to you next time
right here on Fantasy Pros.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football podcast.
If you love the show, the best free way to
support us is by leaving a positive review on Apple
podcasts at fantasypros dot com slash review or on Spotify.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Follow us on
Speaker 4 (29:39):
X, Instagram and TikTok at Fantasy Pros, and subscribe to
our YouTube channel at YouTube dot com slash Fantasy Pros
Hosts And Creators
Andrew Erickson
Joe Pisapia
Derek Brown
Thor Nystrom
Ryan Wormeli
Pat Fitzmaurice
Matthew Freedman
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