Week 14 Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings & Tiers: Studs, Sleepers, and Must-Starts (Ep. 1877)

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, friends, and welcome into Fantasy Pros, the Fantasy Football Podcast.
This is the Week fourteen running Back Ranks episode. I'm
Chris Welsh. We've got Pat fitz Morris and Andrew Erickson.
We are going to be going through the top thirty
six running backs according to ECR, talking about some of
the biggest names of me, the biggest adjustments that are
going on in the ranks, and hopefully answering some of
the biggest questions for you in the final regular season

(00:23):
game of fantasy football. You know what's awesome, guys, The
coolest thing on the planet that can be done is
having the number one running back in fantasy have a
bye week in Week fourteen. Fits. I don't know how
you feel about that, but isn't it the coolest thing
ever that we have four teams on a bye and
maybe one of the best fantasy players out there will
not be playing in the final regular season fantasy game.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
It's pretty terrible. I do have Christian McCaffrey in two leagues,
but in those two leagues, my playoff spot is already
secured and couldn't change, and one of those is a bye.
So that's a good thing. But I know other people
who have Christian McCaffrey are not feeling as good about
it because they need this game well.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
Also, ironically to this episode, if you look at the
teams that are on a bye, running back is the
most impacted from a fantasy perspective. Quarterback, It's pretty much
like Drake may on a bye wide receiver. There's really
no forty nine or wide receivers you care about. You know,
maybe Ted a Rolla you can talk about. It's running back,

(01:28):
it's Trevion, it's Christian McCaffrey, it's Rico or Cuba. I mean,
it is a it's a bad list ericson of running
backs are going to be out due to a bye.
Obviously you won't have to deal with it with your
bye weeks you're getting in fantasy. But you know some
probably some bigger decisions have to be made at running
back than have to be made at wide receiver contrary
to previous weeks due to this. Yeah, I think so.

Speaker 3 (01:51):
Although, if you are facing the CMC manager this week
and you try to get into the playoffs, could you
love the week fourteen bye weeks?

Speaker 1 (01:59):
Bad dude thinks this is the coolest thing ever. He's like,
I wish you would.

Speaker 3 (02:03):
These chances are again at this point, like you're hoping
that if you are this team that's been hit by
you don't have Drake May, you don't have McCaffrey, that
you already locked up your playoff spot at this point
because you've had those guys all thirteen weeks of the season,
so hopefully you already have a good record. It doesn't
matter for you, and hopefully it does benefit those that
are facing those teams that hey, I can get a
free W because this team doesn't have a roster that

(02:25):
they can put out there for Week fourteen, So chuck
up to w get.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
That depth that we actually got a I believe this
is the first time this running back so brand new
number one overall running back in a week. I don't
think we've ever had this guy the entire season. It's
pretty much been a collection of like three or four
players the entire year. So due to that buy and
the matchups, we get a nice new name that's going
to be at the top of the list. So we
are going to jump into it. If you guys would
like to follow along, go to fantasypros dot com slash rankings.

(02:53):
They will change throughout the week as more of our
rankers out into the world start submitting their ranks, so
you're going to the ebbs and flows of it. So
this is a time capsule of you know what is
this Wednesday that we end up doing this, But you
just know this and follow along and don't freak out
when players go through. And just like Devon a Chan

(03:14):
when we look at the big board, who comes in
at number one? Maybe this will slightly adjust I doubt
it will, but he's the first time he has jumped
up on this list, going up against the Jets. Jamiir
Gibbs comes in at two, followed by Jonathan Taylor, James Cook,
Bjeon Robinson, and Chase Brown. That's the top half, the
bottom half Josh Jacobs, Bucky Irving, Brice Hall, Derrick, Henry
Kyn Williams, and quinch On Jutkins. Yes to your question,

(03:39):
Bucky Irving, we do feel confident with so we don't
even need to talk about it. He proved it in
limited snaps. But maybe you've got some others. Let's start
with Breeshall comes in at ECR nine on this list. Ericson,
you got him slightly lower. Fitzy you've got him a
little bit higher. This is a top ten spot. I'm
not sure we've seen Brice Hall in this in this
range much this season at all. But take on Breecehall

(04:00):
versus Miami this week, which is on paper a pretty
good matchup.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
We are excited about the usage with Brice Hall. You
have to be. He's had twenty or more touches in
four of his last five games, and in the one
game where he didn't get to twenty touches, he had
sixteen in a loss to the Patriots. Not bad at all.
His snapchairs have been north of seventy percent in each
of his last four games. Jets are just letting brishall
eat and he goes up against the Dolphins this week.

(04:27):
Miami's run defense has been a lot better than it
was early in the season when it was a complete sieve.
But this is still not really a matchup to be feared.
So just keep rolling with the guy who's getting all
the touches.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
Ericson. You've got him at eleven. Are you buying into
the volume? There's not really two big crazy question and
what's the gap between Bres Hall and Bucky Irving for
you as well? Throwing that is in the side.

Speaker 3 (04:51):
I think that Bucky Irving has more upside because he
plays on the Buccaneers off Like the thing is, I
just want to keep it within the con Brestall's getting
the best usage in the Jets offense, right. That always
has to be kind of the caveat with anything Breshall
upside related, because look, they he scored a touchdown last week.

(05:12):
He has not scored many touchdowns and it was because
there was a pass interference at the one yard line
and then he got the next goal line carried to
score touchdown. So he has not scored a lot of
touchdowns this year, which is why he's kind of been
more on that mid RB two range, low end RB
one range rather than always a lot to top five
running back this week, and to the point that fits made,
since Week seven, the Dolphins have allowed zero RB one finishes,

(05:34):
zero none have finished it inside the top twelve. And
brest Hall when he faced the Dolphins earlier this year
when they were significantly worse against the run, he was
RB nineteen and he had twenty one or he had
nineteen touches in that game, including five catches. So it's
a matter of he'll be an Arby one if he scores,
it'll probably an Arby two if he doesn't. So that's
why I have him what at RB eleven, kind of

(05:56):
like threading the needle where he's either top ten guy
or more like fifteen.

Speaker 1 (06:02):
A really interesting one. And there's a little bit of
a debate you guys will have here is Derrick Henry.
Derrick Henry going up against Pittsburgh Steelers. Ravens offense has
just been lah right now. It's been a big question
and how Lamar Jackson can move this offense. But the
Steelers defense hasn't been great, and Derek Henry kind of
slides in here at the ten spot. FITZI, you agree,

(06:23):
but Ericson, you are quite a bit higher. You've actually
got Dereck Henry at six this week. So we are
swimming in the pools of like running backs that no
one's probably making really big divisive decisions about. But you know,
you've made a pretty big stance on Dereck Henry. So
what's the positive take for you? Erickson On on the King.

Speaker 3 (06:40):
I think the Steelers are done right. They want to
fire Mike Tomlin. The fans are fed up, the players
are just it's such a bad look. TJ. Watt was
talking about the Bills ran the same two plays against
them the entire game run plays and they couldn't stop it.
James Cook had how many thirty two carries in the game.
The Bills didn't even try to throw the ball and

(07:01):
they just said no, like, you can't stop us. So
I think that this is a potential. Does the Steelers
defense kind of roll over here against the Baltimore Ravens, Right,
Ravens offense does not look good. Someone has to bounce
back here, right, Whether the Steelers bounce back, they rise
up as underdogs as they tend to do as with
Mike Tomlin. But the Ravens they need to bounce back too.
If they want to lock up the AFC North, they

(07:21):
need to win this game. And how do they do that?
How do they get Lamar going again? Maybe you just
make life way easier with play action and you just
establish the run with Derek Henry and give him thirty
carries and then if he gets that type of volume,
well it's off to the races for him. You look
at the Steelers defense, Patrick Queen got hurt last week,
Derek Harmon has already been ruled out of this game
one of their defensive tackles. I mean, if the Ravens

(07:44):
are gonna watch the Steelers game from last week, what
do you think their game plan is going to be.
I don't think they need to overthink, and it's like, uh,
let's feed the king as much as humanly possible. So
I think that he has top five upside this week.
I know that last week didn't work out for him,
just kind of the game script got out of hand.
But but Jack Henry was ripping off big plays both
as a rusher and receiver, and it's been kind of underreported.

(08:05):
But since Justice Hill has kind of missed the last
couple of games, Derek Henry has kind of been used
a little bit more as a receiver out of the backfield,
and every time you see it, you're just like, dude,
why don't they just give this guy screen targets just
once or twice a game, Like it's he's a freight
train in open space. Nobody could tackle this guy. So
maybe he catches a couple more balls too that can
help pad his stats. I just think his ceiling is

(08:25):
immensely high against the Steelers defense that it might look
lifeless at times against the run.

Speaker 1 (08:32):
Yeah, FITZI do you think that maybe Henry should be
a little bit higher. I think there's a case. Everything
that Erickson said is a really good case for it.
Defensive struggling with Pittsburgh. I think a case against it,
maybe you can make is just the lifelessness of Baltimore's offense,
which can just kind of, you know, stagnate, and maybe
that's where Henry can't get going. But you tell us,
do you think Henry should be a little bit higher?

(08:53):
You're right at ECR, so you're the perfect person to
tell us what direction we should go.

Speaker 2 (08:57):
You just said what the main count point as whilsh
the sort of struggling, stagnant Ravens offense, and that's it.
It's just been sort of an overall letdown for I mean,
Lamar Jackson not playing well at all Henry. Last year
he had nine one hundred yard rushing games and eighteen touchdowns.

(09:19):
This year for one hundred yard rushing games, ten touchdowns.
There has been a little bit of an uptick in
the passing game usage, as Ericson mentioned five catches for
eighty seven yards over his last three games. But I'm
not really sure that you can really hang your hat
on passing game productivity for Derrick Henry. So yeah, it
was interesting to see the Bills running the same simple

(09:42):
inside runs over and over again at the Steelers in Pittsburgh,
just being completely unable to stop it. And maybe that's
what happens this week with Dereck Henry. Maybe, and maybe
that's what gets this Ravens offense out of a funk.
But the potential down side here is that they stay
in a funk and just can't get it going.

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(11:27):
let's talk about our wide running back, not wide receivers,
our running back twos. These are ranked thirteen through twenty four.
Quite a few interesting names. Coming in at thirteen is RJ. Harvey,
and coming in it has to be his lowest of
the season because I don't recall saying Saquon Barkley at fourteen,
but that's where he's at, Javontay Williams at fifteen, Ashton gent,
Ken Walker, Travis Eten, and the bottom half of this

(11:49):
is Jalen Warren, DeAndre Swift, Kyle Manang, Gui Woody Marks,
kream Hunt, and Jordan Mason. Let's talk about Saquon. Saquon
comes in at fourteen, you are a spot lower and
Saquon's overall production has just been a massive question to
the point he kind of gets a little bit of
the same We did this in the Wide Receiver episode,

(12:11):
the Justin Jefferson conversation. You know, is he a Titanic
player you go down with this ship. Is he a
player that is Trojan Horse get him out? Is he
a player that you have to question to not start
at this point? What is your take on Saquon Barkley
against the Chargers this week?

Speaker 2 (12:29):
Man, I was really hoping Saquon was going to have
a big Black Friday game against a Bears defense that
was missing a couple of its starting linebackers. But as
it turned out, both of the Bears running backs DeAndre
Swift and kalaman On Guy more than doubled up Saquon
Barkley's rushing yard age. Managhuy had one hundred and thirty
rushing yards Swift one hundred and twenty five Saquon Barkley

(12:50):
fifty six rushing yards in that game. There's just there's
only so far I can drop a guy who's averaging
nineteen point four touches a game, and it's going up
against the Chargers run defense that ranks twenty fifth and DVA.
But Man, Saquon is just He's been held to eighty
three or fewer rushing yards in four straight games, hasn't

(13:12):
scored a touchdown since October twenty sixth. Like, he's not
an RB one anymore. I just can't rank him as one.

Speaker 1 (13:21):
In a storyline that I did not expect. Rickson is
actually higher than ecr on Saquon Barkley, but also not
an RB one. You've got him at thirteen ericson What
is your take? There is volume, but there's just not production.
What are you doing with Saquon Barkley this week?

Speaker 3 (13:36):
I think it summed it up pretty well, and I'll
if I have much else to add. He's seeing nearly
twenty touches per game. You can just sit that on
the bench like that's going to be some type of
production and the matchup's pretty good. So I don't know
if I have the stones to just bench him out
right for a flex player. Again, with four teams on by,
do you really have a better RB two option than

(13:57):
Saquon Barkley on your team? Like you probably just don't.
So it's just one of those where you gotta click them,
put him in and just hope that he finds the
end zone or scores or that the Eagles can play
bully ball, because after every press conference they just talk
about we gotta get Takewon going, we gotta get Takeoon going,
we gotta get Take one going. So I don't think
his volume is going away because they didn't. I know

(14:18):
that Eagles Twitter was like, we really want Tank Bigsby
to get the Balltimore, and then he just does it.
So they're committed to Takuon and whether he's struggling or not,
it doesn't s even to really matter. So yes, his
fantasy points have gone down in four streat games, but
he has a floor just because of how much volume
he's seeing. So yeah, I think it's just kind of
one of those stinky clicks that you just got to make.

Speaker 1 (14:41):
Yeah, your nay, I don't know, it's stinky click, just
like that's that's a good we should use that him. Yeah,
your nay. If you had to decide r J Harvey
or Saquon Barkley, would you start Harvey over him? He
is EACR one spot higher.

Speaker 4 (14:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (14:54):
I didn't have it and like that in my rankings.
But I don't have a good reason for saying that
ECR is incorrect here with RJ Harvey, who at least
he scored touchdowns last week, he catches passes, he's the
belcow for the Denver Broncos and theoretically, but you're in
ay to start Harvey over Saquon Barkley.

Speaker 1 (15:13):
Yeah, not really, you're starting Barkley over Harvey.

Speaker 3 (15:16):
No, I'm saying that my rankings are probably incorrect, don't
need to update them. And oh so because I don't
have a reason to come on here and say, well, no,
you got to start Saquon Barkley over I mean, it's
do you have a better alternative start that guy instead.

Speaker 1 (15:30):
Of well that might be it. So, yeah, I guess
Harvey ahead Harvey or Barkley.

Speaker 2 (15:38):
It's kind of funny, same thing on a smaller scale
because he hasn't played as many games, but RJ. Harvey,
like really good usage hasn't been that efficient. But right
now I think I do have to go with R J.

Speaker 1 (15:51):
Harvey. That is where we are at all right, the
twenty range of running backs are pretty fascinating. All these names,
I think they're gonna list lots of questionquestions. Let's start
with kamanan guy who is twenty one. More interesting is Jonder.
Swift is one spot higher than him at twenty definitely
feels like a placeholder where people are like hands up
and you just pick a guy. You guys can tell

(16:13):
me if you feel differently. You guys are both lower
on manang guy and you have the exact same rank ericson.
Let's just do a quick hit with you. Are you
monoguy over Swift? And how good are you feeling about Manangui?

Speaker 3 (16:26):
I move Manongai up significantly. After I first did my
initial rankings, I was much lower on him. I had
him like an RB twenty seven, and then I just
looked the mirror and said, I'm just going to stop
betting against the Bears running backs. I don't care who
they're playing, right, Ben Johnson, what he's been able to
do with this team, with this offensive line, I feel
like they can just run the ball on anybody. You know,

(16:47):
I was afraid of the matchup last week at the
Philadelphia Eagles. Tough spot didn't matter. Both guys rush for
over one hundred yards, So it just doesn't matter to me. So, yeah,
going to Lambeau, Yeah, probably not the best matchup you
could for. But you look at the Packers defensive line
kind of banged up. Kyle Brooks has been injured, Devonte
Wyatt just got injured, and the splits with him off

(17:08):
and on the field are kind of stark where you're
seeing teams when he's off the field, they're running away
from him or averaging north of five yards per carry
that's per Next Gen stats. So Ben Johnson's no dummy,
like he's gonna know exactly how to attack this Packers
defensive line. He knows he needs to protect his second
year quarterback. And how do you do that. How have
they been winning games this year is by running the

(17:29):
football on offense between their two running backs. So I
think that you can I don't have a definitive stance
up you gotta go Swift, you gotta go Manungai because
I think that they're ranked back to back or right
next to each other for a reason because it's a
matter of well, who has the hot hand. And although
I think Mnungui probably has more touchdown equity and I
could see a case for like he should be ranked
higher in half PPR, there is a real case that

(17:51):
the Bears are trailing in this game and you see
more of Swift because he catch just passes out of
the backfield. So I'm not going to protel like I
know exactly how this game is going to play out,
but I feel confident that both guys are going to
get their touches, both guys are going to be efficient
in some capacity, and both guys are going to probably
be top twenty four running backs. Almost somebody gets hurt.
So that's kind of my take on Monong. I mean,
you look at the Bears there number one in terms

(18:11):
of rushing outside EPA per attempt, The backers are fourth
and outside rushes, so again it's kind of strength on strength,
But I've just seen so much positives with this Bears
rushing attack that I want to continue to ride the wave.

Speaker 1 (18:25):
FITZI do you believe that Swift and Monoga should be
ranked near each other? And what's your Week fourteen take
on Kalmanoga.

Speaker 2 (18:32):
It does feel like a cop out, but I do
have them as rankings twins back to back, and Ericson
said it like the Bears are great at running the ball,
they're going to go with the hot hands, so we
don't know who it's going to be. More touchdown equity
for Manangay, more pass catching potential for Swift, And I
know this feels kind of point chasy to go with

(18:53):
Mananga off this big game. Although it's kind of interesting
that this highly regarded rookie running back class only has
one guy who has had two one hundred yard rushing games,
and it's Kamanan Guy, a seventh round pick. Skataboo didn't
do it before he got hurt, Omarion Hampton didn't do it,

(19:13):
Ashton genty hasn't done it. Kamanan Gai two hundred yard
rushing Gays. But yeah, we're not chasing points because of
how good the Bears run running game has been second
the league in rushing yardage, just twenty two yards behind
the Buffalo Bills, and since the Bears Week five by
they have averaged one hundred and seventy nine point six
rushing yards per game, and they've run for at least

(19:35):
one hundred and forty yards in all but two of
those eight games. This offensive line is just incredible in
the running game, and uh yeah, I think they're gonna
go with a run heavy approach in lambeau Field this week.

Speaker 1 (19:50):
All right, let's talk about what he marks and what
level of trust do we actually have in him. He
just toes the line of an RV two coming in
at twenty two. You guys both have him outside of
a top twenty four RB because he's going up against
Kansas City Chiefs, one of the worst matchups you could
just have in general, one of the worst matchups of
this range of running back Fitsie, why don't you kick
it off? Woody Marks has got a bad matchup and

(20:12):
it looks like you are attempting to fade if you can't.

Speaker 2 (20:15):
Yeah, that's why I'm below consensus on him. And it's funny.
We kind of got swerved on Woody Marx and what
he was going to be. We thought he'd be a
good pass catching back, maybe more of a third down guy.
Than an early down guy. But over his last five games,
Woody Marx has five catches won a game and he's
averaged fifteen point four carries. So definitely more of an

(20:39):
early down guy, or at least sort of a pure
running guy, a guy who gets all his value on
the ground and not in the passing game at all.
And that kind of makes me nervous against the Chiefs
defense that's always tough against the run under Steve Spagnello.
It's kind of like the Todd Bowles defense in Tampa Bay.

(21:00):
The Chiefs stop the run, it's just what they do.
And you know what he marks is averaging three point
six yards per carry this season, So going up against
the Chiefs, I can't get excited about that.

Speaker 1 (21:12):
I'm going to guess you also, Ericson cannot get too
super excited about it. With your rank on Whatoody Marx
versus the Chiefs.

Speaker 3 (21:19):
I think you got a bench Whaty Marx this week?
He has had every opportunity to smash over the last month.
He's RB thirteen expected points per game. You know what
his real points per game is? RB thirty eight. Like
I mean, this guy at the Colts RB forty one
Bills RB twenty seven, Titans RB forty two. Now he's

(21:42):
facing the Chiefs on the road. This is one of
the toughest matchup you could pull for a fantasy running back.
And the pass catching is not there. So it's kind
of blind optimism, as a phrase we like to throw
out on here that oh, well, if they are chilling
in this game, they will involve Woody Marks more as
a pass catcher. But that really has not been the case.
Maybe that's been due to gain script. It's not like
they haven't involved him at all this season as a

(22:03):
receiver out of the backfield. But I just I get
really concerned about a player of that and just this
team doesn't run the ball effectively. Woody Marx is third
to last and rushing success rate this season thirty one percent.
Just he has not been efficient rusher at all. I
don't think that's all on him. I think the text
offensive line has serious issues because holding hands with him
and the bottom of success rate is definitely Nick Chubb like,

(22:25):
he's definitely down there too, So it's not all on
Woody Marx. But where's the upside here? With Woodie Marks
playing at the Chiefs. His biggest issue is he just
can't punch in any touchdowns and is it going to
be this the matchup where okay, now he finally scores
on all these red zone opportunities against the Kansasity Chiefs,
one of the best run defenses in the NFL. I
just don't think that's going to be the case here.
So although usage has been really good for him, that's

(22:48):
been providing just a floor for what he marks and
not that ceiling and against in one of the toughest
matchups that you could draw for a rookie running back,
I think we could see the kind of bottom out
here for this Texans offense in a game that I
think is going to be lower scoring. So what he
marks to me is a floor play at best this
week and someone that I think that you probably have
more upside as a flex play.

Speaker 1 (23:10):
On the other side of this game, you've got Kareem
Hunt who comes in as ECR twenty three, and this
is a tough matchup for him as well. You do
a p check go back, not that it matters, but
you know, volume is always the big question about like
what side Kareem Hunt's going to be on, So the
same thing kind of applies here. I think for Kareem
Hunt to Woody Marx, but Erickson, you've got Kareem Hunt

(23:32):
quite a bit lower than Woody Marks. I do wonder
if hearing your sentiments on what he marks, he's going
to move down a little bit further. But would you
go Mars over Hunt or is a better way to
approach this? Just everything you said about Woody Marks kind
of also applies on the Kareem Hunt side of like
you need to find a better option.

Speaker 3 (23:49):
I think you need to find a better option. It's
cream Hunt. We know it's Scott's coore touchdown right, he
doesn't score touchdown. He's probably not going to be super
useful for your fantasy lineup. I know he had that
monster game ton of carries two weeks ago, and even
off a short week, the Chiefs went right back to
him as the RB one. But I think that Pacheco's
going to be more involved again another ten days off
of coming back from his injury, I think that he's

(24:12):
going to play a little bit more, be more of
a fifty to fifty split. Although I don't think it
really matters with Hunt, because your bet is just as
he find the ends on or not and in a
game that I just don't think is going to be
high flying and scoring between two really strong defenses. I
think you can do better than Kaream Hunt this week.

Speaker 1 (24:28):
Fitzy, do you think you can do better than cream
Hunt this week?

Speaker 2 (24:33):
Yes, you can, but I'm still starting him over what
he marks this week. And yeah, Pachecko came back from
the knee injury. I don't know if we get fifty
to fifty this week. I Hunt was pretty clearly the
lead guy last week, out snapped Pachecko forty two to twenty,
out touched him fifteen to five. Possible that it was
just a ramp up game for Pachecko, but Pachecko hasn't

(24:55):
been effective this season, and Kareem Hunt, relative to Picchecko,
has so he does have touchdown equity eight touchdowns this season,
five in his last five games, and there's a safe
enough usage floor with him where if he doesn't get
a touchdown yet, it's probably not going to be a
good day for Kareem Hunt, but he's probably not going

(25:17):
to completely brick for you.

Speaker 1 (25:20):
All Right, we're going to talk about the running back
threes if you will, twenty five through thirty six, But
first you can still dominate your fantasy league with Fantasy
Pros Premium, and you can do it for free for
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all season long are all playoff long. I mean, it's

(25:41):
the six months you can really look at this as
a playoff run that you can do. Go to Fantasypros
dot com Slash Premium if you have not already done
to get started, all right. Running Back twenty five is
Devin Nils, followed by Kamani Videl, Ken Gainwell, Kenning Gainwell,
Chris Rodriguez, Dave Montgomery, Zach Sharbone. The bottom half is
Bam Knight, Blake Korum, base Shell, Tuton, Tony Pollard, Tase Spears,

(26:05):
and Tyler Algier. Devin Neil RB twenty five. This is
a weird spot because I do kind of feel like
all of his production and all of his usage is
just tied to Alvin Kamara. So, FITZI, let's start with you.
Is this the rank where Alvin Kamara is inactive? Or
is this kind of a hedgy like I don't really

(26:27):
know We're gonna see, like, how how are you putting
this together if Kamara? Because I don't know if Kamara's
going to be active. I'm kind of leaning towards he's not.
And I'm guessing maybe that's your rank as well, because
you're a little bit higher than consensus. So what's your
take on Devin Neil.

Speaker 2 (26:40):
Yeah, I'm assuming that Kamara is not active, and Devin
Neil's probably going to be well out of even running
back three range if Kamara is back for this one.
It's just looking at my rankings. I've got the two
Bears at running back twenty two and running back twenty three.
After that, there is no one who I trust, and

(27:00):
that includes the guys we were just talking about, Kareem Hunt,
Woody Marx. Devin Neil falls into that category. The usage
was encouraging last week fourteen for forty seven rushing, three
catches for twenty two yards on three targets, but the
Buccaneers are always a tough matchup in the running game.
Saints offensive line is kind of a mess because they've
been hit so hard with injuries. I just can't feel

(27:22):
good about Devin Neil, but the usage does provide a
decent floor. I guess if Alvin Kamara does remain out.

Speaker 1 (27:31):
X, I'm guessing the same thing with you. Your rank
is probably indicative of Alvin Kamara not playing. You're a
little bit more optimistic. You've got him as an RB
two at twenty two. So what's your take on Neil
without Kamara?

Speaker 3 (27:41):
But eighty one percent of the snaps last week, so
I was seeing Bill Calo type of usage. It's not
exactly the greatest playing in the Saints offense, but he's
involved on all three downs. He catches passes, he sees
some type of goal line work if the Saints get
within scoring distance, so kind of makes some gamescript proof.
So whether the Saints are the plucky underdogs and they

(28:02):
have a lead against the Buccaneers, okay, he's in the game.
They're getting blown out by the Buccaneers, Okay, he's in
the game. So there's a lot of outs with Devin
Neil where I feel like, okay, he can be in
RB two, especially in full PPR, but I don't think
that he has a massive, massive ceiling, which isn't really
you know, groundbreaking analysis when you're on the Saints, Like
just like with Kamara, right, like there was never like Gage, Oh,

(28:22):
Kamara's gonna smash just so he's like, now you just
gotta like play him because he's gonna score like ten points.
And that's kind of it.

Speaker 1 (28:27):
It was like Kamara was like trash the whole year,
and then it was finally like Fitz, we're sitting here talking,
We're just like we need to just get rid of him.
And then he has his one big game and it
holds us a little bit longer and then just falls
apart again like he's a disaster. So we are leaving
the train station of guys were comfortable with. There's a
small stop in Maybeville, and I think one of the

(28:49):
conductors or at least one of the mayors of Maybeville
is Chris Rodriguez Junior. Other town residents are Dave Montgomery,
Zach Sharmone, maybe Bam Knight if Trade Benson isn't there.
But Maybeville is kind of the central space where Chris
Rodriguez is. I don't know if we feel super comfortable
with it with him, but the one thing we do
know is there's high touchdown equity. If they get into

(29:12):
that spot, it goes to him. We know he's going
to get ten carries, but it's probably ten for forty
and you got to hope for a touchdown. So that's
why it's Maybeville. He is ECR twenty eight. Ericson you're
slightly higher fit. You're right at ECR. Do you agree
that he is at least out of the guys you
feel really comfortable with and this is a pure touchdown play?
What's your take on Chris Rodriguez Erickson?

Speaker 3 (29:34):
I mean, you definitely want him to score a touchdown
or else you're going to regret probably playing Chris Rodriguez
because he's not going to catch passes, so that's a
red flag with him in his profile. Commanders are playing
on the road against Minnesota, a very volatile team but
overall a pretty strong defense. But it's also defense's faced
the highest run rate this season. So to your point,

(29:55):
it's like, all right, lock in ten carries forty yards
feels like a really good projection for Chris Rodriguez. He's
kind of barreling his way in between the tackles and
then does he score or not? Right, if he goes
the ten for forty in a touchdown, you're like sick.
He was a good flex play this week and RB
two when I was in a pinch. If he doesn't score,
you're gonna be disappointed. So I don't really think that

(30:16):
the analysis needs to go like really farther from that.
We've seen teams been able to run the ball on
the vikings at times. You know, the Commander's identity is
to run the football. I think if Jane Daniels plays,
maybe that gives a little bit of a boost to
the run game here. But to your point, if you
look at he has eight plus Fantasy points in four
straight games. He scored in three of those last four games,
but I don't think he's finished higher than RB twenty nine. Right, So,

(30:39):
like the ceiling really isn't there because the commanders they
refuse to commit to one guy like Chkoy Cross Camert
is still playing. He gets a handful of carries and snaps.
They use Jerrem m McNichols on passing down. So there's
a chance that rodriguezel bought him out. If the commander's defense,
the bad defense shows up and JJ McCarthy nine comes
to play or whatever it is nine that I don't

(31:00):
know what his alter ego is, and he starts throwing
touchdowns left and right, and it's fourteen to nothing, then
you're kind of screwed if you played Chris Rodriguez this week.
So probably more of a four play than it's the
only play for me.

Speaker 1 (31:12):
Fitz's safe to say that you're only starting Rodriguez because
you have to at this point.

Speaker 2 (31:17):
Yes, or because I play in a standard league. That's
kind of it. He has one catch this season, one,
So in PPR, I'm not even considering starting Chris Rodriguez.
Like I would rather start, uh, you know, Rashein Ali
or someone like that than Chris Rodrick. Maybe maybe not
quite that far, but like I'd rather start a backup

(31:37):
like Emmanuel Wilson. Maybe I just it's just touchdown dependence here.
Three touchdowns in his last four games, four touchdowns in
his last six. But Chris Rodriguez has a single game
high of fifteen rushing attempts this season and hasn't had
more than twelve in any other game. So it's not

(31:59):
even like there's really a volume here that you can
count on. It's just playing for a touchdown, and I
think you have to be pretty desperate to trot him
out in your lineup this week.

Speaker 1 (32:08):
Okay, we'll play one quick game and then we'll get
out of here. On the RBS, starting at We're just
start at Blake Korum, Blake Korum, Bachhell Touton, Tony Pollard, Spears,
and Algier. You are desperation and you have to play
one ericson. Let's start with you. Which of those five
is your desperation play?

Speaker 3 (32:27):
Can you list the guys off again? Korum?

Speaker 1 (32:29):
Absolutely, I can Blake Korum at Who's thirty two? Base
Schelle Tooton at thirty three, Tony Pollard, Taj Spears, and
Tyler Algier Desperation play desperate times, call for desperate whom?

Speaker 3 (32:44):
Definitely it would be Korum for me. We've seen him
get a decent amount of run with Kien Williams. I
know we got a report today that the RAMS is
trying to keep Kyroen fresh for the playoffs, which I
think is smart for him because he's been way more
efficient this year when he's actually seen like limited touches.
Maybe he's a little bit banged up. I know he
heard his ankle last week, so maybe they just like,
now we're just gonna let Korum run the last couple

(33:05):
of weeks of the season. They're facing the Cardinals, it's
a layup matchup, so big ceiling wise, if Korum does
get more usage, he could have a multi touchdown game,
eighty rushing yard, something along those lines. Whereas we said
with Rodriguez, it's like he's like maxed out at RB fifteen,
which is where he finished against the Seahawks back in
Week nine. I don't think that it's going to be
much much higher than that.

Speaker 1 (33:27):
FITZI, you're allowed to say the same name. If you'd
like Korum Ali, who'd we have? Algier touton who is
your desperation play?

Speaker 2 (33:34):
It's Koram thirty five percent workload share in one of
the best offenses in the league. And right now I've
got Chris Rodriguez ranked ahead of Korum, and I think
I need to change that. I think I need to
have Quorum higher. Ericson would you rather start Quorum or
Kenneth Gainwell, Yeah, I'm close on those two right now.

(33:55):
I've got gain Well ranked a little higher, but I'm
not sure that's the right call.

Speaker 1 (33:59):
And I would go over Chris Rodriguez as well. So
this actually because we didn't have Korum on the list.
I did that assuming we were gonna at least get
one Korum in here, and those the words that you
got you were talking about from McVeigh where they said
they're obviously trying to save Kiren Williams. The other thing
they kind of mentioned is like they're completely happy and

(34:20):
committed to this every other series. Because he's saying almost
essentially doesn't see a difference between Kyen and Blake Koram
at this point, Like that's how much they like.

Speaker 3 (34:29):
It's it's hard, I mean watching RAMS games, like sometimes
it's like hard to figure out which guy's on the field.

Speaker 1 (34:35):
That's what he said. That's what he said. He's like
they're twenty two and twenty three and sometimes he can't
tell the difference, and like, yeah, that's it's it's such
a throwaway, stupid line, but it also shows the element
of like what a good running back they feel Blake
Koram is and their comfortability with it that you know,
like you're not gonna get volume, but would you rather

(34:56):
bet on the Rams offensive Blake Koram in ten to
twelve touches or the the Commander's offense and ten touches
with Chris Rodriguez. I'd rather go with Korm at this point,
you know, he is getting drives dedicated to himself. So
this was a Blake Korm tweet. That's what that was.
All right. There you go. Those are our RB's the
top thirty six. You guys want to check out more,
go to fantasypros dot com slash rankings. You can see

(35:16):
how they adjust. Of course, you can go to Fantasy
Pros on the website or the app as well and
check out all the cool tools. But if it's just
rankings you want, we got you covered right there. If
you have questions that maybe we did not answer, we
got the Start and Sit live stream on our YouTube
on Thursday three pm Eastern, so lock in your questions.
You can use super chats to get front of the line.
If you're listening on the podcast, go to YouTube dot

(35:37):
com slash Fantasy Pros, subscribe, click notifications. Be there. We'll
answer those questions. That's going to do it for the
week fourteen running back ranks. I'm Chris Welsch, that's Pat
Fitzmorris and Andrew Erickson. Good luck. Let's see you in
the playoffs and we'll talk to you next time right
here on Fantasy Pros.

Speaker 4 (35:53):
Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast.
If you love the show, the best freeway to support
us is by leaving a positive review on Apple Podcasts
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Hosts And Creators

Andrew Erickson

Joe Pisapia

Derek Brown

Thor Nystrom

Ryan Wormeli

Pat Fitzmaurice

Matthew Freedman

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Week 14 Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings & Tiers: Studs, Sleepers, and Must-Starts (Ep. 1877)