Fantasy Football Start/Sit Rankings & Advice: Running Back (Week 15)

David Montgomery should probably be in your starting lineup this week. In the three games that Bears backup RB Khalil Herbert has missed, Montgomery has averaged 19.3 opportunities (carries + targets) and 100.3 yards from scrimmage. From Week 11 to Week 13 — the first three games after Herbert got hurt — Montgomery was the RB6 in half-point PPR formats. The Bears have been the NFL’s run-heaviest team this season, and they certainly aren’t going to abandon the run against the Eagles, whose pass defense is among the best in the league.

J.K. Dobbins says he still isn’t all the way back from the devastating knee injury he sustained in August 2021, but his 15-120-1 rushing day against the Steelers last week was impressive nonetheless. I’m treating him as a midrange RB2 this week in a favorable matchup against the Browns, who have given up the third-most fantasy points to running backs.

Since Week 7, D’Onta Foreman has averaged 19.3 carries and 85.7 rushing yards per game. Chuba Hubbard and Raheem Blackshear are involved in the Carolina running game, too, but the Panthers gave their three running backs 39 carries last week while doing their best to try to hide QB Sam Darnold. There was plenty of work to go around. Foreman faces the Steelers — a neutral matchup for RBs. The Panthers are slight favorites, so they’ll most likely have a run-friendly game script and should be able to hammer away on the ground yet again.

If you have any sort of stake in the Patriots’ backfield, you’ll have to monitor injury reports over the next few days. New England’s lead RB, Rhamondre Stevenson, sustained an ankle injury in Week 14 and didn’t practice on Wednesday. Damien Harris, who’s missed the last two games with a thigh injury, was able to get in a limited practice on Wednesday. Harris should be considered a low-end RB2 if he plays against the Raiders on Sunday and Stevenson doesn’t. If neither is able to play. Kevin Harris and Pierre Strong would divide work, though it’s not clear who’d carry more of the load. They both looked good Monday night against the Cardinals after Stevenson went down. If Stevenson and Damien Harris are both out, I’ll rank Kevin Harris and Strong as low-end RB3s.

The Detroit backfield has gotten messy. It seemed safe to use D’Andre Swift again after he had 111 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown vs. the Jaguars in Week 13, but Swift fell back to Earth with 6-21-0 rushing and 3-18-0 receiving last week against the Vikings. Swift had a 51% snap share in Week 13 but only a 36% snap share in Week 14. Jamaal Williams has a league-high 14 TD runs, but there are reasons to be concerned about him, too. Over his last six games, Williams is averaging 57 rushing yards and just 3.35 yards per carry. The last time Williams had a game in which he averaged 4.0 yards per carry or better was Oct. 30. Williams hasn’t caught a pass in his last six games. The TD production has been terrific, but Williams will be facing a Jets defense that has yielded only seven TD runs to RBs. Treat Williams and Swift as high-end RB3s this week.

Cordarrelle Patterson scored five touchdowns in his first five games of the season, but he’s gone without a TD in his last four games. I still think C-Patt is a decent fantasy option this week. The Falcons have run the ball on 56% of their offensive snaps this season, and they might lean even more heavily on the running game than usual in order to lighten rookie QB Desmond Ridder‘s load in his first NFL start. It’s worth noting that Patterson ran for 120 yards and a touchdown against the Saints in Week 1 and had 126 receiving yards in a 2021 game against New Orleans.

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