While battles happen at every position in fantasy football, running back battles are particularly interesting because they often produce league-winning upside – Tony Pollard and Rhamondre Stevenson in 2022, Cordarrelle Patterson and James Conner in 2021. Let’s discuss running back battles to monitor for 2023. We’ll focus on ambiguous backfield battles for this article. We’ll exclude repeated committees – such as the Green Bay backfield – or backfields dependent on the lead back being traded or cut – such as Minnesota.
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Running Back Battles to Monitor
Let’s dive into backfields battles that will be worth monitoring this offseason.
Seattle Seahawks: Kenneth Walker / Zach Charbonnet
The biggest running back battle to monitor is in Seattle. Kenneth Walker went from a confident round-one draft pick to plummeting down rankings after the Seahawks drafted Zach Charbonnet. Charbonnet was the third-ranked prospect at running back in this year’s class. Many analysts mocked Charbonnet to teams like Cincinnati or Miami where he could compete as a three-down back over aging veterans. But the Seahawks made a shocking round two investment in Charbonnet, putting the Seattle backfield in an ambiguous situation. Walker should have the first crack at retaining his position. But it’s tough to imagine the Seahawks utilizing Charbonnet as just a backup. We’ll have to monitor this backfield all offseason to see if either running back has RB1 upside or if the entire situation is doomed for fantasy failure.
Philadelphia Eagles: D’Andre Swift / Rashaad Penny / Kenneth Gainwell / Boston Scott
The Eagles backfield will likely be the most chaotic and difficult to predict. While the Eagles lost offensive coordinator Shane Steichen to the Colts, their offensive philosophy will likely remain the same as the Eagles boasted one of the best passing and rushing offenses in the league and filled the coordinator position by promoting quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson. With Miles Sanders exiting in free agency, the Eagles running back room consists of D’Andre Swift, Rashaad Penny, Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott. It’s possible for a borderline RB1 to emerge from this group. Sanders finished as RB10 in standard and RB15 in PPR with 1,269 yards and 11 touchdowns on 259 attempts. Penny is the only back in this group who has seen true a lead back workload. The only problem is he has failed to sustain it for more than a third of a season. Swift has showcased RB1 upside through receiving volume but injury issues have plagued his career as well. Gainwell and Scott have played complementary roles. Keep your eye on this backfield because the RB1 should come at a fantastic ADP discount and have legitimate top-12 upside.
Detroit Lions: Jahmyr Gibbs / David Montgomery
With Swift battling for position in Philadelphia, the battle in Detroit is between Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. While some might not view this battle as particularly interesting – as we know Detroit’s goal of segmenting early and goal line down work versus receiving work – but this is a backfield to monitor because Gibbs’ 12th overall draft capital demands attention. It’s simple with this battle. If Gibbs can command a baseline of 10-15 carries per game and dominate the receiving work out of the backfield, he has true RB1 potential. In 2021, Swift was RB5 in PPR Weeks 1 through 11 with a league-high of 53 receptions over that time period. Gibbs is more than capable of fulfilling that workload if he can gain 1A status over Montgomery.
Kansas City Chiefs: Isiah Pacheco / Jerick McKinnon
It feels wild to discuss a battle between Isiah Pacheco and Jerick McKinnon but this has significant fantasy implications. A running back without receiving upside has a capped ceiling and low floor. Pacheco took over as the lead back for Kansas City in Week 10. From that point through the end of the regular season, Pacheco had 633 rushing yards – the fifth most over that time frame behind only Josh Jacobs, Nick Chubb, Najee Harris and Derrick Henry. Of running backs that had a minimum of 100 carries over that time period, Pacheco had the second-highest yards per carry at five yards. There’s no denying Pacheco was extremely effective on the ground – so effective the Chiefs didn’t draft a running back. They did re-sign Jerick McKinnon who dominated in receiving out of the backfield. But during the playoffs, McKinnon’s usage was minimized. Pacheco had five receptions for 59 yards in the conference championship game. If Pacheco can earn trust in the passing game, he has true RB1 upside.
Honorable mentions
Chicago Bears: Khalil Herbert / D’Onta Foreman / Roschon Johnson
This backfield has capped upside with Justin Fields‘ dominant ground game and two of the three backs having little to no receiving upside. But monitor this backfield to see if one back can emerge as the favorite.
Houston Texans: Dameon Pierce / Devin Singletary
Pierce should dominate early work but monitor Singletary’s involvement in third-down work. Pierce is capped at an RB2 if he’s limited to early-down work.
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