Although it WAS a brutal day for quarterbacks, we made it through Sunday without any major injuries at the running back position. From a production standpoint, only two running backs (Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry) went over 100 yards rushing, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t have a handful of strong fantasy performances. Gus Edwards hit paydirt three times, while Joe Mixon had perhaps his best game in almost a year with 110 total yards and a touchdown. Here are the other things I saw at the running back position on Sunday:
- Chuba Hubbard is off the handcuff list after playing on 66% of the snaps Sunday, out-touching Miles Sanders 17-2 in the process. Hubbard’s overall production was bad (just 54 total yards), but he appears to have pushed past Sanders.
- Alexander Mattison dominated snaps (62%) and out-touched Cam Akers 16-10, but it was Akers who scored on Sunday. With Kirk Cousins now looking likely to miss the rest of the season, I wouldn’t be excited about any Vikings piece.
- Bijan Robinson saw a 73% snap share, rushing for 62 yards and a score on 11 carries. We are getting warmer, and if he starts getting in the 15-20 touch range, he is going to be a second-half smash.
- Kenny Gainwell fumbled inside the five-yard line Sunday, costing Philadelphia points when they were trailing. Just give D’Andre Swift those carries and let him score (he ended up doing just that late in the game).
- Both Breece Hall and Rhamondre Stevenson showed signs of life Sunday. If you’ve held on this long, you could reap the rewards down the stretch
Fantasy Football Running Back Handcuff Rankings (Week 9)
Handcuff Rankings
- Jahmyr Gibbs (DET)
- Zack Moss (IND)
- Chuba Hubbard (CAR)
- Zach Charbonnet (SEA)
- Kareem Hunt (CLE) — He might be the lead back here.
- Jaylen Warren (PIT)
- Elijah Mitchell (SF)
- Tyler Allgeier (ATL)
- Emari Demercado (ARI)
- Joshua Kelley (LAC)
- Tyjae Spears (TEN)
- AJ Dillon (GB)
- Devin Singletary (HOU)
- Jaleel McLaughlin (DEN)
- Miles Sanders (CAR)
Buffalo
- Starter: James Cook
- Handcuff: Latavius Murray, Leonard Fournette
I am highlighting Buffalo here for a few reasons. They signed Lenny Fournette today, who I believe will be more competition for Latavius Murray than James Cook. Speaking of Murray, the Bills had multiple chances inside the five-yard line last Thursday where they put the ball in his hands, and he was unable to score. This could be part of the reason they signed Fournette but shame on Sean McDermott, thinking that was the highest percentage play.
You have a 6-foot-5, 240-pound quarterback in Josh Allen, but you choose to hand it to Murray there. This doesn’t even speak to the fact that James Cook should probably be more featured than he is. It just seems like some teams don’t know how to utilize their best players.
Cleveland
- Committee: Kareem Hunt, Pierre Strong, Jerome Ford
Hunt led the way Sunday with a 36% snap share, but all three backs were in the 30%-range. Ford has looked good but was a little banged up, so Cleveland might have been limiting him based on the injury. Still, it seems Hunt is starting to nudge his way in here and scored again on Sunday, giving him back-to-back weeks with an RB2 finish. With the way Cleveland plays, there is no reason to think this can’t be a situation where two running backs are viable each week.
We have seen this for the past few years with Nick Chubb and Hunt, so while it might be more that the two backs are in RB2/Flex consideration, it isn’t out of the question that both Ford and Hunt are startable.
Seattle
- Starter: Kenneth Walker
- Handcuff: Zach Charbonnet
I have been looking most of the morning for an injury update for Walker and haven’t been able to find one. That makes the fact he didn’t play the last 6:43 of the game all the more odd. Walker looked just fine when he was in, rushing for 66 yards on eight carries, although he was stuffed once down near the goal line. Charbonnet, however, was as explosive as he’s been as a rookie, and he had a 56% snap share to Walker’s 44%. He averaged a robust 10.6 yards per carry (5/53), so it is possible the Seahawks preferred him down the stretch.
This could turn into a committee, as Seattle used Charbonnett on almost 100% of the third-down snaps as well.
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Jason Kamlowsky is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Jason, check out his archive and follow him on Twitter @JasonKamlowsky.
