Fantasy Football Position Battles: Zack Moss & Chase Brown

There are well over 100 days until the NFL season officially kicks off on Sept. 5, but it’s never too early to start your fantasy football draft prep! We have plenty of depth chart battles to watch, and perhaps no position has more fluidity than running back.

Let’s take a look at the most intriguing running back battles to monitor and the potential fantasy football impact, following the outcomes of the 2024 NFL Draft and Free Agency.

Fantasy Football Running Back Battles To Monitor

Here are running back position battles to monitor over the summer to see where you can mine some fantasy football draft value.

Cincinnati Bengals

Zack Moss | ECR: RB31
Chase Brown | ECR: RB36

With Joe Mixon in Houston, the Bengals’ backfield is truly up for grabs for the first time since 2017. Mixon’s run in Cincinnati was often met with uncertainty, particularly over the past two seasons, where Mixon struggled with efficiency and consistency. Despite those issues, Mixon has produced top-10 fantasy seasons in total points for the past three years with over 3,000 total yards and 29 rushing touchdowns, plus strong receiving volume. If Zack Moss or Chase Brown can separate as the RB1, the result would be an absolute steal at their ADPs.

But which back will lead the way?

For now, Moss appears to have a leg up, coming off a season where he put up RB1 numbers in Jonathan Taylor‘s absence before eventually taking a back seat during the second half of the year. Moss has a proven workload and could maintain the RB1 role through the season.

Still, this backfield could be more ambiguous. Chase Brown struggled to see the field through the first half of 2023 and dealt with an injury. Yet, once he returned, the Bengals began to increase his role, and he thrived, particularly through the air. This is a critical backfield to monitor throughout the offseason. It’s possible it operates as a committee, and Brown is the better fantasy value at a lower ADP with receiving upside for PPR formats.