During the 2023 season, fantasy football analyst Jorge Martin will provide weekly analysis of some of the muddiest fantasy RB situations as he looks ahead to future matchups.
It’s time to check out some rooms that after a week, well, the outlook is muddy at best. No matter how much you crunch the numbers and watch film, there is still a darkness that makes it too difficult to have a clear view of who to recommend for fantasy football’s future.
So here are 10 backfields, with a little analysis and a look at the Week 2 opponent to get an idea of how to predict if there are starter-caliber players for this week or the future.
The numbers say this backfield is incredibly tilted David Montgomerywho was on the field for a total of 55 snaps as a rookie Jahmyr Gibbs he saw just 19. Montgomery was the most reliable as he was asked to block on 10 pass-to-head plays for Gibbs. That usage translated into touchdowns as Montgomery hauled in 21 carries for 74 yards and a score. The rookie converted seven carries for 42 yards and caught both of his targets for 18 yards. Could have scored if not for sliding into the red zone.
One thing the numbers don’t say is the different speed Gibbs displayed on the field. The rush was special, and it’s only a matter of time before the Lions start giving Gibbs more touches.
Seattle comes to Motown this week fresh off a 30-13 shellacking at the hands of the Rams, who ran the ball 40 times for 92 yards and three touchdowns. Montgomery should continue to get the bulk of the carries, with Gibbs gradually getting involved.
Quick reminder: Seahawks-Lions last year was a Week 4 feast, 48-45 at Ford Field. Could this be a repeat?
It wasn’t the plan to include the Ravens in this write-up after a week. A torn Achilles by JK Dobbins changes things up drastically and throws some chaos into the Ravens backfield. Just looking at the in-game adjustments that Baltimore made, Hill of Justice i Gus Edwards they will share the burden.
Hill scored on a pair of 2-yard runs, but finished with 9 yards on eight rushing attempts. Edwards rushed for 32 yards on eight carries and is a bruising north-south running back who has been a mainstay for the Ravens. Head of the back drew a target.
The Ravens travel to Cincinnati for an AFC North rock showdown, and the Bengals are getting roughed up after doing so Nick Chubb stomping on them for 106 yards and 18 carries last week. Although Hill scored twice, my money (FAAB and figuratively) is on Edwards to carry more of the load.
But it won’t be a huge upside, and there’s a chance the Ravens could sign Leonard Fournette, Kareem Hunt or another running back before Sunday. Or promote Melvin Gordon from the practice squad.
All offseason the talk in the fantasy community was this Antonio Gibson would step into that hybrid role, as a pass-catching threat out of the backfield, while Brian Robinson he would be a two-down banger that gives up the field in obvious passing situations.
Both ran 17 routes and caught a single pass each against Arizona. “That’s why they play the game,” Chris Berman said.
Robinson dominated rushing attempts, 19-3, and was on the field for 43 snaps to Gibson’s 25. Although ADP had Gibson at RB33 to Robinson’s RB35, this seems like a clear advantage for Robinson.
The Broncos, Washington’s Week 2 opponent, should be tougher against the pass than the run this season, but the 2022 NFL rushing champion Josh Jacobs was held to 48 yards on 19 attempts last week.
The recommendation is to bench Gibson until he becomes a bigger part of the offense. As for Robinson, if there are options for a better running back, he could fill a seat for a week. Otherwise, he’s an RB2 at best for now.
At the end of training camp, The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue noted the growing role Kyren Williams was playing in the Rams’ offense, which was a similar drumbeat to what we heard last year before Williams hurt the opening quarter of 2022. .
Then came Sunday, and Williams dominated Akers in total snaps, 51-27. Williams also ran 26 routes to Akers. The carries went in favor of Akers, 22-15, although the starter only gained 29 yards. Williams will clearly be a factor in this offense, and the distribution of touches between those two will be a headache for fantasy managers who used a fifth-round pick on Akers. Williams must be listed in all 12-team formats or more for the remainder of the season.
This week, however, it will be difficult to start backwards as the Rams face the 49ersthat they were the #2 run defense in 2022 and went to Pittsburgh and choked Steelers rushers to 52 combined rushing yards.
So how many people accidentally left Rashad Penny in a starting lineup because they were playing in the afternoon game? Here’s the raised hand. Experts had this backfield fixed as By Andre Swift being a double threat to the…
