Fantasy Football Backfield Breakdowns | Can You Still Trust Bills’ James Cook, Ravens’ Gus Edwards, Texans’ Dameon Pierce?
Taking a look back at week 6 touch and snap counts showed tricky situations for the Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans, where the touches were pretty evenly distributed amongst running backs.
Let’s take a look at each situation and determine if it was a one-week blip, or a sign of things to come.
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Texans’ Backfield
We’ll kick things off with the most puzzling week 6 breakdown.
When you look at the season stats, starting back Dameon Pierce has played 200 snaps and gotten 106 touches, while backup Devin Singletary has 144 snaps and 44 touches.
The big difference in touches has helped overshadow what’s been an issue for several weeks. To only have 56 more snaps played in six weeks breaks down to less than a 10-snap difference between the two a game. That’s not what you want to see if you own Pierce.
Week 6 was even more troubling, as Singletary outplayed and outproduced Pierce. Singletary played 34 snaps and had 62 total yards on 13 touches. Pierce played only 21 snaps and was held to 34 yards on 13 touches. The red zone carries even went in favor of SIngletary, with the backup getting five to Pierce’s four.
While the issue has been lingering for several weeks, week 6 may have been the tipping point. Pierce is still going to play and get some touches, but it looks like Singetary is poised to be the leader in snaps and touches going forward.
Singetary is averaging a yard more per carry and has simply been more efficient than Pierce. Seeing as the backfield workload split in week 6 led to a win, I’d expect the team to keep moving in that direction.
Houston plays the Carolina Panthers in week 8 after a week 7 bye. The Panthers are the second-worst defense in the league in slowing opposing backs, allowing 34 fantasy points a game. Seeing that, and how the backfield snaps and workload went in week 6, I’d be comfortable starting Singletary that week. Pierce could get back on track against the poor run defense, but I’d be far more comfortable playing SIngletary this week.
Ravens’ Backfield
The Ravens picked up a big win over the Tennessee Titans in week 6. Two running backs played for Baltimore, and the No. 2 option was far more efficient as a ball carrier.
Gus Edwards has served as the lead back since the injury to J.K. Dobbins, but he’s struggled of late. He got 17 touches against Tennessee, but turned those into only 53 yards. He rushed for 41 yards on 16 carries and caught a 12-yard pass.
Justice Hill received 11 touches for a second straight week, going for 35 yards. He was most effective as a ball carrier, rushing for 35 yards on eight attempts. His three catches didn’t gain any yards.
Edwards played 17 more snaps, playing 44 to Hill’s 27 snaps. In the four games they’ve been active together in since week 2, both players have led the way in snaps played twice.
It’s been hard to predict how the Ravens’ backfield will shake out on a weekly basis, and will likely remain that way if the team continues swapping which guy will lead the way in snaps. That makes it hard to pick out a starter, so I’d simply use their defensive matchups as the biggest indicator until a better pattern forms.
This week, Baltimore plays the Detroit Lions. It’s the worst matchup possible for an uncertain backfield, as Detroit is allowing a league-low 12 fantasy points a game to opposing backs. I wouldn’t feel comfortable starting either Baltimore back this week.
Bills’ Backfield
Another tricky backfield situation has developed in Buffalo, where James Cook and Latavius Murray reside.
In the team’s ugly win over the New York Giants in week 6, each back played 30 snaps.
Cook finished with 14 touches, rushing for 71 yards. Murray tallied 12 touches, rushing for 45 yards. Neither back caught a pass or was even targeted.
Cook was the far more productive back, but the fact that Murray got so many touches is certainly an issue. Cook has only topped 20 touches in one contest this season. He played less than 50% of the team’s offensive snaps for the second time in three weeks.
Murray hasn’t gotten more than six carries in a contest until week 6, and his 30 snaps played was also a season high.
This looks more like a one-week blip than the other team’s situations, but it’s one you need to keep an eye on for sure.
Buffalo takes on the New England Patriots this weekend. New England has been average in stopping opposing running backs, allowing 21 fantasy points a contest. I’d be most comfortable starting Cook this week, with Singletary getting some extra consideration in deeper leagues. If the two continue to split carries and snaps, then it might be a different conversation heading into future games.
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