Fantasy Football Week 7 Running Back Start/Sit: Jacory Croskey Merritt, Woody Marks and More

Welcome to Week 7's fantasy football start/sit breakdown for the running back position! As always, I'd like to start with a quick look back at last week's results.

It was a truly awful week for my start picks. I started with a big whiff in Hassan Haskins — a Chargers running back did have a big day, but it was Kimani Vidal, contrary to pregame reporting. Haskins' 2.8 half-PPR points were likely a week-killer, so I can only apologize.

Speaking of week-killers, both Patriots running backs failed to take advantage of a soft matchup with the Saints. There might be a lesson there that, when a team appears to have two viable RBs, they usually actually have zero. Finally, Jacory Croskey-Merritt also provided a dud, although his usage was still excellent.

As terrible as those results were, the sit section was unsurprisingly better … but not by as much as you would hope. My bold call of fading Derrick Henry didn't quite succeed, as he finished with a solid 13.5 half-PPR points. Chase Brown was also mediocre-but-not-terrible. Even David Montgomery salvaged a day of terrible usage (four carries) with a couple of chunk plays through the air to finish with 7.1 points.

Overall, that's by far my worst week off the season, coming off arguably my best week in Week 5. Hopefully, the pendulum will swing back the other way this week. There are once again fewer options than usual with byes and injuries, so let's get right into it!

For more help with your toughest Week 7 start/sit decisions, check out FantasySP's NFL Start/Sit tool!

Running Backs to Start Week 7

Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Washington Commanders

As mentioned in the intro, JCM let me down as a start pick last week, but his role was still excellent. With that in mind, I'm going straight back to the well. It didn't turn into fantasy points, but Croskey-Merritt saw 17 of Washington's 19 RB carries on Monday. He also played 67% of snaps and led the team with a 40% route participation rate. 

Even more encouraging, he saw all this work despite a costly fumble in the first quarter. When a rookie can fumble and still dominate a backfield, that's an excellent sign. Chris Rodriguez only played one snap and didn't touch the ball.

This is officially Bill's backfield. And that's all I need to know to trust the rookie who ranks third in both classic yards per attempt and yards over expected per attempt. A juicy matchup with the Cowboys takes this pick over the top to be a no-brainer.

Kimani Vidal, Los Angeles Chargers

Vidal wasn't exactly a true bell-cow for the Chargers in Week 6, but he was their clear RB1. The second-year back handled 18 of 24 carries on a 67% snap share, and he also saw four targets on a backfield-leading 44% route participation rate. 

His matchup this week isn't ideal, as the Colts have allowed the eighth-fewest points per game to opposing RBs. But volume and offensive environment matter far more than matchup, and they are both on Vidal's side.

The Chargers have a healthy 25-point total, the eighth-highest on their slate. That makes their RB1 a solid fantasy option, even if he was on the team's practice squad just a few weeks back. 

Woody Marks, Houston Texans

When he exploded for 25.9 points in Week 4, Marks was the talk of the fantasy football world. But the fourth-round rookie followed up his breakout game with a dud in Week 5, and then the Texans were on bye in Week 6. Unsurprisingly, the shine has gone off his profile as a result.

However, that Week 4 explosion wasn't just a fluke. Marks legitimately took over the Texans' backfield, and he led in snaps again in Week 5. With that said, Nick Chubb is still involved, and Houston's matchup with the Seahawks is roughly average.

If the previous two players are borderline must-starts, Marks is more someone to turn to if you don't have obvious options. He is currently being started in only 6.8% of ESPN leagues, and that number should definitely be higher, even if it shouldn't be 100%. 

Running Backs to Sit Week 7

Kenneth Walker, Seattle Seahawks

Walker is in the opposite situation to Marks. He's not a must-bench, as his combination of workload and explosive ability means he could still easily provide a solid outing. However, his projected start percentages indicate that he is still being viewed as a solid RB2, which is simply not the case. 

In games where Zach Charbonnet is active, Walker has averaged 9.4 half-PPR points per game. Again, that's not terrible, but it's not ideal. He has played 41% of Seattle's snaps and handled 62 carries to Charbonnet's 55% and 60. Walker slightly leads Charbonnet in targets, but he trails in routes and has seen just 1.3 per game — Seattle ranks dead last in the league in RB target share.

And if anything, Walker's usage is trending in the wrong direction. He has just a 38% snap share, a 22% route share, two targets, and one fewer carry than Charbonnet over the last two weeks. In those two outings, he scored just 6.7 points per game. Especially against a tough Houston defense, Walker looks more like a boom/bust flex option than an RB2 candidate, given his recent usage. 

Chuba Hubbard, Carolina Panthers

In case you somehow missed it, Rico Dowdle has absolutely exploded over the past two weeks while Hubbard was sidelined by a calf injury. Hubbard is on track to return this week, but he isn't likely to walk right back into a clear RB1 role.

Panthers head coach Dave Canales was cagey when asked if Dowdle had stolen the starting job in Hubbard's absence, but he at least said that the former Cowboy has “earned the right to help this team.” 

Given how truly spectacular Dowdle's results were over the last two weeks, I think the best that Hubbard managers can hope for in his return is a 50/50 split. And a 50% share of this Panthers' backfield isn't exactly an intriguing fantasy prospect.

Hubbard could return to fantasy relevance eventually or even win his job back entirely. But for his first week back, the juice simply isn't worth the squeeze.

Tony Pollard, Tennessee Titans

For most of the beginning of this season, Pollard has seen elite usage but has been held back by Tennessee's terrible overall offense. In Weeks 1-4, he handled a pristine 93% of the Titans' RB carries on an excellent 89% snap share. He didn't see too many targets (2.25 per game), but his 61% route participation rate was also excellent. Still, he only averaged a mediocre 9.9 points per game, as Tennessee's offense provided very few opportunities for big plays or touchdown scoring.

With the return of Tyjae Spears in Week 5, things have gone from bad to worse for Pollard. Over the last two weeks, his snap share has fallen to 58%, his route participation rate to 40%, and his RB rush share to 71%. If we only look at last week, Spears actually outsnapped Pollard in a negative game script, 59% to 42%.

Suddenly, Pollard is in a timeshare on arguably the league's worst offense … and he's facing the fifth-toughest matchup for RBs this week. You do the math. 

Bonus Thursday Night Pick: Chase Brown, Cincinnati Bengals

I'll keep this one short, as it's likely too late for most of you to use this advice. But if you're reading this article soon after it is published and aren't sure whether to start Brown for tonight's Thursday Night Football game, don't.

To go with playing on a putrid offense, he's lost his bell-cow workload in recent weeks. You don't want to have to stare at his dud in your RB2 slot for the next three days.