The first two weeks of the season haven’t been disastrous, but we’ve certainly seen a few running back situations go into flux. We’ve had some injuries change around who’s getting the touches and we’ve seen a bit of movement across the handcuffs, so it’s always important to keep tabs on which situations are changing. Here’s a look at some of the teams you’re going to need to monitor as you pick up free agents and make changes to your lineups:
Baltimore Ravens – The only major change from last week is Kenneth Dixon landing on IR. Alex Collins is still the lead back, but take notice of John Harbaugh’s use of Javorius Allen at the goal-line. It’s tough to say whether this is something Harbaugh will continue to do, but here’s hoping that he wakes up and realizes that, just like last year’s second half of the season, if he gives Collins the touches, the guy will produce.
Buffalo Bills – With LeSean McCoy dealing with a rib issue, all eyes are on the back-ups and people are desperately trying to figure out who the next man up is. Unfortunately, this is going to be more like “next men up” as both Chris Ivory and Marcus Murphy will share carries should McCoy not play. Murphy saw three carries to Ivory’s two last week, but it was Ivory who was given the ball at the goal-line. If I’m a McCoy owner and desperate for a pick-up, I’m still leaning towards Ivory as the guy.
Cincinnati Bengals – With Joe Mixon out for at least the next two weeks (possibly longer), Giovani Bernard is expected to step in as the lead running back. Technically, if the Mixon owner in your league was smart, he already owns Bernard, but if you are making waiver claims and you see him out there, you should try to grab him. Rookie Mark Walton could get a small share of the work as he’s built better for between-the-tackles work, but how much fantasy value he’ll have is probably tied to how long Mixon is out now that we’ve learned there’s a torn meniscus involved as well.
Denver Broncos – I’m not quite ready to put Phillip Lindsay in as the lead back over Royce Freeman , but Vance Joseph’s admission that he is going to stay with the hot hand puts this battle a lot closer than where it was just a week ago. Freeman, overall, is still the better back and has proven his ability to be an every-down back, at least at the collegiate level, but it’s clear Joseph is only interested in cumulative yards for the backfield as a whole as opposed to handing someone the lead job. The pains of fantasy football versus real football will never go away. Consider this a committee situation until one clearly outshines the other.
Green Bay Packers – Head coach Mike McCarthy has stated that Jamaal Williams and Ty Montgomery will see the majority of snaps out of the Packers backfield this week against the Redskins, but that should probably have been assumed as Aaron Jones needs to prove himself before being handed the job again. That’s not to say he won’t eventually take over the job, but McCarthy obviously wants him to earn it. For Week 3, we can probably role with Williams as the front-runner for touches, but this is a situation to monitor extremely closely this week and then another determination can be make as we gear up for Week 4.
Here’s a look at the Handcuff Grid as of today, but keep in mind, situations have been known to change quickly and there’s no guarantee that anyone’s job is truly safe.