Well, that escalated quickly… It only took until Week 2 of the fantasy season for multiple big-name backs (and some middle-name backs) to either get injured or crap the bed.
Obviously, the top area of concern for most is the devastating injury to Nick Chubb. However, fantasy teams are still trying to replace JK Dobbins, Saquon Barkley and David Montgomery potentially for the next few weeks, or even Austin Ekeler until he’s ready to play again.
Based on the plethora of injuries and/or total benchings (looking at you, Cam Akers), you either need a running back, or you’re in a position to play spoiler and block others in need (or benefit from another owner panic trading). Either way, I will give you some quick-hitting options and thoughts about what to do.
Every team is in a different place, so I won’t assume to know what you are all specifically dealing with, but I will give you three option areas with which to proceed: All in, Splash the Pot, and Check — for my poker-playing friends.
ALL-IN
The first option you have is to go all-in on getting yourself a top-end replacement. This is a move reserved only for teams that have lost Chubb and lack any depth at running back (either you also had Dobbins or Akers, or maybe you doubled up on Chubb and Barkley at the first-round turn in your draft).
This move means you have to actively trade for one of the handful of higher-end running backs that have a track record (Derrick Henry, Tony Pollard) or take a chance that a big performance like D’Andre Swift is a sign of more things to come (I’d be hesitant to bet on Swift as an RB1 the rest of the way for what it’s worth, more on that later).
Be aware, that this will cost you real assets at another position, and these players won’t come cheap with the other owner potentially preying on your needy situation. I would only suggest doing this if you are working from great depth at the position you’re dealing from or selling high on a guy like Mike Evans or Puka Nacua and getting the other owner to value them at the level of these backs.
SPLASH THE POT
This is the middle-of-the-road option. You can trade for a guy you think has a reasonable chance to either rebound from a bad performance or is coming off of good production but might come cheaper because they don’t have as much name recognition yet.
Targets in this area include guys like Jahmyr Gibbs and Javonte Williams, who many are down on because they haven’t screamed out of the gate yet but still have a solid long-term outlook. Also in this area are guys like Kyren Williams, who I fully expect to produce at an RB2 level from now on but may have other owners thinking they are selling high.
Obviously, the level of currency you have to give up to acquire one of these players will vary depending on the owner you are dealing with. I have a lot of Gibbs and Williams on my teams, and I wouldn’t move either one of them unless I were getting a low-end WR1 or top-end WR2, but as I said, many other owners are impatient and might part with one of these guys for a WR3 or even Flex level WR.
You might even be able to pull off a guy like Josh Jacobs or Joe Mixon with mediocre starts to their seasons, but both of those guys probably have enough name recognition to command more.
Alternatively, you could make a play for one of the Jets’ teammates. Breece Hall and Dalvin Cook are both coming off dreadful outings, albeit they played the Cowboys’ defense with Zach Wilson under center. Hall will cost more, most likely, because he had that one 80+ yard run in Week 1, and he’s the younger, more exciting back. However, I would be willing to take a chance on Cook as he will still split the backfield for the foreseeable future, and he should come with a fairly light price tag.
Very few running backs can replace these early-round studs, so this kind of move is all about taking a gamble without mortgaging the rest of your team’s value.
CHECK
This is the option where I expect most owners to flock, and it is recommended if you can’t find somebody frustrated with the names in the Splash the Pot area.
For this option, you are picking a player off the waiver wire and hoping for things to work out, or making a small trade — a bench player for a bench player. This is where it is really league-dependent because some of the guys I will mention here are floating around on waivers in many leagues. Still, most of these guys are owned in leagues with 12 or more owners (or sharp owners in 10-team leagues), so results may vary.
First and foremost, Jerome Ford is the No. 1 Week 3 waiver wire pickup, and it isn’t close. If Ford is available in your league, you have to put in for him no matter what. Beyond Ford, I would target Kenneth Gainwell, Roschon Johnson, Chuba Hubbard, or Matt Breida as a last resort. Those guys should be available on waivers or could be had for very little.
Other players that may be worth taking a chance on with the knowledge that they may also bust are Cam Akers (who knows, maybe he gets traded to the Browns), and Antonio Gibson (Brian Robinson is the guy there, but I do think Gibson will eventually get mixed in more).
Finally, there are a few options to keep an eye on but probably not worth a roster spot until/unless more information comes out about them: Leonard Fournette and Kareem Hunt. These dudes are still out there and still have talent — with the latter visiting Cleveland on Tuesday. Again, these guys are not on an active roster, and bench spots will be at a premium, with bye weeks beginning soon.
SUMMARY
Whether you make big moves and go all-in on a running back rebuild for your team or take a more conservative option is entirely up to you and dependent on your team’s situation and your league. But, please remember this is only Week 3 of a long season, and things change rapidly in the NFL, especially at the running back position.
You can absolutely overcome the loss of an early-round player and still take your league down. Don’t panic, don’t make foolish decisions, think rationally about what you really need for your roster and your best way to get there, and maybe take a chance on one of the players I highlighted here today. You won’t even remember Week 2 when you’re holding up the trophy at the end!
