As fantasy football Week 4 approaches us, two top-tier handcuffs have emerged. Both Bucky Irving and Braelon Allen are real contributors to the Bucs and Jets, respectively, and are available in most re-draft leagues.
Bucky Irving (32.7% owned in ESPN leagues) and Braelon Allen (28% owned in ESPN leagues) have been quiet assassins through three weeks but are major contributors on the ground for their squads, and are worth a king’s ransom in FAAB this week off the Week 4 waiver wire. Let’s breakdown Braelon Allen or Bucky Irving to decide which running back you should pickup in fantasy football.
BUCKY IRVING FANTASY OUTLOOK
In a coming out party in Week 3, Bucky Irving had nine rushes for 70 yards and adding three catches on as many targets for another 14 yards.
Rachaad White has dominated touches out of the Tampa Bay backfield for the last two years, but a complement has arrived in the back out of Oregon. In three games, White has produced only 23.2 fantasy points, garnering 25 carries and five receptions.
The veteran in the room has had a diminishing role from the start of the season, and Irving has been much more efficient, averaging 7.7 ypc. Irving’s three-down skill-set, mixed with his efficiency, has given Todd Bowles a newer, shinier joker in the deck when approaching the rushing attack.
In Week 3, we saw Irving out-snap White 42 to 18, with TB Bowles explaining that the rookie had earned these looks, especially in a game where the Bucs trailed from the onset.
In postgame interviews he stated, “He can make the first guy miss more often than not, and that’s a rare trait to have in this ball game… To make a guy miss, the first guy miss, and potentially have big play ability is something that we didn’t have a lot of last year.”
Now, this may just be coach speak in order to light a fire under White, but it seems as if there will be a more significant Week 4 workload for Irving when the Bucs play the Eagles. Don’t be surprised if Irving takes over this backfield sooner, rather than later.
BRAELON ALLEN FANTASY OUTLOOK
Without the leadership and talent of Aaron Rodgers last season, the New York Jets had a very New York Jets style season last year, riding the underperforming Zach Wilson for most of the season.
Now that Rodgers is mostly healthy (we think), the Jets’ offense looks as potent as it should be on paper. This elevation has much to do with the addition of fourth round RB Braelon Allen, who cumulatively has 19 carries for 96 yards with a touchdown and also adds 6 catches for 45 yards and a score through the air.
In addition to these huge yardage numbers, Allen saw a season-high 14 touches in Week 3. He also ran 10 routes on 33 Rodgers’s dropbacks, carving a real role into the passing game in New York.
In terms of usage, he is still operating at about half of the workload of Breece Hall, which is by no means a knock. Hall is a premier back in the league, but it’s promising to see the trust the 20 year old rookie is garnering. Week 3 saw Hall take 71% of the snaps to Allen’s 37%, along with a respective 58% to 29% split of rushing shares. Even if these numbers stay about where they are for the next few weeks, and Allen continues to display the explosive three-down talent we have seen for the entirety of his collegiate career, his role in the NY backfield will be cemented.
Now, imagine if those numbers reach a more 50/50 split…
SUMMARY: BRAELON ALLEN OR BUCKY IRVING?
If you put a gun to my head and told me, “pick a rookie RB who will help my fantasy team the most,” I’d have to take Bucky Irving. He has a much lesser obstacle in front of him compared to who Allen is competing with, and White has been the model of inefficiency since entering the NFL. Sure, White is a top receiving back, but Irving could lock-down the early downs and goal line work, while also mixing in some receiving. Give me Bucky Irving to surpass Rachaad White in total touches for the season.
Like most experts, The Wolf is split on the two running backs, with Allen checking in at RB28 and Irving landing at RB29 on his most recent 2024 Fantasy Football Rest of Season Rankings update.
