Fantasy Football Week 14 Running Back Preview: Waiver wire, projections, DFS plays and more

It’s not new news to say that running back by committee has become the norm in the NFL. The number of workhorse running backs has consistently shrunk over the past 5-10 years. But even with that trend, the uncertainty in Week 14 is especially troubling. It’s not just that we know backs are going to share. It’s that there are far too many situations where we don’t know how they’re going to share.

The most high profile of these situations is in Dallas. Tony Pollard has been much better than Ezekiel Elliott on a per-touch basis, but Elliott is getting more touches and has primarily been the team’s red-zone and passing-downs back. Was Pollard’s long run in Week 14 enough to change the script?

In Green Bay the situation may be even murkier. The last time we saw Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon on the field together, Dillon saw 25 touches for 90 yards and a score while Jones was limited to just 10 touches for 23 yards. What’s more, in two prior games there was one game where Dillon was the running downs back and Jones worked mostly in the passing game, and another game where the script was the opposite. 

And those two situations are far from the only uncertainties. Will D’Onta Foreman or Dontrell Hilliard lead the Titans? Does Ameer Abdullah keep playing more than Chuba Hubbard with Christian McCaffrey out? What happens to the Rams running back room if Darrell Henderson is able to get back on the practice field? Or in San Francisco if Elijah Mitchell is not able to play? Will the Jaguars keep messing with James Robinson’s playing time? 

All of this uncertainty gives us a lot of possible flex options with upside, but very few No. 2 running backs with any floor. 

Let’s get to the rest of the Week 14 RB Preview:

Week 14 RB Preview

The following players are not being projected to play Week 13 at this time. Here’s what it means:

• 29 — Javonte Williams saw a season-high 29 touches without Melvin Gordon in Week 13. It will be very interesting to see how the load is shared if Gordon returns.
• 13 — Antonio Gibson has 13 targets over his past two games. He’s a top-five back if J.D. McKissic remains out.
• 39 — Josh Jacobs has 39 catches this season, which is six more than his previous career high.
• 44% — James Robinson played 44% of the snaps in Week 13, his second lowest mark of the year.
• 9.7 — Austin Ekeler has averaged nearly 10 yards per catch in his career. If Keenan Allen is out, Ekeler could be even better.
• 17 — A.J. Dillon has seen 17 targets over his past four games and caught all 17 of them; who gets the passing work in Green Bay will be key moving forward.
• 49% — Ameer Abdullah played nearly half the snaps in the Panthers most recent game. Chuba Hubbard hasn’t topped that snap rate since Week 8.
• 13 — JaMycal Hasty has never seen more than 13 touches in a game. He should smash that number if Mitchell and Wilson remain out.
• 2.6 — Adrian Peterson is averaging 2.6 yards per carry this season. Hopefully Seattle doesn’t waste any more touches on him.

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