Week 11 Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings & Tiers | Studs, Sleepers, and Must-Starts (Ep. 1838)

Summary

FantasyPros Fantasy Football Podcast – Week 11 Running Back Rankings & Tiers | Studs, Sleepers, and Must-Starts (Ep. 1838)

Brief Overview

In this episode, hosts Chris Welsh, Andrew Erickson, and Pat Fitzmaurice dive deep into their Week 11 running back (RB) rankings, discussing studs, sleepers, tier breaks, and must-starts for fantasy football. With only two teams on bye, the trio analyze the shifting RB landscape, highlight new and returning opportunities for backs, and debate close calls within and outside the Top 24. The discussion is lively, analytical, and candid, offering both data-driven advice and gut-check assessments.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

State of the Week 11 RB Landscape

• There’s a sense of optimism this week with more RB options available due to fewer bye weeks (only two).

• Some RBs, previously buried on depth charts or plagued by injuries, are now thrust into starting roles.

  • [00:35] Chris Welsh: “I feel like it’s better than it’s been in quite. We have optimism to running backs this week, Pat.”
  • [01:28] Pat Fitzmaurice: “You can never feel completely awesome about running backs in the week where Jonathan Taylor is on bye.”

• The impact of Jonathan Taylor being out is palpable, as he’s deemed a league-winner for many fantasy teams.

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Top 12 (RB1s): Rankings and Debates

Top 12 RBs (per ECR):

1. Christian McCaffrey vs ARI
2. Devon Achane
3. Bijan Robinson
4. Josh Jacobs
5. Jameer Gibbs
6. James Cook
7. Rico Dowdle
8. Ashton Jeanty (Genty)
9. Javonte Williams
10. Saquon Barkley
11. Jalen Warren
12. Kyren Williams
    [03:22]

Rico Dowdle vs. Ashton Jeanty

• Erickson: Leaning strongly toward Dowdle over Jeanty.

  • [04:50] “It’s not close for me. It’s Rico Dowdle. You want to attack a defense that just gave up 250 rushing yards to the aforementioned Jonathan Taylor … Rico Dowdle, he’s the engine of the Panthers offense.”
  • Expects the Panthers to be run-heavy to protect Bryce Young against a weak Atlanta run defense.
  • Cautions that the Raiders (Jeanty) face a fired-up Dallas defense with returning starters.

• Fitzmaurice: Has it closer, but still prefers Dowdle. Emphasizes team context and volume.

  • [06:31] “Rico’s playing on a team that is actively trying to hide its quarterback with its play calling…they will be run heavy against the Falcons defense that has just been getting slammed.”
  • Notes concerns about Raider injuries and improved Dallas run defense.

Jalen Warren Hype

• Warren at RB11 stands out as an atypical RB1 for the week.
• Fitzmaurice: Likes the matchup versus Cincinnati, but notes Warren isn't a true workhorse.
  • [08:19] “Warren is a fine play for fantasy in Week 11, but he just isn’t really a true workhorse because Kenneth Gainwell gets somewhere between 33% and 50% of the snaps every week.”
• Erickson: Very bullish, citing efficiency, matchup, and the possibility of an "outlier" ceiling game.
  • [09:12] “If we’re ever going to get a Jalen Warren ceiling game, this is it…He’s a broken tackle machine. He’s jumping over dudes, right? He just looks fantastic.”

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RB2 Range (RB13-24): Who Are the Best Volume and Upside Plays?

RB13-24 per rankings: Derrick Henry, TreVeyon Henderson, Chase Brown, Quinshon Judkins, Breece Hall, Travis Etienne, DeAndre Swift, Aaron Jones, Kimani Vidal, Rashad White, Woody Marks, David Montgomery. [13:17]

TreVeyon Henderson (Patriots)

• Erickson: If other Pats RBs (Stevenson, Jennings) are out, Henderson should move into RB1 territory due to volume.

  • [14:03] “If it’s only Henderson and D’Ernest Johnson that are the two active running backs...Move Henderson up into RB1 territory.”

• Fitzmaurice: Thinks the “genie is out of the bottle,” especially after Henderson's monster game, but reminders that Stevenson’s health still matters for projecting volume.

  • [15:08] “It would be hard to stuff that genie back...I would love to see him just be the sole guy going against a Jets defense that has allowed an average of 155 rushing yards in its last three games…”

Chase Brown (Bengals) — Major Rankings Gap!

• Erickson: Exceptionally high, ranking him RB6 (!), loves likely bell-cow usage with Samaje Perine out.

  • [16:43] “I am searching for ceiling this week with Chase Brown…He could play every single snap for the Bengals’ backfield this week.”
  • “Chase Brown has an RB1 overall finish in his range of outcomes…he’s explosive, involved in all three phases, and ECR is lagging.”

• Fitzmaurice: Likes him, but more cautious; sees Steelers run defense improving.

  • [18:19] “He’s not just drinking Kool Aid, but like Kool Aid laced with Ayahuasca!”
  • “[The] Steelers run defense really hasn’t been that much of a pushover…and I do think maybe the way to attack them is more through the air.”

Aaron Jones Debate

• Fitzmaurice: A bit low at RB25, cautious about the split with Jordan Mason.
  • [20:20] “I still consider this a split backfield…if Jones does dramatically out-snap and out-touch Mason again, I’ll have to reconsider.”
• Erickson: High at RB18; thinks Jones’s recent production and passing-game work are real.
  • [21:53] “He’s averaged over 6 yards per carry since coming back from injury…he looks really, really good.”

Woody Marks (Texans)

• Both have him as a solid if not exciting RB2.
• Erickson: “He dominated the snaps last week...Mark checked off every other box – looked efficient, catches passes.”
• Fitzmaurice: More optimistic on stickiness of the role compared to other committee changes.
  • [25:11] “Usage spike might be a little stickier…if the Texans like what they see from him, they’re going to start ramping up his usage.”

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Waiting on Bucky Irving News & His Potential Impact

• Both hosts would aggressively start Bucky Irving if activated, moving Rashad White down.
  • [27:45] Erickson: “That's a top 20 running back play for upside facing the Buffalo Bills…you’re going to feel much worse if you watch Bucky Irving go off on your bench…”
• Fitzmaurice: “I would start him pretty much unconditionally…and want no part of Rashad White who just isn’t good.” [27:02]

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RB3 Zone (RB25-36): Who are the Flex and Deep-League Plays?

Names Discussed: Ken Walker, Zach Charbonnet, Tyrone Tracy, RJ Harvey, Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Kyle Monangai, Tajae Spears, Tony Pollard, Amari DiMercado, Jordan Mason, Tyler Allgeier. [28:15]

RJ Harvey (Broncos)

• Fitzmaurice: Has him at RB26 factoring in Dobbins being out but expects a RB rotation; matchup with KC not ideal.

  • [29:44] “I suspect that Sean Payton is going to continue to rotate running backs…matchup isn’t ideal; Chiefs still a pretty tough matchup.”

• Erickson: Higher at RB20; trusts Harvey’s receiving floor and thinks he gets more red-zone work with Dobbins out.

  • [30:35] “If this was a good matchup, Harvey would definitely be ranked even higher…But I think Harvey has shown, or working alongside…he was playable alongside Dobbins.”

Tyrone Tracy (Giants)

• Erickson: Optimistic about Tracy as a flex option, especially after recent coaching change potentially favoring more snaps for the young RB.
  • [33:53] “I think we could get a scenario where it is even more Tyrone Tracy and less Devin Singletary as the Giants try to evaluate their young players.”
• Fitzmaurice: Open to moving him up based on Erickson’s logic about coaching change and youth movement.
  • [36:05] “Based on the excellent points Erickson has made, I’m probably going to move Tyrone Tracy up.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [03:02] Erickson:“All that matters is did you draft Jonathan Taylor or not. I know we spend hours and hours…But if you drafted Jonathan Taylor, you’re probably winning your fantasy league. Simple as that.”

• [18:19] Fitzmaurice: “He’s not just drinking Kool Aid, but like Kool Aid laced with Ayahuasca party punch [about Erickson’s Chase Brown hype].”

• [30:35] Erickson: “If this was a good matchup, Harvey would definitely be ranked even higher, I think by ECR overall…it’d be like a top 15 guy.”

• [36:46] Welsh: “The biggest win we can have on this show is convincing the other person on any of the shows. We’re just like, let’s go. So that’s a W for Erickson.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• State of RBs, Jonathan Taylor absence: 00:35–03:22
• Top 12 breakdown, Rico Dowdle vs. Ashton Jeanty: 03:22–07:45
• Jalen Warren upside and ranking: 07:45–10:04
• RB2s—Henderson, Chase Brown, Aaron Jones, Woody Marks: 13:17–25:03
• Bucky Irving/Rashad White contingency: 26:06–28:15
• RB3s—RJ Harvey, rookie RB breakouts, Tyrone Tracy: 28:15–36:46

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Overall Tone and Language

The conversation is energetic, competitive, and sprinkled with playful banter (“Kool Aid laced with Ayahuasca!”). The hosts balance stats-driven reasoning with gut calls, frequently referring to recent player usage, coaching changes, and injury updates. The show maintains a direct, practical tone: they aim to answer listeners’ start/sit dilemmas with clarity and conviction.

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Summary Table: RBs Most Highlighted by the Hosts

| Player | Hot Take/Insight | Rank Range | Speaker (Main) | |---------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------|------------------| | Jonathan Taylor | League-winner; managers lucky to avoid his bye | N/A | All | | Rico Dowdle | Clear priority over Jeanty; bellcow setup due to favorable matchup | 7 | Erickson | | Chase Brown | Monster ceiling/massive usage with Perine out; “Ayahuasca” level hype | 6 (Erickson) | Erickson | | Jalen Warren | Efficiency + opportunity = possible ceiling game vs. CIN | 11 | Both | | TreVeyon Henderson | Could be RB1 if injuries clear path; “genie out of the bottle” | 14–15 | Both | | Aaron Jones | Split concerns vs. upside; a top-20 play if role sticks | 18 (Erickson) | Both | | Woody Marks | Solid, reliable RB2; efficiency and usage trending up | 22 | Both | | RJ Harvey | Flex with upside if Dobbins out; pass-catching floor | 20–28 | Both | | Tyrone Tracy | Ascending with coaching change; potential deeper league flex | 26–30 | Erickson | | Bucky Irving | Must-start if activated, major impact on Rashad White | Top 20* | Both |

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Actionable Takeaways for Fantasy Managers

• Start Rico Dowdle with confidence in all formats given matchup and expected volume.
• Chase Brown has true blow-up potential – consider aggressively starting him if you need ceiling.
• Monitor Patriots’ injury reports; TreVeyon Henderson could be a league-winner in Week 11 if others sit.
• Be ready to bench Rashad White if Bucky Irving is active.
• RJ Harvey and Tyrone Tracy are strong flex options in deep leagues, especially in half and full-PPR.
• Re-evaluate rookie RB expectations for future drafts, as true breakouts may not come until deeper into the season.
• Stay attentive to late-week news, particularly on Bucky Irving and other injury situations.

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For more player-specific rankings, roster decisions, and up-to-date injury news, listeners are urged to consult FantasyPros’ ECR and join the hosts for their Thursday live stream on YouTube (Thursdays at 3pm ET).

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

What's up friends and welcome into Fantasy Pros. This is the fantasy Football Podcast Week 11 Running Back Ranks episode. I'm Chris Welsh, Andrew Erickson, Pat Fitz Morris, all of us in the house to walk you through what is going through all these running back ranks here. Probably hopefully a better walkthrough than like Bucky Irving walking through. We're just all crossing our fingers. We are going to actually run through them. So we got the top 36 hopefully answering a bunch of your start and sick questions. Mr. Pat Fitz Morris here. We have some, we have some debates we're putting together here but what are you feeling on the Arby's? Always testing the waters here. What do you feel about our week 11 running backs? We got low, kind of like a low variance of bye weeks. We only have two bye weeks. We've got some running backs that we had been dying all year that are kind of thrust into starting roles feeling. I feel like it's better than it's been in quite. We have optimism to running backs this week Pat.

[C]

We do but you can never feel completely awesome about running backs in the week where Jonathan Taylor is on by.

[B]

And well when you don't own him you can, you're like oh thank God I don't have to go.

[C]

Yeah, there was, there's one league that I'm in and things are clipping along at a nice 7 and 3 pace in that league and the team I am playing this week has Jonathan Taylor and I was just appreciating my good fortune. How lucky are you to get the Jonathan Taylor team in the week when Jonathan Taylor is on by. That's just an amazing stroke of luck right there.

[B]

We actually there's a discussion behind the scenes. One of our top dev guys, we have a survivor league here and there's four people left. It's me, it's pizza Pia and it's Worm and then the fourth is our guy Alon and Worm posts. He goes link, let's make a pack and all destroy A lawn this week because he has Jonathan Taylor and it's on a buy and this is maybe the only week that we can get him. We're doing that. And another funny thing out in the baseball world, I was out in the Arizona folly gets a prospect based thing. I was talking with a Blue Jays prospect about fantasy football and he was like, oh. He's like, bro. He's like, I killed it this week. I dominated fantasy football. I'm like, jeff, Jonathan Taylor, he's like, no, Achan. I'm like, I'm like, all right, you're not going to kill it every week unless you have Jonathan Taylor. He rules the roost there, Erickson. But do you think we have a decent shot? Me worm, piece of pia. Almost doesn't matter what we have. If Elon doesn't have Jonathan Taylor. Like, I feel like this is it. This is our only opportunity to take him down.

[D]

If you guys can't take him down this week, I don't know what you're doing. We're dying because Jonathan Taylor is scoring probably 40% of his points every single week. Look up most fantasy rosters. All that matters is did you draft Jonathan Taylor or not really. I know we spend hours and hours and hours, days, weeks, months researching. But if you drafted Jonathan Taylor, you're probably winning your fantasy league. Simple as that.

[B]

Sometimes it's simplistic and it's just about Jonathan Taylor this year and your your one offs of a Devon H and scoring a bunch of touchdowns or whatever. So let's talk about it. We don't get to talk about Jonathan Taylor this week outside of this. But if you guys want to talk about it. Fantasybros.com rankings if you want to check the ECR, see where things are adjusting, you know, like I have no expectation of it, but Bucky was doing walkthroughs, you know, that would change the ECR if he were to be active. So just go and check it out. Fantasypros.com rankings as all the big rankers out there put theirs in and we get some slight adjustments. But for our purposes today, here is our top 12. Christian McCaffrey comes in at number one against the Cardinals this week. Devon Achan at two. Bijan Robinson, Josh Jacobs, Jameer Gibbs and James Cook. That is our top six. Coming in at seven is Rico Dowdle. Eight Ashton Genty, Javante Williams, Saquon Barkley, Jalen Warren and Kyron Williams. So very chalky, as you would expect. Of course, I wanted to get your guys gauge on this. Rico Dowdle vs Ashton Gente Genty and the Raiders are going up against the Dallas Cowboys with the sub ish par defense in general coming off of a bad performance. But Genti was still able to score. Rico Dowdle, he's the guy now it committed volume and the Atlanta Falcons they stink. So Erickson, let's start with you. These guys are next to each other 7 and 8 Rico Genti, who do you pick and is it close?

[D]

It's not close for me. It's Rico Dowdle. You want to attack a defense that just gave up 250 rushing yards to the aforementioned Jonathan Taylor and especially when it's a guy as talented as Rico Dowdle. He's the engine of the Panthers offense. They are trying to hide Bryce Young and as much as my Tetra McMillion shares would like to see him get more targets, it's just not going to happen when they want to run the football on first, second and third down with Rico Dowdle. So the Panthers smell blood in the water and as the Falcons run defense they can take advantage of it. So I expect a healthy dose of Rico Dowdle. And on the Cowboys side I mentioned some of the wide receiver show. I just think this defense is going to play significantly better out of their bye week. Quinn Williams is one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL and now he is anchoring the interior of a healthy Dallas Cowboys defense who's getting multiple guys back from injured reserve. Coming off a bye week playing up against a banged up Raiders offensive line playing on the road on Monday Night Football. That team is going to play very inspired again. It's the first game that Dallas is playing since the passing of Marshawn Nyland. Again they were on their bye week when the tragedy happened. Every other team has then played two weeks. They're the last game playing in week 11 and I think they're going to show out in a big way at home and I think that's just unfortunate for anyone that's investing in the Raiders. So I know on paper you think man Dallison that was part of the reason why I like Genti as like a buy low because I was looking at matchups ahead of the schedule. They got Dallas and I just don't feel nearly as good about it. So for me this is a layup for Rico Dowdle.

[B]

Yeah, it's interesting Fitz. I just wish like we're getting to the point where it's like please treat Rico like Devon H and just throw it to him or McCaffrey, give him five, six, seven catches a game if you're not going to have big volume and you might struggle with the volume is this close and what side Rico versus Genti?

[C]

Technically it's close for me that I have them ranked one spot apart from each other, but Rico is in one tier and then Genty is in a tier below. And Rico Rico's playing on a team that is actively trying to hide its quarterback with its play calling. And good on Dave Canelis for trying to hide Bryce Young because he has every incentive to try to hide Bryce Young, who just hasn't been good this year. So will he be run heavy against the Falcons defense that has just been getting slammed in the running game? Yes, I think he will be. And Erickson mentioned it like you think about Dallas as being this favorable defensive matchup, but maybe not with the Marshawn Nealon inspiration and the addition of Quinn and Williams, I think this defense is going to be tougher against the run. And the Raiders offensive line kind of a mess, no? Colton Miller, their best offensive lineman. They just lost Jackson Powers Johnson in a key interior lineman. So yeah, as much as I like Genti, it's just not an ideal spot for him. You're playing him no matter what because there is dual run catch usage there. But I like Dowdle a lot more this week.

[B]

Yeah, we're talking about RB1s for sure. If you take a look at the list and you're like, who's the guy that doesn't fit the narrative? Normally it would definitely be Jalen Warren coming in at 11 on this list. He doesn't live in this world a whole bunch, but Cincinnati Bengals the defensive matchup this was kind of teased a little bit in the wide receiver episode. So Fitzy, why don't we start with you? You do have met 13. You're a tiny bit lower. Ericsson's right at ECR, but I felt like there was optimism in conversation when we had talked about Jalen Warren. So Fitzy, what's your take on Jalen Warren this week?

[C]

I think there is optimism. Great matchup and Mike Tomlin has sort of hinted at wanting to get Jalen Warren more touches, saying something about if they just convert more third downs, they'll be able to get him more touch. I think Warren is a fine play for fantasy in Week 11, but he just isn't really a true workhorse because Kenneth Gainwell gets somewhere between 33% and 50% of the snaps every week. So dual usage also for Warren. He runs well, catches passes, but you know, he just does not have that backfield to himself.

[B]

Erickson, what do you think? I feel like you were kind of spewing some of that optimism of Jalen Warren. I think you've got him right at ECR here at 11. So what do you think? Running back one with a level of comfort this week or with a caveat?

[D]

I think I just want to play running backs against Cincinnati Bengals because their defense is just absolutely terrible. If we're ever going to get a Jalen Warren ceiling game, this is it, right? This is the game where even Aaron Rodgers after the game talked about we didn't get Jalen Warren enough touches. The quarterback that always wants the ball and always wants to throw touchdowns and yes, he's probably going to still throw some touchdowns in this game. I think they're going to find a way to get Jen Warren at least one touchdown. The rushing has been fantastic for him. He's been one of the more efficient runners this year. Rushing success rates top 20 PFF grade is top 15 he's a broken tackle machine. I mean, he's jumping over dudes, right? He just looks fantastic. So I want to buy into that. I want to buy into a talented player having a somewhat of an outlier performance, but I think that if they want to have an offensive good performance this week, it's going to be sent around. We got to get Jalen Warren the ball. So I think this could be an outlier performance of him from a ceiling perspective.

[B]

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[F]

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[C]

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[F]

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[B]

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[C]

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[F]

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[C]

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[D]

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[F]

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[G]

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[B]

All right, RB2s, this is RB13 through 24. Go to Derrick Henry at 13, Travion up at 14. Chase Brown, Quinshon Judkins, Breece Hall, Truck Travis Etienne, DeAndre Swift, Aaron Jones, Kymani Vidal, Rashad White, Woody Marks and David Montgomery. Treveon Henderson, RB14. Fitzy, you got him at 14. Erickson, you've got him at 15. Part of me was thinking Erickson, we might try to press it a little bit and get him into an RB1 territory. There's still some questions I guess around like the activation of the other guys there, but you know, he got some volume. He makes huge plays. The jets kind of depleted their defense a little bit. You've got him at 15, one spot lower. Do you think there's more wiggle room or does it really matter either. Either way, top 15 RB, you're starting them this week.

[D]

Well, I think you could move them up if the other guys don't play. I mean every running back on the Patriots has been on the injury report, so Henderson also got banged up last week. We know Trial Jennings got hurt. Ramandre Stevenson's missed the last two weeks with an injury. They're all limited in the latest practice report we got on Tuesday from the Patriots, so they play on Thursday. So we're all going to find out together which running backs are available and if it's only Henderson and Dearness Johnson that are the two active running backs. Well, we're going to have to move Henderson up into RB1 territory. But for now I think that in this top 15 range with it looking like those guys either probably won't play or have limited roles, I think that this is an appropriate ranking for Smash Smash matchup for a player that's starting to build momentum as we get closer to the fantasy postseason.

[B]

Fitzy, do you think that we could start seeing more volume? That's still the thing that's just like lacking. Like it's great that he's getting more momentum and he's breaking those big plays, but like could we get lots of carries, like full bell cow type carries? You think we can go to that space or you think they're gonna, we're gonna continuously just keep him in this range of like you know, 15, 18 touches, like max.

[C]

I do think to some degree the genie is out of the bottle with Travion Henderson. Like it would be hard to stuff that genie back into the bottle when Ramandre Stevenson comes back. Like, oh, we're gonna go back to giving Trey like five or six carries a game? Probably not after a game in which he had 147 rushing yards, two touchdowns, house calls from 55 and 69 yards. So yeah, obviously the status of Ramon Dre Stevenson is the big wild card with Stevenson practicing on a limited basis. But I don't know if that means Stevenson automatically comes back this week because if the Patriots with this Thursday game, let him sit for one more game, then he gets an extra 10 days of recovery time. So if he plays, we will probably have to move Henderson closer to, I don't know, RBA 18, 19, something like that. But I would love to see him just be the sole guy going against a Jets defense that has allowed an average of 155 rushing yards in its last three games and just traded away star defensive tackle Quinn and Williams agreed Chase Brown ECR15.

[B]

This is an instance where we're going to go back to Erickson here because Fitzy you got a Matt consensus but Erickson top six overall, you got him at six. Chase Brown, you are all the heck in. Talk to us about Chase Brown against the Steelers because like who are you starting him above? Are you, Are you Chase Brown over James Cook?

[D]

Yes, I am Chase Brown because I am searching for ceiling this week with Chase Brown and he could play every single snap for the Bengals backfield this week. Samajapiran got hurt in the last game that we saw the Bengals and in that game chase Brown played 96% of the snaps. He saw 14 targets, eight passes for 75 yards because he was playing on third downs because Samaj Pierman was not involved. So what do we know? That's one of the most correlated things in terms of fantasy running back production is just total snaps played, total touches. And if there is no Samaj P. Ryan then Chase Brown has a RB1 overall finish in his range of outcomes this week against the defense that he has his only 100 yard rushing game against this season in the Pittsburgh Steelers. Kamani Vidal look like Ladalian Tomlinson against the Sailors defense on Sunday Night Football. So yes. Am I being a really aggressive with Chase Brown's ranking here? Yes, but it's because I think that his ceiling this week is that of a top five fantasy running back because of the potential bell cow usage where he's playing nearly every single snap. It's a matchup that we've already seen him expose and he's involved in all three phases of the game in terms of rushing and receiving and he has touchdown equity because he's expulsive running back. So I think that ECR is lagging and fits. I mean Chase Brown, we love Chase Brown. Like why can't we get this guy up at least above consensus.

[B]

Yeah. Are you not as hyped about Chase Brown and the potential volume in there? I will say I think in the wide receiver episode Fitz was Pro T. Higgins. So if I remember this correctly that maybe you think this is going to be done a little bit more in the air than it is on the ground.

[C]

Maybe that's part of it. And I do like Chase Brown a lot. I am not quite drinking the Kool Aid to the degree that Erickson is, who is not just drinking Kool Aid, but like Kool Aid laced with Ayahuasca Party punch.

[B]

He's got some party punch.

[C]

Yeah. So he's gone over a hundred Scrimmage yards in three straight games. And as Erickson mentioned, no Samaj P. Ryan. So Chase is probably going to have the backfield to himself, minus whatever snaps the Bengals want to give to rookie Taj Brooks. And when Brown faced the Steelers a couple of weeks ago, he had a season high 108 rushing yards on only 11 carries. Bengals are averaging 32.8 points over Joe Flacco's four starts. I totally get that the setup looks pretty good, but I will say the Steelers run defense has actually been better since the early part of the season when they got gouged by the jets in week one in that crazy high scoring game. In their last six games, the Steelers have allowed under 100 rushing yards to their opponents and four of them. And their worst game as a run defense during that stretch did come against the Bengals, who had 142 yards against them, but otherwise like 65 yards against the Browns. 70 rushing yards given up to the Vikings, 55 to the Colts. They stuffed Jonathan Taylor the week before, making Kamani Vidal look pretty good last week. So charge. Steelers run defense really hasn't been that much of a pushover. And I do think maybe the way to attack them is more through the air than on the ground.

[B]

All right, let's go to Aaron Jones. Aaron Jones is ECR20. You guys are split. Boy, I wish we were talking about Jordan Mason, but Jordan Mason just absolutely cooked. And it is Aaron Jones here going up against the Chicago Bears. Fitz, you got him at 25, Erickson at 18. So one positive, one negative. Fitzy, you've pushed him outside of RB2. So hit us with your Aaron Jones takes.

[C]

Yeah, I mean, this week. Do you think Jordan Mason is completely cooked while shot? I know Jones out snapped him 46 to 16 last week. It was really pronounced.

[B]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. No, I didn't know if you were like figuratively asking me. I kind of do. I think like they're like not going to use him in volume. The best case scenario is they're like a, you know, the Ken Walker Charbonnet thing we always use. And he's not used in the passing game, so he gets nine or 10 carries. There's no touchdown equity anymore. But they seem to want to use Aaron Jones in the inside, the five in the red zone. They want to use him as a passing down guy. So for all intents and purposes, I do kind of think Jordan Mason is cooked. I think he's cuttable.

[C]

Yeah, I mean, I get it. I do think Jones is the more valuable back Here. I just don't know if we're going to see as pronounced a split as we saw last week with Jones playing 70% of the Vikings offensive snaps. He hadn't been above a 53% Snapchat in any other game this season. So I do like Jones just fine in a pretty good matchup against the Bears, who ranked 25th in DVOA against the run and are giving up 4.9 yards per carry to running backs. I just, I guess I still consider this a split backfield, but if Jones does dramatically out snap and out touch Mason again this week, I'll definitely have to reconsider my position here.

[B]

Now, actually, you're higher. You got him at 18. You seem to be a little bit on that Aaron Jones side and maybe that Mason is just nothing. But you tell us, what do you think about Aaron Jones?

[D]

I just think that he's fit. What the Vikings office has been trying to do when McCarthy has looked a little bit better, it's because I think Aaron Jones is ripping off the explosive runs. I mean, he's averaged over 6 yards per carry since coming back from his injury in week eight. Mason's average is 3.6 yards per carry. Aaron Jones has evolved in the passing game. He had six targets last week, and I guess I'm buying more of the snaps last week because the week before, Aaron Jones got hurt again in Week eight. So that's kind of why we saw more of a split, because Aaron Jones got banged up again. He was on the injury report entering this week. We didn't even know if he was going to play in week 10. I love the matchup here against the Chicago Bears. I think that they can be had against the run. They were giving up explosive plays to Tyrone Tracy and Devin Singletary last week. So I think Aaron Jones, when you look at what the Bears have been bad against in terms of defending the run, they're bad against outside the tackle runs and they're bad against under center runs. Aaron Jones in both of those types of running splits over 5.3 yards per carry. He's been really efficient and I know, Fitz, you've seen this before with Aaron Jones. He misses half the season, comes back, has fresh legs and he looks really, really good. So I, I am buying into Aaron Jones a little bit here, and if you just look at the three starts he's had where he's played fully with J.J. mcCarthy, he's been a top 20 fantasy running back in all three games, including one against the Chicago Bears in week one.

[B]

All right, last one on this list, Woody Marks, ECR, RB23. You guys are in agreement. So this isn't, you know, you guys have to battle each other's takes or anything like that. I think if anything this is just more of a discussion piece of like, is Woody Marks kind of the guy and is he a trustworthy RB2 moving forward? Erickson, you guys are both at 22. I mean this, the rank is a representation of it. But like, do you feel a level of confidence in like what Woody Marks has been doing that you're going to roll him out as an RB2 or even a flex?

[D]

I can't think of why he wouldn't be somewhat confident just based on the fact that he dominated the snaps last week. He had a 78 SNAP share. They really didn't use Nick Chubb that much. Now part of me does believe that that might be related to game script because the Texans were getting blown out against the Jaguars. So obviously you're going to have your past catching back play more than Nick Chubb, who's really only used on early downs and the fact that Chubb was on the injury report this past week. So maybe he wasn't really involved as much in terms of the game planning. That being said, Mark's checked off every other box, right? And we also know he's the better running back at this point between him and Nick Chubb's career. So although I think that we do see the snapshot probably get a little bit closer between 15% for Chubb and basically almost close to 80% for Marks last week, especially against the Titans, where you're expecting the Houston Texans to probably play with a positive game script. They don't necessarily need to push the offense so dramatically because they know that their tex the Texans defense is going to shut down 10, the Tennessee Titans and Cam Ward. So that is kind of in the back of my mind. But everything else it's like, I guess don't overthink it, right? It's a good matchup. Woody Marks has already performed in this matchup for against the Tennessee Titans. He had a great game against them earlier this season. He's coming off the season high in snap share. He looked efficient, so. And he catches passes. So if for some reason the Titans come out, they get a pick six, they get a fumble six for a touchdown, they're winning the game and we're freaking out, then Woody Marsh can still be involved. So I think that He's a strong RB2 play this week.

[B]

Fitz, I thought it was interesting when Ericsson said about like the game script, maybe playing like, could that be part of the role? So your take on Woody Marks.

[C]

Yeah, Erickson framed it really well. Obviously we do have to look at the game script and that was undoubtedly one of the reasons that the workload split was so pronounced with the Texans in catch up mode against the Jaguars. And as we know, they eventually did catch up. So still, I think the usage spike for Woody Marks last week might possibly be a little stickier than the usage spike for Aaron Jones last week just because Marks is a rookie. And it sort of stands to reason that if the Texans like what they see from him, they're going to start ramping up his usage and start dialing back on Chubb, who's sort of a known commodity, just this low upside veteran who's had a major leg injury. So yeah, I'm interested to see what the workload split is going to look like this week. And obviously a really good matchup for Marks against the Titans, who have given up the second most fantasy points to running backs.

[B]

I want to ask you guys this real quick. We were going to kind of avoid it, but as we've been doing the show, I've been kind of peeking around at it. Rashad White is at 22. Bucky Irving was seen at practice and I believe also in some practice he put out a post, you know, of like him. Let's go. I think they spoke about him in the expectation of him getting in some forms of practice, like Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, hypothetical, if he were to be activated, what would you do Fitzy, with him? Would you think that maybe they. They ease him in and you know, maybe he still ranks low. Do you think they give him a full word? It's very speculative and I just want to throw this on the end of this little conversation so you don't have to go crazy into it. But, but with this there's a possibility where would you kind of put him and would you have an expectation he's a full go or it's a big share because of the injury?

[C]

I would say he's not going to walk right back into an 80% Snapchat, but I would feel good enough about him to start him pretty much unconditionally. And I would want no part of Rashad White who just who isn't good? I mean like I had a bad week in the rankings last week. My only good position was running back and part of why I did well was I faded Rashad White just because I don't think he's good yeah.

[B]

And Erickson, again, we were talking. We're like, oh, maybe we don't talk about it, but like there just, there seems to be a lot of smoke that's floating around there. I think there's going to be a lot of questions. So just again, general take. Are you going to have a hesitation if he were to be activated and it probably would be like last minute if they did and even starting him, or would you just blindly put him out?

[D]

I would start him. That's a top 20 running back play for upside facing the Buffalo Bills. We've seen them get gashed against running backs this year and you're going to feel much worse if you watch Bucky Irving go off on your bench than if you start him and he has a bad game or is limited. I just play to win. Right. And if Bucky Irving is playing in a significantly decent amount of touches against a bad Buffalo Bills run defense, then I'm going to want to start him. So yeah, and I would also drastically move Rashad White down the ranking.

[C]

And by the way, the Buccaneers offensive line is like fully healthy now and that is a top five offensive line.

[B]

That's a good note. All right, before we get to the RB3s here, it's your chance to dominate your fantasy football league with Fantasy Pros Premium now available free for six months when you deposit and place your first wager on one of our partner sportsbooks. The easiest way to get full access to our fantasy tools all season long, go to fantasypros.com premium to get started. RB3s, RB25 through 36. We've got Ken Walker and Charbonnet at 25, 26, Tyrone Tracy, RJ Harvey, Jacori Karoski, Merritt, Kareem Hunt, Kyle Manangai, Taje Spears, Tony Pollard, Amari D. Mercado, Jordan Mason and Tyler Algier. RJ Harvey. I'm actually going to jump around a little bit. This was when I was talking to Fitzy about off air. I don't know if ECR or maybe it's a combination if ECR is ranking him at 28 as a hedge to JT JK Dobbins. Just waiting to find out the official news. I don't know if this is more about the Chiefs. Bitsy, you have him at 28, but when we get to Erickson, I feel like Erickson has just kind of maybe taken the commitment to saying like, this is no Dobbins and this is what he is versus the Chiefs. But you tell me, Fitzy, let's start with you, you have him at ECR at 28.

[C]

26, actually.

[B]

26. Am I blind?

[C]

No, it's okay.

[B]

Oh, I think we, we have 28 on here, but you moved him. Gotcha.

[C]

Okay. Sorry. Yeah, just a little bit higher than ecr and that is factoring in the expectation that Dobbins isn't going to play. And the only reason I don't have RJ Harvey ranked higher with Dobbins out is because I suspect that Sean Payton is going to continue to rotate running backs as he likes to do. So we might see a fair amount of Tyler Bidet and Jaleel McLaughlin too. And the matchup isn't ideal. I know the Chiefs have not been the impregnable running game matchup that they have been in recent years, but they're still a pretty tough matchup. They're giving up the six fewest fantasy points to running backs.

[B]

So Erickson, you've got him at 20. I think that like I was saying to me, this reads of like Dobbins is out, this is where he's going to sit. But you tell me you're the more aggressive ranker. Is that what this is telling us?

[D]

Yes. Expect Dobbins to miss. I do expect Harvey to get a little bump, at least in terms of base work because J.K. dobbins has kind of been the guy that's been dominating all the early down carries and the red zone work in terms of red zone carries. And I don't think Harvey's role as a receiver is going to change. Right. If anything, he's just going to play more snaps. So that's why I have him a little bit higher at the RB20. Again, matchup's not great, but he has the pass catching floor which has been there the entire time. J.K. dobbins has also been in the lineup, but now when the the Denver Broncos getting close to scoring, I feel pretty confident that it's going to be RJ Harvey that's going to be getting not just goal line carries but goal line targets out of the backfield like he has been all year long. So again, if this was a good matchup, Harvey would definitely be ranked even higher, I think by ECR overall it'd be like a top 15 guy. We would just be like, oh yeah, like RJ Harvey fully loaded. Because I think Fitz is making up a good point that we're going to see plenty of Tyler Bidet, plenty of Juliet McLaughlin. Yes, he still is on the roster. He's going to be active and that's going to be annoying, but I think Harvey has shown or working alongside, I mean he was playable alongside Dobbins and Dobbins has been the workhorse for the Denver Broncos. Harvey only has one game this year with double digit touches and if you had to make a bet he's going to get at least 10 touches in this game, I would say yes. So that's why I have Harvey just a little bit higher.

[C]

It would be cool if we got the big RJ Harvey rollout the week after getting the big Travion Henderson rollout.

[D]

Yes, it will be cool but it just stinks.

[B]

It took double digit weeks but yes.

[D]

Well that's rookie right? This is what rookie running backs we just get. We're just impatient. We're just like we know we get frustrated and these guys break out the second half at all every single time, but we just can't have it. We can't wait two weeks for rookie running backs to break out in the second half of the season.

[C]

Caleb Johnson in week 12, I think.

[B]

Caleb Johnson's 2026, I think 2028, I did. I firmly disagree by the way because I think the rookie running back thing where it was justifiable to take your victory lap and draft them, where they're going is once this happens in week five or six, that was like the old, like Todd Gurley where it was like four weeks and then bam, they go for it to go through week 10. I don't think it's, I don't think you can argue. I mean we can drafting Trayvon Henderson and RJ Harvey where they went knowing they weren't going to be super productive until week 10, that's a failure. That's a failure. But them being amazing right now shows the work of who they were. We just didn't get the volume. It's not necessarily their fault in that. Like drafting Treveon Henderson as a third round pick and him not breaking out until week 10. You could have not drafted him, traded for him off the scrap heap. It wasn't worth taking him and taking the L's on that. So that's like where I kind of disagree but maybe that's something we have to consider for the future. Maybe the rookie running back gap has changed, the chains have moved. It used to be week four, week five, maybe week six. If it's week ten, I don't know. We need to not be drafting them remotely as close as we were. But we get them so we get to all celebrate and be super happy about it. Tyrone, Tracy. Tyrone, Tracy. This is actually moving one spot up ECR 27. Fitz, you've got him at 30. Erickson, you've got him at 26. You, Erickson, you were on Tracy last week. Are we hoping and betting that we're going to get back into it this week? They've got the Green Bay packers though, Erickson. So talk to us about Tyrone Tracy.

[D]

Yeah, it was really weird watching the Tyrone Tracy usage last week because I felt justified buying back into him that I thought, no, he's going to take over as the lead guy and see the majority of snaps, which was correct. But Singletary was the one getting the red zone carries. Singletary is the one that ripped off the big catch and run, which I would expect Tyron Tracy to do as a former wide receiver. So although he did go over his rushing and receiving yards prop despite having zero receiving yards, I didn't feel nearly as good about being high on Tyrone Trace even though he did have a decent rushing effort. The matchup is obviously not ideal against the Green Bay packers, but we talked about Jameis Winston on the receiver show where he is the tie that lifts all boats and that includes running backs. That just includes more scoring opportunities because of the way that he plays. So I think that's good for Tyrone Tracy. I expect him to still be the lead and the firing of Brian Dabel I think is another feather in the cap of Tyrone Tracy. Dabel has been Singletary's guy. Like those guys have had a connection dating back to Buffalo. That may not be the same case with Mike Kafka coming in. And when you look at some of the coach quotes, Mike Kafka has been one that's been a little higher, I think, on Tyrone Tracy than Brian Dable has been. Tracy has been in the Brian Dable doghouse more often than not. So I think that we could actually get a scenario where it is even more Tyrone Tracy and less Devin Singletary as the Giants try to evaluate their young players. Like what's the point of rolling Devin Singletary out there? Like there's no point. Like Tyrone Trees is a young second year running back and hopefully a guy you can pair with Cam Scatterboo when he comes back from his injury next year. So I would expect this is actually positive for Tyrone Tracy. Now the matchup is going to kind of keep him out of top 24 territory, but I think as a flex play in a game that could be kind of fun for a pass catcher who's explosive, I think Tracy does warrant at least some consideration and in some starting lineups this week.

[B]

Pittsu, what do you think? You've got them lower than ecr. Devin Singletary floats around. It's a really good point about like the coaching change that's kind of the mystery to this because I think before that it was like, well, guess what, Tyrone Tracy and Devin Singletary are going to be annoying and the snaps are going to be annoying. But there is this theory that things could change this week. I think you're taking, you might be taking more of a little like pessimistic approach, like let's see it before we start ranking. But I'm putting words in your mouth. What do you think about Tyrone Tracy?

[C]

No, I think Erickson made some good points. The point about the loyalty Brian Dabel has shown to Devin Singletary especially stands. So maybe we get a little less of Devin Singletary this week. He's going to be involved, but maybe it's more like the sort of split we saw last week and we don't see Devin Singletary getting work inside the red zone. So based on the excellent points Erickson has made, I'm probably going to have to move Tyrone Tracy up. Right now I've got him right behind the two Seattle running backs. I think I'm going to move him ahead. Yeah, I know exactly. I think I'm Seattle running backs. I'm going to move Tracy ahead of Walker and Charbet.

[B]

The biggest win we can have on this show is convincing the other person on any of the shows. We're just like, let's go. So that's a, that's a W for Erickson. If you guys are looking for more Ws and we didn't answer your question and you need that W, come and check us out on YouTube Thursdays at 3pm Eastern we got the start and situation live stream you can bring just tons of questions and we are just mass answering all of them so YouTube.com fantasy pros subscribe click on the notifications so on the bell so you can be notified and check out the live stream that is going to do it for the RB ranks for Andrew Erickson and Pat Fitz Morris, I'm Chris Welsh. Good luck in week 11. We'll talk to you next time right here on Fantasy Pros.

[A]

Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football podcast. If you love the show, the Best Friends free way to support us is by leaving a positive review on apple [e-mail] review or on Spotify. Follow us on X Instagram and TikTok at fantasypros and subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube.com fantasypros.

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