RB Starts/Sits
Three backs to plug in, three to park on the bench. Here’s the case for each.
Yo! Real quick, before we get to the picks →
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Now, on to the picks…
✅ START: Rhamondre Stevenson (NE) vs. Jets
With TreVeyon Henderson out with a high ankle sprain, Stevenson takes over workhorse duties in a Patriots offense that has won back-to-back games.
17+ PPR points in back-to-back weeks, with a touchdown in each game and the clear top role in the red zone
We’ve seen this before: Without Henderson in Week 1, he handled 18 carries and five catches and ceded just six carries to Corey Kiner
Soft landing spot: The Jets have been the 5th-worst defense against RBs and rank 3rd-highest in expected rushing TDs allowed
Stevenson led the NFL in rush yards over expected last season, and now the backfield belongs to him. Start him as a top-12 RB.
❌ SIT: Jeremiyah Love (ARI) @ Rams
The talent that made Love the No. 3 overall pick is real, but his ankle and Arizona’s situation make him too volatile to trust this week.
Ankle concerns on both sides: He’s still managing the ankle he hurt in training camp and reportedly tweaked the other one, and he was spotted helmetless on the sideline in Week 5
Script killer: Love totaled 8.7 PPR points over his last two games, including 22 yards on 12 carries (1.8 YPC) as Detroit ran up the score and he was phased out
Shared backfield: Tyler Allgeier keeps cutting into his touches and vultured a 22-yard TD in Week 4, while Love runs a route on just 29% of dropbacks because coach Mike LaFleur wants an extra blocker in
The Rams have been the 3rd-toughest defense against RBs and have held every back not named James Cook or Christian McCaffrey under 13.8 fantasy points. Bench Love this week.
✅ START: Jaylen Warren (PIT) @ Buccaneers
Warren has turned Rico Dowdle’s absence into a breakout, and his chemistry with Aaron Rodgers gives him a weekly floor no matchup can erase.
Week 5 explosion: 188 scrimmage yards and two TDs against the Colts, including an 80-yard catch-and-run
Rodgers’ favorite outlet: Ran a route on 70% of dropbacks in Week 3, with a check-down-heavy QB whose Steelers ranked 2nd in RB targets last season
Workhorse and efficient: 20+ touches in three straight games while ranking top-5 in missed tackles forced
Tampa Bay has been the 7th-toughest defense against RBs, but Warren’s receiving work insulates him from a tough front, and Rodgers calls him one of the toughest players he’s ever played with. Fire him up as an RB1.
❌ SIT: Omarion Hampton (LAC) @ Chiefs
Hampton was billed as a Year 2 breakout (including in this space), but he has sunk along with a Chargers offense that has lost all five games.
Frustrating production: 33 yards on 14 carries (2.4 YPC) against Denver, and a third of those yards came on one 11-yard run
Three-way committee: His snap share has fallen to around 30% as Keaton Mitchell and Kimani Vidal took on work after his back-to-back fumble games
No help up front: He’s averaging just 9.1 PPG behind a beat-up offensive line that is missing bodies
Kansas City has been the 9th-toughest defense against RBs, which leaves Hampton a dart-throw flex at best.
Our next start has no committee problem at all, because he owns the goal line outright.
✅ START: Javonte Williams (DAL) @ Packers
Williams hasn’t needed efficiency to pay off, because the end zone keeps finding him.
TD magnet: Six rushing touchdowns through five games, including three against Houston in Week 4
Total monopoly: Owns a near-40% touch share and all of Dallas’ goal-line work, and he saw all but one RB opportunity in Week 5
Juicy matchup: Green Bay is surrendering 28.3 fantasy points per game to RBs, the 2nd-most in the NFL
He has averaged 3.8 YPC or fewer in four of five games, but he ranked 5th in the NFL with 62 red-zone touches last season and the Cowboys didn’t add competition. Start him as an RB2 with RB1 touchdown upside.
❌ SIT: Bhayshul Tuten (JAX) vs. Texans
Tuten is getting the volume, but the touchdowns keep going somewhere else.
Rodriguez is the red-zone vulture: Chris Rodriguez scored late in Week 4, while Tuten had TDs of 44 and 3 yards wiped out by holding penalties
Goal-line letdown: He carried 22 times for just 72 yards (3.3 YPC) against the Eagles, and his one goal-line look was a jet sweep that lost six yards
Brick wall: Houston has been the 2nd-toughest defense against RBs and has held every back not named Javonte Williams under 11.2 PPR points
Tuten hasn’t scored since Week 3, and with his scoring capped against one of the league’s stingiest run defenses, his volume buys only a modest floor. Keep him on the bench if you have a better option.
That’s the list. The tough calls on this weekend’s RBs, made easy.
-Joe
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