Every week Committee Meetings breaks down the top storylines from the league's most head-scratching backfield committees in hopes of gaining some clarity for fantasy owners. If you're wondering about a backfield that's not discussed below, feel free to Tweet @MattFranchise for some additional advice.
We're nine weeks through the season and the top of the fantasy running back standings looks nothing like what owners thought it would during draft season. Of the current top 10, just two players were first-round draft picks back in August: Adrian Peterson and Matt Forte, and Forte is out with a knee injury. We've lost so many elite backs to injury this season, that it's only natural for other guys like Danny Woodhead, Doug Martin and Lamar Miller (who is the No. 1 RB over the last four weeks) to rise up. As far as running back committees are concerned, there's proof that it pays to draft a guy who is buried on the depth chart during the preseason, as Darren McFadden, Karlos Williams and Chris Johnson have all emerged as top-25 options thus far.
Let's see what we learned from Week 9.
All of the bad:
» Alfred Morris, Matt Jones and Chris Thompson combined for 75 total yards against the Patriots. This backfield has been a mess all season, and that doesn't seem to be changing any time soon. Washington faces a porous Saints defense in Week 10, so it's about as good of a matchup as you could ask for, but we still don't recommend any member of this less-than-mediocre group for fantasy purposes.
» Isaiah Crowell posted his highest rushing total in a month against the Bengals on Thursday Night Football ... wait for it ... a whole 38 yards! For some silly reason, Crowell actually out-snapped rookie Duke Johnson for the first time in weeks. But it was Johnson who scored a receiving touchdown -- the Browns' only trip to the end zone in the game. Crowell, who has an abysmal 333 rush yards on 101 attempts this season and two total touchdowns can safely be dropped, while Johnson remains a high-risk, high-reward weekly flex play. The team announced the release of Robert Turbin on Tuesday morning too, so if there's anything positive to take away here, at least we're back down to a two-headed committee. The Browns head to Pittsburgh in Week 10, and the Steelers boast a great run defense, allowing just 798 rush yards and two rushing touchdowns all season. We can't confidently recommend any Browns running back in Week 10.
» The Giants backfield was nearly unusable in fantasy once again. Shane Vereen saved some face with a receiving touchdown, but other than that, the four-back committee averaged a combined 3.6 yards per carry on 32 rush attempts. Surprisingly, Andre Williams was the most efficient of the Giants' runners with 30 yards on seven carries. There's just no rhyme or reason to which back is going to have the better day, and even the "better" days for these backs aren't worth a fantasy start. Steer clear when New York takes on New England in Week 10.
The Rest
McCoy, Williams best RB duo of Week 9
LeSean McCoy | Karlos Williams // Bills
The most successful running back duo of Week 9 was obviously LeSean McCoy and Karlos Williams. The pair combined for 229 total yards and three touchdowns against the Dolphins on Sunday. McCoy's score came on a 48-yard sprint. When he's healthy, McCoy plays at an elite level. But that's the catch -- he just can't stay healthy. He left the game with a shoulder injury and while it's not considered very serious, his status for Thursday night's game against the Jets is still up in the air.
When McCoy came out of the game, Karlos Williams stepped up in a big way. The rookie has scored at least once in every game that he's played in (six touchdowns total) and despite missing three games due to a concussion he still ranks as a top-25 fantasy back for the season.
Even when both McCoy and Williams are playing, they complement each other well, with McCoy serving as the shifty speedster and Williams coming in as a change-of-pace power back. Both can be productive with shared carries, but if one has to sit out, the other obviously gets a nice volume-based boost. Coach Rex Ryan said Tuesday that he thinks McCoy will play in Week 10, but is "not sure" how significant his role will be, which is a major red flag.
Enough to go around for both Murray and Mathews
DeMarco Murray | Ryan Mathews | Darren Sproles // Eagles
All the DeMarco Murray haters need to quiet down a bit. He's now posted over 100 total yards and scored a touchdown in three of his last four games. His volume has been consistently high with touch totals of 27, 24, 20 and 24 in his last four outings. Clearly, the Eagles' coaching staff has realized that to get production out of their feature back, they need to use him as a feature back.
There was still room for Ryan Mathews to do some work here too, and he has also scored in three of his last four games. Mathews is tough to trust, but remains a flex option each and every week. He'll get his work in one way or another, as his speed is hard for defenses to adjust to after dealing with the power running style of Murray. If Darren Sproles was not part of this equation, Mathews' numbers would probably be even higher.
Change coming in Green Bay?
Eddie Lacy | James Starks // Packers
The Packers make an appearance for the first time all season here in Committee Meetings because James Starks has seemingly taken over the workhorse role that once belonged to Eddie Lacy. Lacy left the game early with a groin injury, but his 10 total yards and a fumble had him out of favor well before he was injured.
To his credit, Lacy has been banged up quite a bit this year. He has managed to score only two touchdowns -- one in Week 1, and one in Week 8. He hasn't had a 100-yard game all season and has fewer rushing yards on more carries than Starks. Starks took advantage of an expanded role Sunday which is something he has done on more than one occasion (Week 6).
At this point, it seems like the Packers backfield is Starks' to lose. We'll see what transpires when Green Bay takes on Detroit in Week 10, but for now Starks is a must-own.
Bengals RBs can't get it done despite good matchup
Jeremy Hill | Giovani Bernard // Bengals
We all thought that both Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard were strong plays last Thursday night against one of the NFL's worst run defenses, the Browns. But fantasy success wasn't in the cards for either back. It's worth noting that Bernard saw four red zone touches to Hill's one. You'd think that Hill would get those looks closer to the end zone as he's the power runner. You'd also think that the Cincy backs would've had more to show for in a 30-10 win, but that wasn't the case with Andy Dalton throwing three touchdown passes to Tyler Eifert.
Hill has said that he knows he needs to step up his game and is aware that he hasn't played to his potential. Following a failed run to the outside late in the game, he was visibly frustrated that he didn't take advantage of the open field in front of him. Hill had room to run and explode up the sideline with a blocker out ahead, and he took too long to make a move which allowed a defender to catch up. The physical ability is clearly there, so it seems like his problem is more mental.
Bernard on the other hand, posted a serviceable line, but still wasn't spectacular. His production as a top-20 fantasy rusher for the season keeps him locked in as a weekly flex starter, while Hill is becoming a questionable play even in favorable matchups.
Patriots lose Lewis, Blount's volume inflates
LeGarrette Blount | Dion Lewis* | Brandon Bolden | James White // Patriots
Sadly, Dion Lewis is lost for the season with a torn ACL that he suffered in Sunday's game. Lewis represented what we all thought was not possible -- a Patriots running back that we could rely on each and every week for fantasy production.
Sigh.
Now that he's done for the year, LeGarrette Blount is guaranteed 15-20 carries a game. Since Week 3, Blount has averaged 16 rush attempts per game, and that was with Lewis at full strength. Brandon Bolden, who filled in for Lewis in Week 9, is the top candidate to take over the passing-down back role. But we never really know for sure with Bill Belichick. There's a chance that we see some James White in the not too distant future, too.
So for now, the best bet is to roll with Blount and avoid the others where possible until we see how things shape up, at least for this week.
Anderson out-plays Hillman
C.J. Anderson | Ronnie Hillman // Broncos
Ronnie Hillman drew the "start" against the Colts in Week 9 and received the first few handoffs. But a simple eye test (and the box score) shows that C.J. Anderson was the better runner of the two. He was inches away from breaking a long gainer, but was shoelace tackled as he churned his way into the secondary.
It's unfortunate that the Broncos insist on splitting the workload, because Anderson has looked much better in recent weeks than he did at the start of the season. The way the split is going though, it's tough to trust either of these backs unless one of them emerges as a clear leader.
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Matt Franciscovich is an associate fantasy editor at NFL.com. If you haven't seen this performance by Chris Stapleton and Justin Timberlake on the CMAs from last week, do yourself a favor and check it out. It might change your life. Hit Matt up on Twitter **@MattFranchise** for music recommendations and fantasy advice.
