The preseason kicks off tonight. No doubt that will help to clarify things in the coming weeks. But as things stand now, there are a lot of clunky backfields around the league.
Specifically, backup running backs. I’m a fan of stashing away a few No. 2 running backs, with those players becoming relevant during the season when the inevitable injuries occur. But there are some teams where simply none of the backups interest me. At all.
Arizona, for example. James Conner gets hurt every year, so they’ll probably be looking for some other back to start for a month or more of the season. But there isn’t another back on that roster that passes the fantasy smell test. (They’ve got veterans Corey Clement and Ty’Son Williams, along with youngsters Keaontay Ingram and Emari Demercado).
J.K. Dobbins has had injury problems and is declining to practice until he gets a new contract. That makes Baltimore (a good team) look like a decent location. But they don’t have a back who looks capable of stepping in and averaging top-20 numbers at the position. They would presumably use some combination of Gus Edwards, Melvin Gordon and Justice Hill.
The six other teams listed below all have rookie running backs that can be mulled and considered. There are fantasy leaguers among us who like Chase Brown (pictured), Deuce Vaughn, Zach Evans, Eric Gray, Israel Abanikanda and Sean Tucker. But I’m not ready to assume any of those guys will even be the No. 2 running backs on their teams. None of those guys were selected in the first four rounds of the draft, so I want to see some on-field production before I might start thinking about using a roster spot on one of them.
With Zack Moss having broken his arm, I considered putting the Colts on this list, but he looked awfully good filling in at the end of last year, averaging 84 rushing yards in his last four games. With Jonathan Taylor and Jim Irsay butting heads, I could see maybe picking Moss in the late rounds.
| WORST BACKUP RB SITUATIONS | |
|---|---|
| Team | Current backups |
| Ariz. | K.Ingram / C.Clement / Demercado |
| Balt. | G.Edwards / M.Gordon / J.Hill |
| Cin. | C.Brown / T.Williams / C.Evans |
| Dall. | M.Davis / R.Jones / Vaughn |
| LAR | Z.Evans / K.Williams / R.Rivers |
| NYG | Breida / E.Gray / J.Robinson |
| NYJ | M.Carter / Abanikanda / Knight |
| T.B. | Vaughn / S.Tucker / Edmonds |
—Ian Allan