The first tier of running backs gives us two names to mention officially heading into Week 4: Breece Hall and Derrick Henry. Breece continues to lead the way as far as running back touches, but he is not quite the workhorse we expected in the past two weeks with the emergence of rookie fourth-rounder Braelon Allen. Allen has been a weapon on the ground and through the air in a Hall-lite-like performance this season. He will never get the majority of the touches, and a 50/50 split seems rather unlikely, but Allen has FLEX utility and would immediately be a top-15 running back if Hall were to miss any time. Allen, the youngest player in the NFL, has a very bright future in the league. As far as what you can expect from Hall going forward, he may not always have a clear path to being the RB1 overall, but it is still in his range of outcomes, even if he more than likely will land in the RB3-RB8 range most weeks. Now, I want to touch on one of the older viable running backs in the league in Henry. Henry has scored a touchdown in every game this season. That was always going to be his path to fantasy football success in 2024. The former Titan has not disappointed in that department. He may not be quite as efficient as he was in his prime, but the role is there, and the offense relies on him when it matters. Continue to roll him out with confidence.
In the next tier of players, we should mention Zach Charbonnet and JK Dobbins. Charbonnet has scored at least 12 fantasy points in every game this season. While Kenneth Walker III has missed time due to injury, Charbonnet has averaged over 21 fantasy points per game. He has the workhorse frame and the three-down skillset he needs to thrive in the NFL. He is a high-end RB2 until further notice, and when Walker gets back, he should maintain at least the passing down work to continue making him a viable FLEX with upside. Dobbins presents fantasy managers with a nice buy window after a down game against a stout defense. In Weeks 4 and 5, he faces another tough defense and has his bye week, so the window may be open for a few weeks, but he was able to put the 50/50 timeshare with Gus Edwards behind him in Week 3, out-touching Edwards 18:3.