- We need to start briefly with the news that Cam Akers was traded from the Texans to the Vikings yesterday. I am not overly interested in Akers right now, as he will more than likely find himself in an unusable timeshare with Ty Chandler if Aaron Jones misses an extended period of time. That being said, Jones is a MUST MONITOR. Right now, he is in my rankings as if he will be playing, but monitor this situation closely and look for the updated rankings that drop every Saturday.
- This season, the running back position has seen injury and the emergence of a few key backup rushers who have spoiled the party on some of last season’s volume-dependent backs, specifically Rachaad White. When looking at the Bucs, we always knew White was terrible as a runner. As the Bucs gave more work to Bucky Irving, we saw that White’s hold on the top job was not going to last long. Then Week 6 happened, and Sean Tucker exploded onto the scene, finishing as the RB1 overall. Ultimately, what you need to know is that Irving should remain the RB1 for this team. He dominated snaps outside of garbage time and handled all of the high-leverage touches until the final drive of the game. As long as White is out, you can expect a 65-35 split, with Tucker being the latter. The real problem will be when White returns, which potentially makes the entire trio unusable. You should look to sell Bucs backs over the next two weeks if you can.
- The next backfield we need to discuss is the Buffalo Bills. Ray Davis saw 91% of the expected fantasy points out of the backfield for the Bills with James Cook out with turf toe. In Week 6, Davis racked up 97 yards on the ground and 55 through the air. He was a difference-maker against a strong Jets defense. Davis won’t go away, and he should provide some FLEX viability even when Cook returns. I would not be surprised to follow the same trend as the Jaguars (Travis Etienne and Tank Bigsby) and the Buccanneers (White, Irving, and Tucker). The bright side is that the Bills backfield should stay between Davis and Cook.
RB Rankings: Week 7