RB Rankings
- Alexander Mattison lands on the cover of The List as Dalvin Cook is set to miss a juicy Week 13 matchup against the Lions. Detroit has given up the fifth-most PPR points to opposing running backs on the season, and Mattison already faced them once this year with a full workload, eviscerating them with 153 total yards on 32 total touches and a touchdown, finishing as the RB6 back in Week 5. This is a Lions team that may be even worse than they were back then, and with the backfield to himself once again, Mattison is the RB4 for the week.
- On the other side of the field, Jamaal Williams is a locked-in top 20 running back option this week with D’Andre Swift set to miss at least one game. Williams’ pass-catching had dried up after a hot start to the season as Swift dominated the work, but last week after Swift left the game early due to his shoulder injury, Williams racked up five receptions on five targets for a 20% target share on 63% of the snaps with Swift only lasting for a 20% snap share. Williams’ usage should go up even further this week, and while it is always ugly and garbage-time-based in Detroit, expect Williams to be fed heavily in the passing game, with a touchdown likely pushing him up into the RB1 territory.
- As always we are watching the Eagles backfield, as their commitment to the run and strong offensive line has made the likes of Jordan Howard and Boston Scott look like above-average NFL running backs at times. Howard seems poised to miss Week 13 after sitting out last week as well, already putting Scott on the RB2 radar, and Miles Sanders rolled his ankle last week and has been limited in practice. Scott could see a huge snap share against a Jets defense allowing the most PPR points to the running back position by a sizeable margin, so if he’s still on your waivers go get him.
- Matt Breida is worth a spot on your roster, but be wary starting him this week with your playoff chances hanging in the balance. Sure, Breida has looked good over the past three weeks, and his three total touchdowns have helped him to three consecutive top 25 running back weeks. But he’s still topped out at just 32% of the snaps, and there’s no telling if Zack Moss will be a healthy scratch again or not. Maybe Breida surpasses Devin Singletary for the lead-back role and Moss remains inactive, but I’m not banking on that with my season on the line, unless we get a clear signal from the coaching staff first.
Green=Strong Starter, Yellow=Solid Starter, Red=Look for Better Options
Week 13 RB Rankings