Fantasy Football Week 3: How Will the Chiefs Do Without Isiah Pacheco?

Running backs continue to reign supreme in fantasy football. While it feels like there are more elite quarterbacks and wide receivers than ever before, the number of consistent, reliable running backs is dwindling. This makes it all the more important to find value in running backs in fantasy football. To help you do that, each week I’ll be taking a look at a few backfields that stand out based on recent trends or new information we’ve learned.

Week 2 is always a mess in the NFL because so many of our thoughts and opinions are based on a sample of one game from the week before. This year was no exception, so without further ado, let’s dive into some of my biggest backfield takeaways after a shaky Week 2.

Chiefs starting running back Isiah Pacheco suffered a fractured fibula in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game and is expected to miss six to eight weeks. That potentially leaves a huge window of opportunity, as Pacheco has been a weekly top-15 running back. The Chiefs signed Kareem Hunt to their practice squad as a backup on Tuesday, and it appears that Hunt, rookie Carson Steele and veteran Samaje Perine will be the rotating carries in Pacheco’s absence.

If I had to guess how the volume would be distributed, I’d expect Steele and Hunt to alternate series, primarily on first and second down, with Perine as the pass-catcher. That wouldn’t be the best situation for fantasy football, as none of the three running backs would get enough volume to really make an impact. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t add them to your roster, though; we’ve seen guys like Jerick McKinnon excel in a Patrick Mahomes-led offense in the past, even with fewer touches.

I’d prioritize Steele, Perine and Hunt in that order on the waiver wire this week, and next week I’ll look at how the Chiefs split possession between the three.

The Buccaneers continued to use Bucky Irving as a complementary running back to Rachaad White. After playing 31% of the offensive snaps in Week 1, Irving played 35% of the snaps this week in the Buccaneers’ surprise win over the Lions. White briefly left the game due to injury, but returned and was his usual inefficient self on the ground.

White turned 10 carries into just 18 yards, bringing his yards-per-carry rating to 1.96 through two weeks. Irving wasn’t nearly as efficient as he was last week against a strong Lions run defense, but he still outgained White with 22 yards on seven carries. Given that the Buccaneers look like a solid overall offense, I’d definitely pick Irving this week if he’s not already in your league. The Bucs could very well switch to using Irving as their primary back in running situations, allowing White to excel as a pass-catcher who would better play to their respective strengths.

I also wouldn’t panic about banking on White as a starter just yet, as his receiving work should make him a starter in PPR leagues even if his rushing work starts to decline. However, White isn’t a bad trade candidate either, as this may be the most volume he’ll get this year.

Veteran running back D’Onta Foreman led the Browns backfield with 14 carries on Sunday. This came as a surprise, as Foreman played just one total snap in Week 1 and was the Browns’ third-ranked running back behind Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong. Foreman was not particularly effective with his workload, rushing for 42 yards. Interestingly, Foreman also received one of the team’s two goal-line carries, but failed to capitalize on it (Deshaun Watson knocked in the other opportunity on a QB sneak).

Ford led the team in rushing, with 64 yards on just seven carries. Frankly, I’d be a little concerned about relying on Ford as an RB2 or FLEX every week. We knew the Browns offense wouldn’t be an elite unit due to Watson’s depleted quarterback play, so Ford’s appeal (while Nick Chubb recovers) has always been volume behind a solid offensive line.

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But if Ford does end up splitting time with Foreman, I have a hard time seeing how he consistently scores double-digit fantasy points unless he becomes a force in the passing game. It’s also possible that Foreman’s usage was a one-off, so I’ll be keeping a close eye on this situation in the coming weeks.

The Commanders appear to have settled on a standard timeshare between Brian Robinson Jr. and Austin Ekeler, with Robinson serving as the two-down workhorse and Ekeler getting reps in passing situations. Two weeks isn’t long enough to give us a super-strong sample size, but Robinson has reportedly been effective with his carries — he ranks in the top five among running backs in yards per carry, yards after contact per carry and breakaway run percentage.

Ekeler is fine in his own right, ranking second among running backs with 99 receiving yards thus far. I wasn’t the biggest fan of either of them in the offseason because I didn’t think the offense would be good enough to support them, but the Commanders have clearly put an emphasis on getting the ball to Robinson and Ekeler when they’re on the field.

This means that they’re both viable options in fantasy, with Robinson being a legitimate top-24 option if he continues to see 15+ touches per week. I’d have some reservations about starting Ekeler in non-PPR formats since he typically plays fewer snaps (40%) than Robinson, but he does have some FLEX appeal. One thing to keep an eye on in the coming weeks is goal-line carry distribution. Robinson and Jayden Daniels have largely split the team’s goal-line carries thus far, but Ekeler has historically been a great touchdown producer and I’d be much more comfortable starting him if he could get some higher-value touches.

The Bengals had a significant shift in their running back usage on Sunday. After Zack Moss and Chase Brown split snaps on a 65% to 33% basis in Week 1, Moss seemingly took over the RB1 role. He was on the field for 80% of the Bengals’ snaps in their loss to the Chiefs, and had three times as many carries as Brown. This is certainly a situation to watch as the Bengals attempt to bounce back from their 0-2 start.

Joe Burrow played a much better game last week than he did in the Bengals’ loss to the Patriots , and I’m still optimistic that the Bengals offense can be a top-10 unit, especially with Tee Higgins expected to return soon. Moss has received all of the goal-line and short-yardage work for Cincy so far, meaning he should start producing consistently in the touchdown department as the Bengals offense improves.

On the other hand, I’m especially concerned that Brown had zero targets in Week 2 and is averaging just 0.67 receiving yards per route run. Even if Brown was more efficient than Moss, if he can’t make a name for himself in the passing game, even with Tee Higgins out, he’ll likely be nothing more than a backup to Moss.

I’d consider making some trade offers to acquire Moss on the cheap as he’s had poor fantasy point production, but his underlying usage is promising and indicates better production is possible in the future.