Fantasy Football Week 1 Running Back Preview: Waiver adds, deep stashes, starts, sits, and more

While everyone wants to start the season 1-0, one of the most important parts of Week 1 is the information we gather and what we do with it. While there will be plenty of nonsense to sort through, the most actionable information we’ll gather is how the most ambiguous running back rooms sort each other out. Specifically, I’m talking about the Lions, Dolphins, Bengals, Cowboys, Commanders, Chargers, and Titans.

That seems like a lot, right? Well, they aren’t exactly created equally. In Detroit and Miami we’re looking to see if Jahmyr Gibbs and De’Von Achane have their roles increased enough to be league-winning running backs without an injury. In Dallas, Cincinnati, and Los Angeles there’s a decent chance no one is a starter even after we figure things out. I certainly don’t want to start any of them in Week 1.

In Tennessee and Washington, I have more hope, but Tony Pollard is the only back I’m ranking as a Week 1 starter. I am optimistic that one of Brian Robinson or Austin Ekeler could join Pollard in the top 24, but I legitimately have no idea how many carries Ekeler is going to get. if it’s 50% of the rush attempts, then Ekeler should see enough targets to make him a starter in full PPR. Of course, if either back gets hurt the other would leap into the top 24.

These seven teams all have at least two running backs I want to roster but several of them don’t have any running backs I want to start in Week 1. Let’s hope that Week 1 usage changes that. If I had my preference, we’d see Achane, Gibbs, Rico Dowdle, Chase Brown, Brian Robinson, J.K. Dobbins, and Tony Pollard as starters with more than 15 touches per game. Let’s hope the coaches agree.

Now let’s get to the rest of the Week 1 RB Preview:

Week 1 RB Preview

The following players are not being projected to play Week 1 at this time. Here’s what it means:

• 13.5 — Jerome Ford averaged 13.5 PPR FPPG from Week 2-17 last year. He’s a solid RB2 until Nick Chubb returns.
• 280 — Derrick Henry led the NFL with 280 rush attempts last year. I would be surprised if he gets 90% of that in Baltimore.
• 5.6 — Saquon Barkley averaged 5.6 yards per touch in the first two seasons of his career. He’s averaged 4.7 over the past four seasons.
• 20.1 — James Cook averaged 20.1 touches per game with Joe Brady calling plays.
• 32.4% — Broncos running backs had a 32% target share last year, the highest mark in the league.
• 13.9 — The Detroit Lions allowed 13.9 half-PPR FPPG to running backs last year, the lowest mark in the league. The Rams were the only other team below 15. They play each other in Week 1.

My full set of Week 1 Fantasy football projections for every position are now available on SportsLine. You’ll find them here. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don’t live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 1. Projected stats for all starting running backs are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.