Fantasy Football Week 12 Running Back Preview: Waiver adds, deep stashes, starts, sits, and more

In Week 12 the Falcons, Bills, Bengals, Jaguars, Jets, and Saints are on bye. That means we won’t have Alvin Kamara, Bijan Robinson, James Cook, Breece Hall, Chase Brown or Travis Etienne. And somehow, running back still doesn’t look all that bad this week. 

I have 27 running backs projected to score double-digit PPR Fantasy points in Week 12, meaning in a 12-team league there is still enough to go around, assuming the backs are evenly distributed. What’s more, 15 of those backs are projected to score at least 13.8 PPR Fantasy points. I can only say that about 10 wide receivers this week. 

Within those 27 backs projected for at least 10 points are three sets of teammates. Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery are both top 14 backs this week, must-starts in any format, but the Commanders and Buccaneers are a little bit more difficult. I have Brian Robinson Jr., Rachaad White, Bucky Irving, and Austin Ekeler all projected for between 10.25 and 11.99 PPR Fantasy points. 

That projection means they’re all ranked as low-end RB2s or high-end flexes, but I’m not sure that fully captures their upside. All four have outstanding matchups. Robinson and Irving should take advantage of bad run defenses to pile up yards on the ground while Ekeler and White could be the number two pass catchers on their respective teams. What we don’t know for sure is who will score the touchdowns. Robinson and Irving are more likely to score from close.

Last week we saw both Ekeler and Robinson finish as top 15 backs. The week before Irving and White were both top 10 options. With six teams on a bye, you should feel just fine starting any of these backs, including two on the same team.

You’ll find my projections for every player on the slate here.

Now, let’s get to the rest of the Week 12 RB Preview:

Week 12 RB Preview

The following players are not being projected to play in Week 12 at this time. Here’s what it means:

• 24.2% — Javonte Wiliams’ 24.2% target per route run rate keeps him in the starter discussion even with his weekly uncertainty in the running game.
• 6 — Roschon Johnson has six rush attempts inside the five-yard line, which is tied with D’Andre Swift. Johnson is a touchdown-dependent flex this week if you need him.
• 10 — Austin Ekeler leads all running backs with 10 receptions of more than 15 yards.
• 37% — James Cook played a season-low 37% of the offensive snaps in Week 11. Hopefully, that’s not a warning of what is to come.
• 77.3% — Chuba Hubbard has a 77% rush share over the past month. It will be interesting to see if Jonathon Brooks cuts into that. 
• 67 — James Conner leads all running backs with 67 tackles avoided this season. No one else has more than 56.
• 10.2 — Nick Chubb has not scored more than 10.2 PPR Fantasy points in a game yet this season. Even with three teams on a bye, we would prefer to sit him.

My full set of Week 12 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 11. Projected stats for all starting running backs are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.