Fantasy Football Handcuff Report: Week 14

Week 13 demonstrated that poor play can quickly cause your fantasy running back to be benched.With Week 14 typically marking the start of your fantasy football playoffs, you don’t want to risk placing a player in your starting lineup who might not play an entire game. 

Fantasy players who started Jonathan Williams in Week 13 might have wondered where he disappeared to in the second half of the Colts’ matchup against the Titans. According to Colts head coach Frank Reich, the fact that Williams didn’t get a second half carry in the game was an in-game decision based on his poor performance  (14 yards on 8 carries) and his holding penalty towards the end of the first half that eliminated a first-down completion. Williams was coming off two straight games in which he had rushed for at least 100 yards. Jordan Wilkins led Colts RBs with 13 touches in Week 13. Marlon Mack who has missed the last two games due to a broken hand is practicing this week and may make his return in Week 14. Based on all the uncertainty surrounding this backfield if you have better options, you might want to use them.

Bucs RB Ronald Jones was also benched due to poor play in Week 13. According to Bucs head coach Bruce Arians, Jones failed to pick up the blitz “and that’s it. You don’t get to play no more.” Jones didn’t see the field after the first quarter in Week 13, but Peyton Barber , who filled in for him, only rushed for 44 yards on 17 carries. That translates to 2.59 yards per carry. Arians has said that Jones is still his starter but if he plays poorly, will we see him on the field at the end of Week 14’s game?

There are a few question marks surrounding the Chiefs backfield for Week 14. Damien Williams missed last week’s matchup due to a rib injury and Darrel Williams is dealing with a hamstring injury which might force him to miss Week 14. It’s looking like LeSean McCoy and preseason darling Darwin Thompson might be splitting carries this week. Things have gotten so bad that the Chiefs have re-signed Spencer Ware .

Last week we discussed how Chris Carson ’s fumbling issues might affect his and Rashaad Penny ’s playing time. Carson played 52% and Penny played 47% of the Seahawks’ offensive snaps in Week 13. Carson still out carried Penny by a 23 to 15 margin, but Penny scored a TD in his second straight game. It appears that at least for now, Carson is still the main guy in the Seahawks’ backfield, but Penny seems to be carving out a recurring and increasing role in their offense.

Titans RB Derrick Henry is a freak of nature. While many RBs usually start to tire and falter by the end of the season, he just gets better and better. He is averaging 165 rushing yards per game over the last three weeks and he has scored a TD in four straight games. It doesn’t seem to be a fluke. Last season Henry averaged 146 rushing yards per game over the last four weeks of the regular season.