Welcome to the Week 7 Running Back Handcuff Report! There’s an old joke that goes like this:

"How can I tell when you're lying? — Your lips move"

It’s more amusing than funny, but it can be applied to the world of fantasy football. How many times have NFL head coaches led fantasy managers down the wrong path? How many times have NFL “insiders” fed us bad information? The answer is too many. 

We’ll take a deeper dive into the world of “false fantasy football-related intel” a little later, but before we do, I want to remind you that when we last saw the Houston Texans in action in Week 5, their backfield featured a scary four-headed monster that included Nick Chubb, Woody Marks, Dameon Pearce, and Dare Ogunbowale. Well, maybe it’s not all that scary. We’re probably looking at Marks as their RB1 and Chubb as his RB handcuff; however, the Texans have had a bye week to come up with a new offensive strategy, so we’ll get to see what they’ve cooked up on Monday night.

In the meantime, here are a few NFL backfields that need your attention in this week’s RB handcuff report.

 

 

 

 

Fantasy Football NFL Week 7 Running Back Handcuff Report

Los Angeles Chargers

Who knows what to believe these days? We were initially told that Omarion Hampton, who is on the IR with an ankle injury, would likely be active once eligible after four games. That quickly changed, and we were told he might be sidelined longer than four games. We were given all kinds of false "intel" that had Hassan Haskins operating as the Chargers’ lead back in Week 6 and that the team was calling around and looking to make a trade for a running back. What really happened was that the Chargers started off using a hot hand approach, and Kimani Vidal ended up having the hot hand. The Chargers may still be looking to add RB depth through a trade, but for now, Vidal looks like their lead back, and Haskins looks like his RB handcuff. Vidal has his work cut out for him because he’ll be running behind an offensive line that’s depleted by injuries, and he’ll be facing teams that are pretty good at defending against the run in the near future.

Arizona Cardinals

Here’s another one to file under “who knows what to believe”. In Week 6, Michael Carter was the Cardinals’ lead back, playing 57.4% of the team’s offensive snaps. He wasn’t very good, rushing for just 2.8 YPC, and when ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Zonovan “Bam” Knight would be starting ahead of Carter in Week 6, it seemed plausible. It really doesn’t matter who starts at RB for a team. We all know that what counts is the number of snaps played, carries, and routes run. With Emari Demercado leaving the game early due to an ankle injury, Knight and Carter split carries and offensive snaps pretty evenly. Knight had 11 carries and played 37 snaps compared to Carter’s 9 and 32. Carter ran more passing routes than Knight and had four targets compared to just one for Knight. They each ran for 34 yards, but Knight scored a TD. This backfield is obviously a work in progress and one that can’t be used in fantasy, at least for the short term.

 

 

 

Carolina Panthers

Who would have thought that Rico Dowdle would be drawing comparisons to DeAngelo Williams and Eric Dickerson? Dowdle, Chuba Hubbard’s RB handcuff, has rushed for 389 yards (7.3 YPC) over the past two weeks, and he also caught seven passes for 84 yards during that stretch. Hubbard has missed the last two games due to a calf injury, and Panthers head coach Dave Canales hasn’t committed to either Dowdle or Hubbard being his lead back moving forward. Canales said “we’ll see” when asked how he would manage his team’s backfield once Hubbard returned to action. On the other hand, ESPN is reporting that Hubbard and Dowdle may split carries. Hubbard returned to practice on Wednesday, but it’s too soon to know if he’ll be active in Week 7. Will the Panthers use a traditional lead back in Week 7? Will there be a traditional RB handcuff for the Panthers moving forward? “We’ll see”.

Tennessee Titans

Tyjae Spears, Tony Pollard’s RB handcuff, saw his first action of the season in Week 6, and he actually played more snaps (36) than Pollard (26). Pollard had twice as many carries (10) as Spears, but Spears (6.2 YPC) was much more effective at running the ball than Pollard (3.4). Overall, Pollard has had a lackluster season, and with the one-win Titans having just installed a new head coach and having nothing to lose, we may see Spears and Pollard switch roles before long.