Injuries probably won't be what trips your Fantasy team up at running back in Week 6, because Dalvin Cook (groin) was the only real addition to the injury report this week. Christian McCaffrey, Nick Chubb, and other long-term injured guys are out, sure, but you've been dealing with those for long enough that you should have some kind of plan in place.
The problem with Week 6, however, is the bye weeks. Josh Jacobs, Alvin Kamara, Chris Carson, and the Chargers backs, Justin Jackson and Joshua Kelley, are all on bye this week, some pretty big names. It's not inconceivable that you could have Kamara, Jacobs, and Carson all on the same team, but even if you're missing just one of them, it will make your job a lot more difficult.
If you picked up Alexander Mattison, you may not even miss them, but otherwise, there wasn't much help to be found on waivers this week, so it'll be all about playing the matchups to try to make the right calls. Jamey Eisenberg's Start 'Em & Sit 'Em is here to help you do just that. Here are his running back calls:
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START 'EM & SIT 'EM
Running Backs
Start 'Em
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Montgomery only has 10 carries in each of his past two games against Indianapolis and Tampa Bay, and he's rushed for just 56 yards and one touchdown over that span. But that's not what you should look at, especially since the Colts and Buccaneers have two of the best run defenses in the NFL. Instead, focus on Montgomery getting 10 catches for 60 yards on 14 targets in the two games without Tarik Cohen (ACL). If his involvement in the passing game continues, which it should, he will be fantastic for the rest of the year. And this week he's facing a Panthers team that has allowed a running back to score in four of five games this season.
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Gaskin comes into Week 6 having scored at least 13 PPR points in three of his past four games. In Week 5 at San Francisco, with Jordan Howard a healthy scratch, Gaskin finally found the end zone for the first time in 2020. He has three games this year with at least five catches, and he's been a nice find for Fantasy managers as the lead running back in Miami. In Week 6, he faces a Jets defense that has allowed eight touchdowns to opposing running backs, four to gain at least 75 total yards and three to catch at least four passes.
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Mostert picked up where he left off in Week 5 against Miami following a two-game absence with a knee injury with 11 carries for 90 yards, along with three catches for 29 yards on three targets. He's now scored at least 14 PPR points in all three games he's played, and his nine catches on the season almost match his entire total from 2019 (14). The Rams' run defense has been good the past two weeks against the Giants and Washington, but it was abused in its first three games against tougher competition with Ezekiel Elliott (127 total yards and two touchdowns), Miles Sanders (131 total yards and a touchdown and Devin Singletary (121 total yards). Mostert should have another quality outing this week.
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The Patriots should have a big advantage in this game at home as nine-point favorites, which should mean plenty of action on the ground for Harris, who had 17 carries for 100 yards in his season debut in Week 4 against Kansas City. If he gets close to that same workload this week, he should be fantastic, and that won't change even if Cam Newton (illness) is able to play. I'd love to see Harris get more work in the passing game, but that's not likely to happen with James White around. And Rex Burkhead will also get work this week. But I expect Harris to finish as a top 20 running back in all formats after the way he played against the Chiefs.
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Gibson and J.D. McKissic are both worth starting in PPR, with McKissic more of a sleeper. Both have been extremely involved in the passing game for the past two weeks, and Gibson has nine catches for 106 yards on 10 targets over that span (McKissic has 13 catches for 86 yards on 16 targets). Gibson just had his worst game of the season in Week 5 against the Rams with only 51 total yards, and his three-game scoring streak came to an end. But he should rebound against the Giants, who have allowed six total touchdowns to running backs and three to gain at least 100 total yards.
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Sleepers
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Freeman has consecutive games with at least 15 total touches, and he just had his best outing with the Giants in Week 5 at Dallas with 17 carries for 60 yards and a touchdown, along with two catches for 27 yards on three targets. Look for him to stay hot against Washington, which has allowed six touchdowns to running backs in its past three games.
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Peterson and D'Andre Swift qualify as sleepers this week against the Jaguars, who have allowed three touchdowns to running backs and two to gain at least 100 total yards in the past two games. For Peterson, he should have fresh legs coming off a bye and has either a touchdown or 85 total yards in his past two games. And Swift will hopefully get a bigger role now that he's four games into his NFL career. I like Swift as a flex in PPR.
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Edmonds continues to produce in a limited role, and it would be great to see what he could do as a featured option. That likely won't happen while Kenyan Drake is healthy, but Edmonds should be a quality flex in PPR this week against the Cowboys, who allowed six catches to the Giants running backs last week. Edmonds has 10 catches for 80 yards and a touchdown in his past two games on 12 targets, and he's scored a touchdown in each of his past two games after running one in at the Jets in Week 5.
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Akers returned from a two-game absence with a rib injury in Week 5 at Washington and had nine carries for 61 yards. Afterward, Sean McVay said of Akers that "I think you can expect his workload to increase next week against the 49ers." Darrell Henderson and Malcolm Brown will still get touches as well, but Akers might be a decent flex option in deeper leagues.
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Sit 'Em
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Ingram needs to score at this point to help your Fantasy team, and he's done that only twice this season. He has just three catches on the year for 25 yards on five targets. It's not that he's playing poorly by any stretch since he's averaging 4.6 yards per carry. He's just not playing that much with 11 carries in Week 5 against Cincinnati his season high. In fact, the snap percentage for the Ravens running backs on the season are 35 percent for J.K. Dobbins, 33 percent for Ingram and 32 percent of Gus Edwards. When you factor in Lamar Jackson's rushing prowess, this is a mess for Fantasy managers. Ingram could score against the Eagles, but I would only consider him a flex at best.
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As stated above, McVay plans to give more work to Akers. And Brown will get touches. That could make Henderson risky to trust as anything more than a flex. Now, he did well in Week 5 at Washington while sharing time with Akers and Brown, and Henderson had 15 carries for 38 yards and a touchdown, along with three catches for 30 yards and a touchdown on four targets. But this is a tougher matchup against the 49ers, and we saw two weeks ago against the Giants that McVay isn't afraid to go away from Henderson after he was limited to nine total touches in that outing.
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White should be considered at least a flex option in PPR, but I'm not counting on a big game for him here with the Patriots as heavy favorites at home. He will likely need a touchdown if his pass volume is low, and he has scored just once in his past eight games in New England going back to last year. With Harris, Burkhead and potentially Newton all expected to get plenty of touches, White could have a similar stat line like he had in Week 1 against Miami with five carries for 22 yards, as well as three catches for 30 yards on three targets. And the Broncos have allowed just 17 catches for 103 yards to running back in four games. In non-PPR leagues, it's easy to bench White this week.
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Just in case you were thinking of starting Gore this week at Miami now that Le'Veon Bell is gone, please don't. He had a three-game audition while Bell was on injured reserve and combined for 16 PPR points from Weeks 2-4. I'm hopeful the Jets start to use Lamical Perine more, but you can't trust anything with Adam Gase right now. Gore may have some extra hop in his step since this is likely the last time he'll ever play in Miami, but the former University of Miami standout is well past his prime at 37. Ignore him in all leagues.
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Bust Alert
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I'm going to run this back from last week since I had Gordon in this spot before the game was canceled. But nothing has really changed with the matchup. We're expecting Phillip Lindsay (toe) to return this week following a three-game absence, and Gordon should go back to sharing touches. Gordon has been great this year with at least 14 PPR points in three of four games, and he just had his best outing of the season in Week 4 at the Jets with 23 carries for 107 yards and two touchdowns, along with two catches for 11 yards. But he could be in trouble at New England. And the Patriots haven't allowed a rushing touchdown since Week 1, including matchups with Chris Carson, Josh Jacobs and Clyde Edwards-Helaire. I'm fine with Gordon as a low-end starter in all leagues, but I'd lower expectations for him given the matchup, along with Lindsay's return. We'll also have to keep an eye on Gordon's status as he was cited for a DUI Tuesday. Gordon was at the team facility Wednesday but was sent home without practicing.
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So who should you start and sit this week? And which surprising quarterback could lead you to victory? Visit SportsLine now to get Week 6 rankings for every position, plus see which QB is going to come out of nowhere to crack the top 10, all from the model that out-performed experts big-time last season.
