Fantasy Football RB Report: A rushing committee brewing in Tampa Bay?

Running backs remain the king of fantasy football. Although it seems like there are more elite quarterbacks and wide receivers than ever before, the number of consistent, reliable running backs is dwindling. This makes it all the more important to value running backs in fantasy football. To help you with this, each week I'll be looking at some backfields that stand out based on current trends or new information we've learned.

We are already a quarter of the way through the NFL season and teams are starting to make changes to their offensive game plans based on what they learned from the first four weeks. This is valuable in fantasy football because it gives you the opportunity to get ahead of certain players and maximize their value. Without further ado, let’s get to my top backfield picks for Week 5.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

I've been rooting for Bucky Irving all summer, so it's nice to see the Bucs incorporating Irving more and more as the season goes on. Irving played a season-high 42% of snaps on Sunday and ran for 49 yards on 10 carries. Rachaad White, who played the other 58%, actually had the exact same points on the ground and added two catches for 35 yards. Notably, Irving received all of the team's goal-line throws except for a read option from Baker Mayfield, suggesting that the Bucs are moving toward using Irving in short-yardage scenarios.

The Bucs clearly have a productive offense – they rank in the top 10 in EPA per play, success rate, and total points scored, meaning Irving should be able to maintain decent fantasy production even if he's lacking in the passing game is often used. Irving should definitely be in your league if he isn't already, and I have no qualms about using him as a FLEX option. I would put White in the same general tier as a high floor, low ceiling RB2.

Carolina Panthers

The Panthers' offensive renaissance under Andy Dalton has been particularly helpful for running back Chuba Hubbard. In the two weeks Dalton was at quarterback, Hubbard totaled nearly 300 yards from scrimmage while scoring two scores, finishing as one of the top seven fantasy running backs in consecutive seasons.

Hubbard clearly had the lead in the Panthers backfield over Miles Sanders, who had 13 runs to Hubbard's 39 during this hot stretch. Hubbard, who has never really been an effective runner in the past, has found success in terms of efficiency in his career. He manages an impressive 5.4 yards per carry and has the eighth-highest PFF rushing grade in the league.

One downside to the Panthers' running back situation is that rookie Jonathan Brooks is eligible to come off the PUP list this week. However, given the success Hubbard has had in recent weeks, I expect the Panthers to avoid putting Brooks back in action. It's difficult to predict his deployment upon his return, but I suspect that Brooks will be more comfortable with Sanders' role than Hubbard's and that the two can coexist peacefully.

Right now, starting Hubbard as a top-15 running back while Brooks is out (and Andy Dalton is quarterback) wouldn't be a problem for me, and I would consider him a buy-high trade target if a good deal could be made by using Brooks' potential returns as leverage.

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Kansas City Chiefs

It's crazy how quickly things can change in the NFL. Last week, the Chiefs gave rookie Carson Steele 17 runs, including two at the goal line, and it seemed certain he would be used most often in the forward rotation. A week later, Steele was benched after an early fumble and ended his day with negative fantasy points.

The Chiefs turned to veteran Kareem Hunt, who was just elevated from the practice squad, to take over Steele's role as lead running back. Hunt had 14 carries for 69 yards and was on the field for 45% of the snaps in the Chiefs' win over the Chargers. Samaje Perine maintained his diversionary role, playing 40% of the snaps and rushing for 14 yards on five carries. Surprisingly, Perine saw no targets, which is worrying since this is his main source of fantasy film production.

I would avoid starting any of the Chiefs' three running backs next week. It's possible that Steele was benched for just one game to teach him how to fumble, but the Chiefs obviously want to get Hunt involved on offense as well. If Steele, Hunt, and Perine all play similar amounts of snaps, I highly doubt any of them would be valuable in fantasy. Hunt is currently the hot hand, so I would start him out of the three as a touchdown-dependent FLEX play, but only in an emergency.

Cincinnati Bengals

I'm not sure what the Bengals are doing with their backfield. After playing 80% of the team's snaps in Week 2 and 76% of the snaps in Week 3, it looked like Zack Moss would be the clear RB1. Instead, Moss played just 60% of the snaps on Sunday and was outplayed by Chase Brown.

Moss and Brown each saw 15 carries, but Brown managed 80 yards on the ground while Moss managed 51 yards. What's particularly confusing about this backfield is that the Bengals essentially split the work at the goal line as well. Moss failed to capitalize on a chance from the two-yard line and later had a one-yard score, while Brown scored from three yards and one yard out.

The Bengals' offense appears to have found its rhythm, scoring more than 30 points in two straight games. Moss was quite productive during this stretch and I would continue to use him as an RB2 every week even with a lighter workload. Brown, on the other hand, should be picked up on waivers this week if he is dropped, and I will be keeping a close eye on his usage over the next week or two. If the Bengals consistently split touches 60/40, Brown would also be a FLEX-level starter.

Fast hitters

Jacksonville Jaguars: Tank Bigsby had a productive day against the Texans, rushing for an impressive 90 yards on seven carries. Travis Etienne left the game in the first quarter with a shoulder injury and returned later but was largely outplayed by Bigsby. Bigsby is definitely worth missing this week since Etienne probably won't be able to play. Even if he were fit, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Jaguars put more pressure on Bigsby as they try to recover from their disappointing 0-4 start.

New York Jets: Braelon Allen didn't have a particularly noteworthy performance in the Jets' slugging loss to the Broncos, but he again drained Breece Hall's workload. Allen played 45 snaps to Hall's 51 in Week 4 and, frankly, looked a lot better than him. In fact, Allen is currently PFF's second-highest rusher and ranks eighth in yards after contact per carry. He's probably already in your league, but I'd send Allen a trade offer since he's much better than his 5.1 point fantasy performance last week suggests.