Fantasy Football RB report: How will the Chiefs backfield shake out with Isiah Pacheco's return?

Running backs remain king in fantasy football. While it feels like there are more elite quarterbacks and wide receivers than ever before, the amount of consistent, dependable running backs is dwindling. This makes it all the more important to find value at running back in fantasy football. In order to help you do that, I will be taking a look at a few backfields each week that stick out based on recent trends or new information we learned.

Week 11 was one of the best slate of games I can remember, with plenty of exciting finishes across the league. Let’s take a deep dive into those games to identify some important backfield takeaways, including a few struggling veterans, an extremely confusing running back rotation and an upcoming return from injury.

Kansas City Chiefs

Isiah Pacheco was recently activated off Injured Reserve, and he is expected to make his return to action against the Panthers in Week 12. In the eight games that Pacheco missed, veteran Kareem Hunt largely served as the Chiefs' RB1, averaging 14.2 fantasy points per game. It is hard to say if Pacheco will immediately receive a full workload upon his return, but my guess is that the Chiefs ease him in a little bit. At 9-1, they are hardly in danger of missing the playoffs, so I doubt Andy Reid and Co. want to risk re-injuring Pacheco, especially given how effective Hunt has been in relief.

This puts fantasy managers in a bit of a weird spot, as you probably still need to start Pacheco next week. I would do so and move Hunt to my bench, but I will be keeping my expectations a bit lower for Pacheco until we know for sure that he is fully back to his old self.

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Minnesota Vikings

Cam Akers has quietly become more and more involved in the Vikings offense over the last few weeks. Akers has back-to-back games with double-digit carries, and has definitively supplanted Ty Chandler as the No. 2 in the backfield. Starter Aaron Jones has still led the Vikings in touches when healthy, but his production has been rather underwhelming. Since Week 8, Jones has run for just 3.5 yards per carry and has failed to get into the end zone, and it is possible that he is not playing at 100% health. Akers has not been any better on an efficiency basis but did manage to score a touchdown on Sunday.

Moving forward, I’m a bit concerned that Jones will not be able to live up to the high standard he set earlier in the season. The Vikings offense as a whole has regressed a bit this month, and I don’t think that Jones can sustain elite production in a 60/40 split with Akers. I would continue to start Jones, but I am tapering my expectations for him and would treat him as a low-end RB2/high-end FLEX. I think Jones is a solid player to try and trade away based on his name value and gaudy volume numbers if your league's deadline hasn't passed. Akers, meanwhile, is worth adding on waivers this week as it looks like he is guaranteed 10-12 touches a week, but he does not have much standalone value.

Denver Broncos

The glimmer of hope we had for Audric Estimé last week was quickly shut down, as the Broncos indeed appear to be using a pure hot-hand approach for their backfield. Estimé played just 13 snaps to Javonte Williams’ 32 on Sunday and scored just four fantasy points. Williams had a rather productive day on the other hand, turning 13 touches into 87 yards and a score. Jaleel McLaughlin appears to have been phased out of the offense a bit due to Estimé’s increased usage, with just 12 total snaps in the last two weeks.

Assuming the Broncos continue to implement this unpredictable running back rotation, I would stay away from starting any of the players involved. You might miss out on a spike week from Williams or Estimé if it is their week as the starter, but I do not want to play that game of roulette. I would wait until we have more information on whether Estimé’s recent volume uptick is an outlier or if this truly is a hot-hand committee to see if Williams is startable.

Miami Dolphins

There was a stretch where it looked like Raheem Mostert and De’Von Achane would split carries similar to last year for the Dolphins, as from weeks 7 through 9, Mostert had 30 carries to Achane’s 37. Two weeks later, I feel confident in saying that Achane was just limited a little bit as he recovered from a concussion because he has rendered Mostert irrelevant in fantasy of late.

Mostert has failed to net a positive rush yard in two games, while Achane has seen almost 20 touches a game. In fact, Mostert has operated as the Dolphins' No. 3 running back behind Jaylen Wright, who has 10 carries over this time period.

I fully expect Achane to remain the clear No. 1 in the backfield as the Dolphins attempt to make a playoff push. Achane can be considered a legitimate top-five option at the running back position, as his combination of passing-game work and ceiling is incredibly valuable. Mostert and Wright obviously still have value as insurance options for Achane, but I would not consider starting them in any format.

Cleveland Browns

Nick Chubb has been fairly underwhelming in fantasy since making his return from injury about a month ago. He has scored just one touchdown and is running for only 3.1 yards a carry, failing to crack double-digit fantasy points in any game. Chubb also feels a bit game script dependent — on Sunday, when the Browns were down big to the Saints, Jerome Ford ended up playing 19 more snaps than Chubb. The Browns have quite a difficult schedule to finish the season, playing every other team in their division at least once as well as the Chiefs, Broncos and Dolphins. So, I would not be surprised if they continue to be in pass-first scripts, which plays heavily in Ford’s favor.

I am more than comfortable benching Chubb in fantasy. He is clearly not his pre-injury self, and his lack of pass-catching work makes him somewhat touchdown-dependent. Given I have little trust in the Browns offense to consistently score touchdowns, Chubb is better off as a depth piece on your fantasy team. Ford is worth rostering as I could see him becoming a potential FLEX play in PPR leagues, but neither of them has a particularly high amount of upside.