Directional rushing update for Week 10

During the season, we’re going to break down how different offenses are utilizing their running backs. As the year goes on, patterns begin to emerge that will allow us to anticipate and exploit mismatches between a defense and an offense we’re targeting in fantasy football.

Bird’s Eye View

Teams are beginning to really regress toward the mean by direction. New England is hell-bent on rushing up the middle. Nearly 75% of its runs are either off the guard or up the middle. Atlanta is on the total opposite end of the spectrum, with just over 35% of its runs up the gut.

Rushing – Left

We still have another couple of weeks with Derrick Henry at the top of this list. Darrell Henderson, Joe Mixon and Nick Chubb are trailing (somewhat) closely behind. A pair of teammates that find their way onto this list are Melvin Gordon and Javonte Williams.

Gordon has seen a bigger chunk of the workload in all but two games this season. He has had a couple of explosive plays, but Williams has looked like he’s going to be a star in this league once he’s given the keys to the offense.

Rushing – Middle

Why the Saints continue to slam Alvin Kamara into brick walls is anybody’s guess, but that’s where we’re at this year.

He hasn’t been particularly good against these loaded fronts, either.

Among running backs with at least 75 rushes, Kamara ranks 26th in YPC in these situations. Is YPC the be-all, end-all? Of course not. But, all things being equal, you’d rather have your guy with a higher YPC if possible.

Rushing – Right

Joe Mixon is at the top here.

His rushing share has been all over the map. He’s only been over 60% once in the last six weeks. Mixon will continue to get volume in spurts, but his lack of consistency in that department is a bit of a concern.