MLB Best Bets – Free (Wednesday 7/24)
Josh Gross
During the NFL 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
Rushing – Left
We still have another couple of weeks with Derrick Henry at the top of this list. Antonio Gibson has crept up this list over the past couple of weeks, as well. We also have a trio of rookies toward the bottom of this list.
Aaron Jones is right in the middle of the pack (no pun intended) here, but he’ll slip as he’s set to miss this week’s division matchup with Minnesota. AJ Dillon will slot on and get the start.
Jones has been used inconsistently throughout his career and this year is no exception. Now that he’s out of the picture, you’d have to imagine that Dillon gets a solid workload as the last man standing in Green Bay.
Rushing – Middle
We have a new leader at the top here. The Steelers continue to slam Najee Harris into heavy fronts.
Harris and Jonathan Taylor are the only running backs on this list who haven’t missed time so far in 2021.
Rushing – Right
Joe Mixon is at the top here once again. We have both pieces of the Denver Broncos’ backfield here as well.
In Week 6, we thought that maybe Javonte Williams be taking over, but Vic Fangio quickly quashed that idea with a 28% rush share in Week 7. It looks like he’s creeping back up again and could be primed for a solid finish if he were given the reins.
‘The Others’
We’ll wrap up with a quick look at the ball carriers who have seen somewhere between 50 and 100 rushes and where they were deployed most often.
