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Update: Josh Jacobs is out and Sermon will play Sunday
Raise your hand if you had both Detroit backs finishing in the top 5…yeah me neither. Week 1 had tons of surprises at the RB position, as presumed studs like Henry, Aaron Jones, and Antonio Gibson never really got going, and Trey Sermon was a surprise inactive. Below are my running back rankings week 2.
I’m not sure what Shanahan is doing with his backs and I don’t think he is either. The team signed Ravens castoff Trent Cannon this week, and owners of Sermon are just left scratching their heads. Will he be active this week? One would think that with Mostert now done for the year (something we frankly should have all seen coming) he would be, but would you put it past Shanahan to keep him inactive and instead play Hasty and Cannon? I wouldn’t.
There are also trends we know won’t continue, like Darrel Henderson’s near 100% snap rate (sell high folks), ones that we hope will but should know better, like Derek Henry being used in the passing game (4 targets and 3 receptions, all in the second half). I don’t expect Henry to be bottled up again as he was getting his trademark 6-9-yard chunk gains in the second half as Tennessee stuck with the run despite being down big. Both good signs for Henry going forward.
Running Back Rankings Week 2
| Rank | Name | Opponent |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christian McCaffrey | Saints |
| 2 | Joe Mixon | Bears |
| 3 | Alvin Kamara | Panthers |
| 4 | Nick Chubb | Texans |
| 5 | Dalvin Cook | Cardinals |
| 6 | David Montgomery | Bengals |
| 7 | Derek Henry | Seahawks |
| 8 | Aaron Jones | Lions |
| 9 | Austin Ekeler | Cowboys |
| 10 | Jonathan Taylor | Colts |
| 11 | DeAndre Swift | Packers |
| 12 | Chris Carson | Titans |
| 13 | Ezekial Elliot | Chargers |
| 14 | Elijah Mitchell | Eagles |
| 15 | Antonio Gibson | Giants |
| 16 | Mark Ingram | Browns |
| 17 | Clyde Edwards Helaire | Ravens |
| 18 | Kareem Hunt | Texans |
| 19 | Melvin Gordon III | Jaguars |
| 20 | Miles Sanders | 49ers |
| 21 | Kenyan Drake (Jacobs out) | Steelers |
| 22 | Chase Edmonds | Vikings |
| 23 | Jamaal Williams | 49ers |
| 24 | Najee Harris | Raiders |
| 25 | Ty’Son Williams | Chiefs |
| 26 | Darrel Henderson | Colts |
| 27 | Nyheim Hines | Rams |
| 28 | James White | Jets |
| 29 | Rhamondre Stevenson | Jets |
| 30 | James Robinson | Broncos |
| 31 | Leonard Fournette | Falcons |
| 32 | Sony Michel | Colts |
| 33 | Tony Jones Jr | Panthers |
| 34 | Kenneth Gainwell | 49ers |
| 35 | Saquon Barkley | WFT |
| 36 | Ronald Jones | Falcons |
| 37 | Cordarelle Patterson | Buccaneers |
| 38 | Latavius Murray | Chiefs |
| 39 | Phillip Lindsay | Browns |
| 40 | Trey Sermon | Eagles |
| 41 | Devin Singletary | Dolphins |
| 42 | Myles Gaskin | Bills |
| 43 | Damien Harris | Jets |
| 44 | Mike Davis | Buccaneers |
| 45 | Javonte Williams | Jaguars |
| 46 | James Connor | Vikings |
I don’t really expect the Saints D to be the second coming of the ’85 Bears, but there’s no doubt they were good against the Packers. I think that whole Packers team was just off and lackluster, and Christian McCaffrey will continue his dominant streak of killing it when healthy.
Chubb and Hunt are going to absolutely murder the Texans. I firmly believe the Texans’ week 1 success was more about Urban Meyer’s incompetence than anything else. I really like Montgomery this week against the Bengals as the Bears seek to minimize Dalton’s glaring deficiencies and Nagy seeks to distract the Bears fanbase from doxing him and showing up at his house Monday. Mixon will again get a lot of run as the Bengals scale back their passing attack to limit hits on Burrow.
Will Austin Ekeler reward his believers this week? The complete lack of an already non-existent Cowboys pass rush could actually work against Ekeler as Herbert should have practically limitless time to throw downfield, but I still think Ekeler does much better this week. Ditto for Aaron Jones and Derek Henry just based on return to form. Week 1 is always weird, don’t overreact.
Do not panic bench Zeke. This may not be a great game but expect a much better stat line against the Chargers. The Cowboys will probably get down early as both starting defensive ends are out for this game, but expect about 75 yards rushing, 25 receiving and a shot at a TD.
The big questions at RB this week are the San Francisco, Baltimore, and New England backfields. Who will line up behind Elijah Mitchell? Honestly I think it will be Hasty with some Cannon sprinkled in. I think Shanahan is in the middle of a pretty intense culture transformation and he’s making examples of guys and showing that no one is above the team regardless of talent or draft capital. It’s worked for Saban and Belichik, why not him (I mean besides the lack of championships)?
Baltimore is sadly more predictable. A promising young back in Ty’Son Williams will be sacrificed on the altar of “experience” by way of giving useless carries to Latavius Murray, LeVeon Bell, and eventually Devonta Freeman. It is not 2018 and these guys just aren’t good anymore. Let it go Harbaugh.
New England is waaaaay more interesting. Both backs fumbled. Stevenson didn’t show enough “fight” tryin to recover his fumble according to coaches, but Damien Harris basically lost the game for his team with his fumble in the red zone. I think this is a Stevenson week, giving the rookie more of a shot to earn back his role.
Speaking of “just not that good anymore,” I’m pretty close to filing Saquon under that category. Not because he did essentially nothing with his carries week 1, but he’s had about the worst script a back could get. Multiple season ending injuries early in his career, stuck on a really, really bad team with a terrible QB and a coach that seems in completely over his head. Josh Jacobs was frankly never all that good. Najee Harris will get right but not this week. It’s going to take a while.