Fantasy teams hate committee backfields, but in a position where players are constantly banged-up, it's accepted that probably at least 2 different running backs will be involved on most teams. Then there's the Eagles, with the league's densest committee a year ago -- and early indications are it will be more of the same.
Running backs coach Duce Staley talked about the position group recently, and guess what -- he apparently loves all of the backs on his roster. Holdovers (Wendell Smallwood, Corey Clement, Josh Adams, Boston Scott), newcomers (Jordan Howard), guys who were sidelined (Miles Sanders) or not even under contract (Darren Sproles) -- if it were up to Staley, there would be snaps for all these guys, it seems.
In 2018, there basically were. Last year 76 different running backs scored over 60 fantasy points (PPR scoring). Only 11 teams had more than two on their roster, and only one team -- the Eagles -- had four of them.
| RUNNING BACK PRODUCTION, 2018 (PPR) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Run | TD | No | Rec | TD | FF | Rk |
| Christian McCaffrey, CAR | 1098 | 7 | 107 | 867 | 6 | 388.0 | 1 |
| Saquon Barkley, NYG | 1307 | 11 | 91 | 721 | 4 | 385.8 | 2 |
| Todd Gurley, LAR | 1251 | 17 | 59 | 580 | 4 | 374.1 | 3 |
| Alvin Kamara, NOR | 883 | 14 | 81 | 709 | 4 | 354.2 | 4 |
| Ezekiel Elliott, DAL | 1434 | 6 | 77 | 567 | 3 | 331.1 | 5 |
| James Conner, PIT | 973 | 12 | 55 | 497 | 1 | 284.0 | 6 |
| James White, NWE | 425 | 5 | 87 | 751 | 7 | 276.6 | 7 |
| Melvin Gordon, LAC | 885 | 10 | 50 | 490 | 4 | 275.5 | 8 |
| David Johnson, ARI | 940 | 7 | 50 | 446 | 3 | 250.6 | 9 |
| Joe Mixon, CIN | 1168 | 8 | 43 | 296 | 1 | 243.4 | 10 |
| Tarik Cohen, CHI | 444 | 3 | 71 | 725 | 5 | 240.0 | 11 |
| Kareem Hunt, KAN | 824 | 7 | 26 | 378 | 7 | 230.2 | 12 |
| Phillip Lindsay, DEN | 1037 | 9 | 35 | 241 | 1 | 222.8 | 13 |
| Kenyan Drake, MIA | 535 | 4 | 53 | 477 | 5 | 208.2 | 14 |
| Chris Carson, SEA | 1151 | 9 | 20 | 163 | 0 | 205.4 | 15 |
| Derrick Henry, TEN | 1059 | 12 | 15 | 99 | 0 | 203.5 | 16 |
| Nick Chubb, CLE | 996 | 8 | 20 | 149 | 2 | 194.5 | 17 |
| Tevin Coleman, ATL | 800 | 4 | 32 | 276 | 5 | 193.6 | 18 |
| Adrian Peterson, WAS | 1042 | 7 | 20 | 208 | 1 | 193.0 | 19 |
| Marlon Mack, IND | 908 | 9 | 17 | 103 | 1 | 182.1 | 20 |
| Jordan Howard, CHI | 935 | 9 | 20 | 145 | 0 | 182.0 | 21 |
| T.J. Yeldon, JAX | 414 | 1 | 55 | 487 | 4 | 175.1 | 22 |
| Lamar Miller, HOU | 973 | 5 | 25 | 163 | 1 | 174.6 | 23 |
| Aaron Jones, GNB | 728 | 8 | 26 | 206 | 1 | 173.4 | 24 |
| Austin Ekeler, LAC | 554 | 3 | 39 | 404 | 3 | 170.8 | 25 |
| Matt Breida, SFO | 814 | 3 | 27 | 261 | 2 | 164.5 | 26 |
| Dion Lewis, TEN | 517 | 1 | 59 | 400 | 1 | 162.7 | 27 |
| Nyheim Hines, IND | 314 | 2 | 63 | 425 | 2 | 160.9 | 28 |
| Jalen Richard, OAK | 259 | 1 | 68 | 607 | 0 | 160.6 | 29 |
| Dalvin Cook, MIN | 615 | 2 | 40 | 305 | 2 | 156.0 | 30 |
| Peyton Barber, TAM | 871 | 5 | 20 | 92 | 1 | 152.3 | 31 |
| Mark Ingram, NOR | 645 | 6 | 21 | 170 | 1 | 144.5 | 32 |
| Kerryon Johnson, DET | 641 | 3 | 32 | 213 | 1 | 141.4 | 33 |
| Sony Michel, NWE | 931 | 6 | 7 | 50 | 0 | 141.1 | 34 |
| Isaiah Crowell, NYJ | 685 | 6 | 21 | 152 | 0 | 140.7 | 35 |
| Mike Davis, SEA | 514 | 4 | 34 | 214 | 1 | 136.8 | 36 |
| Duke Johnson, CLE | 201 | 0 | 47 | 429 | 3 | 132.0 | 37 |
| Latavius Murray, MIN | 578 | 6 | 22 | 141 | 0 | 131.9 | 38 |
| LeSean McCoy, BUF | 514 | 3 | 34 | 238 | 0 | 127.2 | 39 |
| Doug Martin, OAK | 723 | 4 | 18 | 116 | 0 | 125.9 | 40 |
| Leonard Fournette, JAX | 439 | 5 | 22 | 185 | 1 | 120.4 | 41 |
| Wendell Smallwood, PHI | 364 | 3 | 28 | 230 | 2 | 119.4 | 42 |
| Theo Riddick, DET | 171 | 0 | 61 | 384 | 0 | 116.5 | 43 |
| Alex Collins, BAL | 411 | 7 | 15 | 105 | 1 | 114.6 | 44 |
| Jamaal Williams, GNB | 464 | 3 | 27 | 210 | 0 | 114.4 | 45 |
| Royce Freeman, DEN | 521 | 5 | 14 | 72 | 0 | 103.3 | 46 |
| Frank Gore, MIA | 722 | 0 | 12 | 124 | 1 | 102.6 | 47 |
| Damien Williams, KAN | 256 | 4 | 23 | 160 | 2 | 100.6 | 48 |
| Carlos Hyde, 2TM | 571 | 5 | 10 | 33 | 0 | 100.4 | 49 |
| Ito Smith, ATL | 315 | 4 | 27 | 152 | 0 | 97.7 | 50 |
| Alfred Blue, HOU | 499 | 2 | 20 | 154 | 0 | 97.3 | 51 |
| Giovani Bernard, CIN | 211 | 3 | 35 | 218 | 0 | 95.9 | 52 |
| Javorius Allen, BAL | 110 | 3 | 35 | 196 | 2 | 95.6 | 53 |
| Chris Thompson, WAS | 178 | 0 | 41 | 268 | 1 | 91.6 | 54 |
| Elijah McGuire, NYJ | 276 | 3 | 19 | 193 | 1 | 89.9 | 55 |
| Devontae Booker, DEN | 183 | 1 | 38 | 275 | 0 | 89.8 | 56 |
| Gus Edwards, BAL | 718 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 0 | 89.8 | 57 |
| Jaylen Samuels, PIT | 256 | 0 | 26 | 199 | 3 | 89.5 | 58 |
| LeGarrette Blount, DET | 418 | 5 | 10 | 67 | 0 | 88.5 | 59 |
| Jacquizz Rodgers, TAM | 106 | 1 | 38 | 304 | 0 | 85.0 | 60 |
| Josh Adams, PHI | 511 | 3 | 7 | 58 | 0 | 83.9 | 61 |
| Corey Clement, PHI | 259 | 2 | 22 | 192 | 0 | 81.1 | 62 |
| Marshawn Lynch, OAK | 376 | 3 | 15 | 84 | 0 | 79.0 | 63 |
| Spencer Ware, KAN | 246 | 2 | 20 | 224 | 0 | 79.0 | 64 |
| Chris Ivory, BUF | 385 | 1 | 13 | 205 | 0 | 78.0 | 65 |
| Ty Montgomery, 2TM | 188 | 1 | 25 | 235 | 0 | 73.3 | 66 |
| Kyle Juszczyk, SFO | 30 | 0 | 30 | 324 | 1 | 71.4 | 67 |
| Rashaad Penny, SEA | 419 | 2 | 9 | 75 | 0 | 70.4 | 68 |
| Alfred Morris, SFO | 428 | 2 | 8 | 73 | 0 | 70.1 | 69 |
| C.J. Anderson, 2TM | 403 | 2 | 5 | 41 | 1 | 67.4 | 70 |
| Jordan Wilkins, IND | 336 | 1 | 16 | 85 | 0 | 64.1 | 71 |
| Chase Edmonds, ARI | 208 | 2 | 20 | 103 | 0 | 63.1 | 72 |
| Bilal Powell, NYJ | 343 | 0 | 11 | 110 | 1 | 62.3 | 73 |
| Kapri Bibbs, 2TM | 103 | 3 | 16 | 115 | 1 | 61.8 | 74 |
| Justin Jackson, LAC | 206 | 2 | 15 | 135 | 0 | 61.1 | 75 |
| Darren Sproles, PHI | 120 | 1 | 15 | 160 | 2 | 61.0 | 76 |
That diversity wasn't a plus for fantasy teams, obviously. Only two teams didn't have a single top-40 PPR back. The Ravens, who also employed a crowded committee, and the Eagles.
At the moment, Philadelphia has two running backs who look draftable: Howard and Sanders. They traded for Howard, so he looks like the best bet as Week 1 starter over the likes of Smallwood or Clement -- perhaps the only veteran certain to make the team. And then Sanders, who they drafted in the second round; he's a better pass catcher than Howard, so assuming he gets healthy, he's the favorite for that receiving role.
But squeezing a top-30 or even top-40 fantasy back out of this backfield? That looks a little less certain.
--Andy Richardson