Fantasy Football Week 13 Running Back Preview: Bet on Jaylen Warren if Najee Harris misses time

At the beginning of the week I wrote that Zonovan Knight and Benny Snell were the top waiver adds, but both of those situations could be ugly. A day later, Jaylen Warren announced he'd been cleared to return and the Steelers' running back situation became instantly less clear.

We're leaning towards Warren for a variety of reasons. The biggest is that the team was making a bigger effort to get him involved before his hamstring injury; he saw a season-high 12 touches in Week 10 against the Saints, and that was with Najee Harris healthy. Snell, in that same game, did not receive a touch. 

• Week 13 Previews: QB | RB | WR | TE

While we can't be too sure of usage with a duo we haven't seen together, I'm projecting 11 carries apiece for Warren and Snell, with Warren dominating passing downs. Against a Falcons defense that has surrendered the fifth-most PPR Fantasy points to running backs over the past five weeks, that makes Warren a borderline top-20 running back and Snell a touchdown-dependent flex.

Of course this is all dependent on Najee Harris missing Week 13. Keep your eyes on the injury reports before starting any Steelers.

Now let's get to the rest of the Week 13 RB Preview:

Week 13 RB Preview

The following players are not being projected to play in Week 13 at this time. Here's what it means:

Michael Carter RB TEN Tennessee • #35 Age: 27 • Experience: 5 yrs. It could be a trio of backs replacing Carter if he can't go.

Najee Harris RB NYG N.Y. Giants • #23 Age: 28 • Experience: 6 yrs. Jaylen Warren and Benny Snell are the most likely backs to lead the Steelers' backfield.

Elijah Mitchell RB PHI Philadelphia • #38 Age: 28 • Experience: 6 yrs. Either Tyrion Davis-Price or Jordan Mason should handle secondary duties behind Christian McCaffrey.

• 7 -- Touches inside the 10-yard line for Isiah Pacheco in Week 12. He only scored once, but had 22 rush attempts in an encouraging performance. 
  
• 29.7 -- The Texans surrender the most PPR Fantasy points per game to opposing running backs.
  
• 22.04 -- PPR Fantasy points per game for Josh Jacobs in 2022, second only to Austin Ekeler at running back. 
• 23 -- Touches for Rachaad White in the absence of Leonard Fournette. White caught all nine of his targets, too. 
• 103 -- Scrimmage yards for Zonovan Knight, who led the Jets with 14 carries after Michael Carter went down with an injury.
• 16 -- Carries for Gus Edwards in his return from injury. Justice Hill and Kenyan Drake combined for just three carries.
• 15 -- Dameon Pierce has one more rushing yard than carries in the past two weeks.
  

Matchups that Matter

Projections powered by Sportsline

Devin Singletary RB NYG N.Y. Giants • #26 Age: 29 • Experience: 8 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ NE BUF -5 O/U 43.5 OPP VS RB 1st PROJ PTS 10.6 RB RNK 29th YTD Stats RUYDS 552 REC 31 REYDS 226 TD 4 FPTS/G 11.7

Latavius Murray RB BUF Buffalo • #28 Age: 36 • Experience: 11 year Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ BAL BAL -8 O/U 38.5 OPP VS RB 7th PROJ PTS 9.4 RB RNK 25th YTD Stats RUYDS 358 REC 13 REYDS 70 TD 4 FPTS/G 11.4

Gus Edwards RB LAC L.A. Chargers • #4 Age: 31 • Experience: 8 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs DEN BAL -8 O/U 38.5 OPP VS RB 10th PROJ PTS 10 RB RNK 22nd YTD Stats RUYDS 183 REC 0 REYDS 0 TD 3 FPTS/G 11.4

Brian Robinson Jr. RB ATL Atlanta • #15 Age: 27 • Experience: 3 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ NYG WAS -2.5 O/U 40.5 OPP VS RB 14th PROJ PTS 9.7 RB RNK 27th YTD Stats RUYDS 467 REC 6 REYDS 27 TD 3 FPTS/G 9.3

Jeff Wilson RB MIA Miami • #20 Age: 30 • Experience: 8 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ SF SF -4 O/U 46.5 OPP VS RB 2nd PROJ PTS 11.6 RB RNK 18th YTD Stats RUYDS 677 REC 16 REYDS 149 TD 5 FPTS/G 11.3

Alvin Kamara RB NO New Orleans • #41 Age: 31 • Experience: 10 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ TB TB -3.5 O/U 40 OPP VS RB 3rd PROJ PTS 15.3 RB RNK 17th YTD Stats RUYDS 524 REC 49 REYDS 422 TD 3 FPTS/G 15.4

Week 13 Adds (RB Preview)

Jaylen Warren RB PIT Pittsburgh • #30 Age: 27 • Experience: 5 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ ATL PIT -1 O/U 42 OPP VS RB 23rd RB RNK 26th ROSTERED 50% YTD Stats RUYDS 190 REC 16 REYDS 137 TD 0 FPTS/G 4.9 Warren has been by far the most efficient Steelers' running back, averaging 5 yards per carry and 8.6 yards per catch. If he maintains anything close to that with a starter's workload, he has top-15 upside.

Benny Snell RB DET Detroit • #24 Age: 28 • Experience: 5 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ ATL PIT -1 O/U 42 OPP VS RB 23rd RB RNK 33rd ROSTERED 50% YTD Stats RUYDS 62 REC 1 REYDS 6 TD 1 FPTS/G 1.3 As long as Najee Harris is out, I would still expect double-digit carries for Snell and he could be the short-yardage back against a Falcons defense that has allowed 13 touchdowns to running backs this season.

Zamir White RB NO New Orleans • #30 Age: 27 • Experience: 5 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs LAC LAC -1.5 O/U 50.5 OPP VS RB 26th RB RNK NR ROSTERED 16% YTD Stats RUYDS 47 REC 0 REYDS 0 TD 0 FPTS/G 0.6 If Josh Jacobs' calf doesn't heal, White could be in line for 15 touches against a Chargers defense that has allowed 5.6 yards per carry to running backs this season. White would be a high-end flex in that scenario.

Stashes (RB Preview)

J.K. Dobbins RB DEN Denver • #27 Age: 27 • Experience: 7 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs DEN BAL -8 O/U 38.5 OPP VS RB 10th RB RNK NR ROSTERED 67% YTD Stats RUYDS 123 REC 6 REYDS 39 TD 2 FPTS/G 8.6 Dobbins is returning to practice this week and is the top stash at running back right now. If he can get back to 100% before the Fantasy playoffs, he'd have league-winning upside against the Browns, Falcons, and Steelers down the stretch. Just don't expect any help getting you to the playoffs.

Top DFS Play

Projections powered by Sportsline

Josh Jacobs RB GB Green Bay • #8 Age: 28 • Experience: 8 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs LAC LAC -2 O/U 50.5 OPP VS RB 26th PROJ PTS 21.2 RB RNK 1st YTD Stats RUYDS 1159 REC 40 REYDS 325 TD 9 FPTS/G 22 Assuming he's able to go, Jacobs is the clear top value on both sites. Coming off a 300-yard game he's still not the highest-priced running back on the slate even though he's up against a Chargers defense that allows 5.64 yards per carry on the season to running backs.

Contrarian DFS Play

Projections powered by Sportsline

David Montgomery RB HOU Houston • #32 Age: 29 • Experience: 8 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs GB GB -4 O/U 43.5 OPP VS RB 28th PROJ PTS 11.6 RB RNK 16th YTD Stats RUYDS 580 REC 21 REYDS 238 TD 3 FPTS/G 10.8 Montgomery plays for a terrible offense and he's an underdog again in Week 13. I understand why he's contrarian, but he totaled 136 yards against this defense back in Week 2 and that's when he was sharing with Khalil Herbert. He has RB1 overall upside this week and neither his price nor his roster rate will reflect that.