Week 5 is beginning to look like the week of the backup running back. We currently don't expect Christian McCaffrey, Joe Mixon, or David Montgomery to suit up. And as of Thursday morning, Chris Carson is questionable at best.
Carson is dealing with a neck injury that held him out of practice for the week. He is currently viewed as a game-time decision, and if he's able to go we'll view him as a high-end flex who would share with Alex Collins. But if Carson is out, we'd like Collins even more.
Collins picked up 80 yards and. a touchdown on 12 touches in Week 4 against the 49ers and could be even better in Week 5. While the Rams defense is more talented than the 49ers, they were just gashed by Chase Edmonds and James Conner to the tune of 205 yards and two scores. And they figure to be far more concerned about Russell Wilson, DK Metcalf, and Tyler Lockett than Collins.
In the projections below you'll see Collins as a mid-range No. 2 running back because we're ranking and projecting as if Carson will not play. That makes Collins a better option than the other fill-in options Damien Williams, Chuba Hubbard, and Samaje Perine. It also makes him a priority on the waiver wire, because he's still rostered in less than two-thirds of leagues.
For those of you not impacted by these injuries, let's get to the rest of the Week 5 RB Preview:
Perine's situation is more dicey than Williams because Mixon still hasn't been ruled out for Week 5. Still, that's our expectation, which makes Perine with 10-15% of your FAB. I would anticipate Perine being better in non-PPR than PPR as Evans takes on a larger role in the passing game.
Sermon saw a huge workload in Week 4 and will continue to as long as Eli Mitchell remains out. But I would expect even more production from Sermon in that situation, thanks to the Cardinals' poor run defense. Sermon is the same price as injury replacements like Damien Williams and Samaje Perine and I think they'll have a higher roster rate.
Fournette should be locked into a workhorse role as long as Giovani Bernard remains out. I'd expect 15-plus rushes and around five catches against the Dolphins in Week 5. I bet he scores his first touchdown as well.
