RADIO
The running back position has been absolutely brutal this year. Whether it's ill-timed injuries or just plain under-performing, backs as a whole have once again been the most frustrating position to monitor.
That brings us to the first RB-centric edition of our Warning Signals piece. If you've been following the first few editions you'll notice some familiar faces to get us started. Luckily, the benefit of honing in on one position allows us to broaden the range of players worth discussing so we'll be focusing on more than just superstars.
Lastly, we'll still be revisiting players that have made past editions of the list but I'm going to institute a "three strikes and you're out" rule going forward. Basically, if you make the list three times, you're done for the year. Obviously an injury or a trade warrants an exception but overall I think limiting it to three appearances is the right way to go so we can keep it fresh.
Running Backs Sending Out Warning Signals
C.J. Anderson – RB, DEN
Welp, it finally happened. A Denver Broncos running back finally broke off the big touchdown run we were waiting for...except it wasn't C.J. Anderson. Ronnie Hillman exploded for a 72-yard touchdown on Sunday which I believe is both a blessing and a curse. The Broncos have struggled to find any semblance of a rushing attack all season so the blessing aspect of it is that someone was finally able to do something out of the backfield. The curse, however, is that it obviously wasn't the presumed starter.
Hopefully, you were smart enough to grab both Anderson and Hillman, giving you some flexibility and insurance as far as this ground game is concerned. Not only has Hillman has looked like the better back since August but now the Broncos have come out and said that he has earned himself more touches. With a nice matchup against the Oakland Raiders looming, it's looking like this might be the week Hillman overtakes Anderson entirely. I highly doubt you'll be able to get anything of value for either guy in a trade at this point so you're almost certainly stuck with whatever it is you have. If you own both players, I would prefer Hillman this week and hope for a changing of the guard. If all you have is Anderson, it's probably best to just bench him until he breaks out assuming you have enough depth. It's a shame that the Broncos continuously burn us at the running back position in fantasy drafts.
DeMarco Murray – RB, PHI
If it weren't for an unexpected hamstring injury that caused him to miss a game, DeMarco Murray likely would have been on last week's list as well. Unfortunately for him, it doesn't appear as if skipping a week did him any favors. Not only is Murray lacking touches but he's not exactly setting the world on fire when he does end up getting the ball. In his first two games, Murray totaled 21 rushes for 11 yards. Even if you were to include his week four outing of eight rushes for 36 yards, you're still looking at a deplorable 1.6 yards per carry. He's simply not getting it done regardless of his workload.
Aside from one big game out of Ryan Mathews, the Philadelphia Eagles can't really seem to establish a consistent running game in general. Still, it can't be ignored that Mathews has been the more productive runner than Murray to this point. Throw in the fact that Darren Sproles is still being used as an effective weapon for this team and you're looking at a backfield riddled with question marks. Going forward, there's really only two ways to view DeMarco Murray; he's either the perfect buy low candidate as his value will never be lower than it is right now or if you already own him, you're stuck with him for the entire year. If you can afford to deal away a piece for a potential RB upgrade down the line, go for it, otherwise there really isn't much you can do as a DeMarco Murray owner.
Lamar Miller – RB, MIA
The Miami Dolphins have been the most disappointing team of the 2015 NFL season. This was a team that was expected to make major strides on both sides of the ball after bringing in a slew of new players that were assumed to be upgrades. Lamar Miller, one of the constants in Miami over the last few years, was poised to repeat as a top-12 fantasy back but has since been brought way down thanks to an underperforming offense. Here's a quick glance at his rushing totals over the first four games of the season: 13 for 53, 10 for 14, 7 for 38, and 7 for 26. Aside from the fact that his production is lacking, the Dolphins aren't even running the ball all that frequently.
The difference between Lamar Miller and other running backs on the list this week is that Miami made a coaching change on Monday that could end up netting us a more balanced offense. Besides, it's not like Ryan Tannehill is out there putting up monster numbers. If the Dolphins know what's good for them, they should start to lean on Miller a bit more going forward in the hopes of getting this offense back on track. Miami does have the added benefit of making a coaching change during a bye week so that gives them two whole weeks to adjust to whatever changes new head coach Dan Campbell has in store. There isn't a single Miami Dolphin I'd feel confident starting until we see some production so it's going to have to come down to your personal team depth as far as using Miller is concerned. They face a middle-of-the-pack Tennessee team after the bye, a game in which he could end up being serviceable. I'm not panicking just yet but an eyebrow is certainly raised.
Carlos Hyde – RB, SF
If I had told you that Carlos Hyde would make a list about players to be concerned about after his massive week one performance you likely would have told me I was losing my mind. Yet here we are three weeks later and Hyde hasn't found the endzone or had more than 51 yards in a game since then. After his 168-yard, two-touchdown day against the Vikings, the narrative surrounding Hyde was that he was poised to breakout into a top-10 fantasy running back going forward. Now that he's come back down to earth, I think his value has settled right around to where it was in the pre-season. He's not going to be a top-10 guy but he's still a usable RB2 any given week. With so many running backs banged up and struggling, at least we know for a fact that Hyde is "the guy" in San Francisco.
The problem with Hyde isn't his usage or talent; it's that the San Francisco 49ers simply aren't good. There are going to be weeks where the team is able to run the ball effectively, allowing for Hyde to have a big game and put up fantasy points. But there are also going to be weeks, like the three we just saw, where the team can't get anything going offensively. You don't need to bench, trade, or cut Carlos Hyde, you just need to temper your expectations. His value has simply been reset is all.
Updates From Previous Weeks
There's only one running back worth re-visiting at this point. I'd like to view that as a positive.
Jeremy Hill – RB, CIN
It's time for me to admit that the Cincinnati ground game is looking a little more like a committee than I would have liked. That being said, you can't argue with Jeremy Hill's three touchdown performance on Sunday. Despite Giovanni Bernard eating into Hill's workload, the team is still leaning on Hill and has openly said they prefer to utilize him as their primary back. I'm still confident that Hill finishes the year as a top-10 fantasy running back and still prefer him over the likes of other highly drafted players like C.J. Anderson, DeMarco Murray, and LeSean McCoy. I'm going to live and die by this Jeremy Hill call so if there's still time to buy low in your league, make like a Bengal and pounce.
