Rex Burkhead (RB, NE) - Week 2 Waiver Wire Pickups

Brady Grove discusses versatile Patriots staple Rex Burkhead as a potential waiver wire acquisition of value for Week 2 of the 2020 NFL season.

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ANALYSIS: When Rex Burkhead left the Cincinnati Bengals and signed on with the New England Patriots, those familiar with the Nebraska alum could see for miles away that he would be a great fit in the Tom Brady-led offense. Four years and a Super Bowl ring later, Tom Brady has been replaced by Cam Newton at the helm for the new era of Belichick's Pats, but Burkhead remains a resident of Foxborough, and his usage in Week One against Miami indicates another effective year as a niche member of the backfield.

Facing the Dolphins, Burkhead took seven hand-offs for a total of 32 yards, yet strangely, was not targeted at all in the passing game. Fellow Foxborough fixture Sony Michel was the only back to record more carries than Burkhead, and though Michel was the only back to enter the end zone, his 37 yards on ten tries amounts to 3.7 Y/A, a figure well short of Burkhead's (4.6). James White fared a little better but still fell short of Rex's performance with 22 yards on five attempts (4.4 Y/A), while rookie J.J. Taylor notably went for 28 yards on four runs. Ultimately, Cam Newton outperformed the lot in his Patriots debut with 75 yards and two TDs on 15 carries. Some may find it slightly alarming that Burkhead wasn't targeted a single time in the first example of the Newton regime after years of pass-catching success, but it will probably turn out to be an outlier instance. The Patriots only produced 155 passing yards on 19 throws by Newton in their 21-11 victory, with White resuming his usual work with three catches on three targets for 30 yards, and Taylor (who displayed constant growth as a pass-catching back at Arizona) starting his career with a four-yard catch on one target.

Shocking as it may be, Burkhead achieved his career-high for single-season scrimmage yards just last season with 581 (302 rushing yards, three touchdowns, 65 carries and 279 receiving yards, 27 receptions, 38 targets). Cam Newton is quite used to working with versatile running backs, but he takes up a fair share of the ground game on his own. The arrival of Taylor and the consistency of White might mean that there will be fewer targets to go around, but Taylor's usage will remain limited in the short term, and the subject Winchester, Kentucky native settles in nicely behind Michel as an option for carries (and not by very much). With the confidence of Bill Belichick in Rex Burkhead's time-tested ability to contribute in any given offensive set, he projects as one of the most reliable RB options you'll find free to scoop up in all of 2020 in deeper leagues that reward receptions.